The Westport Library Resource Guides: Embroidery: 101

Embroidery for Beginners

How to Get Started with Embroidery

If you want to give embroidery a try, but have been intimidated by the different supplies and the vast number of tutorials, this quick-start stitching guide is for you. This easy overview is also helpful if you're introducing a friend to stitching and want to make sure you cover the basics. Learning embroidery doesn't have to be difficult, and it definitely shouldn't feel like a huge investment of time and money. It's actually an easy and inexpensive hobby to jump into! Once you get your feet wet (or perhaps more appropriately, once you get your needle threaded), you can gain a more in-depth knowledge of embroidery. You can also pick up special tips, tools, and techniques that will improve or enhance your stitching. Continue reading from The Spruce Crafts

Origins of Embroidery

Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings show that clothes, couch covers, hangings, and tents were so decorated. Quilting was known to the ancient Persians and, at the time of the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE), quilted garments were worn as armour; Greek vase paintings show these quilted suits covered with embroidery. Greeks depicted on vases from the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and later are dressed in embroidered garments. The earliest surviving embroideries are Scythian, dated to between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE. Roughly from 330 CE until the 15th century, Byzantium produced embroideries lavishly ornamented with gold. Ancient Chinese embroideries have been excavated, dating from the T’ang dynasty (618–907 CE), but the most famous extant Chinese examples are the imperial silk robes of the Ch’ing dynasty (1644–1911/12). Continue reading from Encyclopedia Britannica