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Embroidery Ten

Since it's National Embroidery Month, here are:

Ten Things About Embroidery

This is a very cool article on the kind of embroidery found on late medieval clothing and accessories.

Did you know embroidery has often been subversive ways for women to protest and be heard? Read more here.

Christie's shows an amazing selection of historic Chinese embroidery robes in this article for collectors.

Learn more about the different styles of embroidery in this V&A article with beautiful example pics.

This article on book-embroidery shows some beautiful examples of the fabric covers made and embroidered for books dating back to the 17th century.

The very famous Bayeux Tapestry (which should really be called the Bayeux 220-foot-long Embroidered panel) can be seen in its entirety online here.

One of the earliest known examples of primitive beaded embroidery was found along with the fossilized skeleton of a Cro-Magnon man, who died some 30,000 years ago. Click on the link to see an illustration of the skeleton and the reconstruction of the man in his burial clothes.

See what may be the only surviving, beautifully embroidered scrap from one of Queen Elizabeth I's 16th-century dresses in this article from Smithsonian Magazine.

Remember when I said historic, well-preserved crazy quilts can be very expensive? They're not the only ones. Here's a black and gold mourning quilt with amazing embroidery (and a price tag to match.)

Last but not least, here's a video about a stunning historic crazy quilt with the most amazing embroidery:

Comments

nightsmusic said…
My dad's mother was born in 1884. When I was a small child, she taught me embroidery, tatting, lace making, crewel work and crochet. My mother's mother was born in 1894 and also taught me crochet as well as knitting, bobbin lace making, spinning wool and weaving. They both taught me quilting though different kinds. I've forgotten most of what I learned because most of those things are dying art forms and few still practice them. Maybe I should pick up one of my crazy quilt squares and work on it...

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