Embroidery is an ancient variety of decorative needlework in which designs and pictures are created by stitching strands of some material on to a layer of another material. Most embroidery uses thread or wool stitched onto a woven fabric, but the stitches could be executed in, for example, wire or leather strands, and embroidery can be worked onto many materials. Non-woven traditional materials include leather and felt, but modern textile artists embroider on many non-traditional materials such as plastic sheeting. Often, specific embroidery stiches are used.

This article is predominantly about hand embroidery, which is embroidery done without the help of a sewing machine or similar electric tool. Machine embroidery has become a vast subject on its own. It is both used for creative work on individual pieces and for mass-produced clothing products.

Embroidery has traditionally been used to decorate clothing and household furnishings including table linens, tray cloths, towels and bedding, but you can literally embroider anything as long as it is made out of an evenly woven fabric and can be held firmly in the hand or in a special embroidery hoop or tapestry frame. The art of hand embroidery is a painstaking and laborious process, but today garments are often decorated with machine embroidery instead.

Embroidery has also been used as a form of art and for decoration, through the creation of embroidered or cross-stitch samplers, tapestries, wall-hangings and other works of textile art. Some types of patchwork also incorporate embroidery as a form of extra decoration.

Annemieke Mein is one example of a contemporary textile artist who creates embroidered work.

Modern developments in embroidery as a hobby

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Embroidery as a modern art form

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History

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Embroidery Styles and Techniques

Some embroidery styles include:

• Assisi Embroidery
• Bargello or Florentine embroidery
• Blackwork Embroidery
• Bunka Shishu
• Canvas work
• Counted-thread embroidery
• Crewel embroidery
• Cross-stitch (can mean the particular stitch or a style of embroidery)
• Drawn thread work
• Goldwork
• Hardanger embroidery
• Tush kyiz (Kyrgyzstan)
• Whitework

Famous Works of Embroidery

One of the world's most famous pieces of embroidery is the Bayeux Tapestry, made in the 11th century to commemorate the Battle of Hastings.

Other notable embroideries on public display:

• Bradford carpet
• Hastings Embroidery
• Maidenhead Charter Hanging
• Greenwich Heritage Panel
• Chester Embroidery
• Bunyan Embroidery
• Thames Ditton Wallhanging
• Toronto Historical Embroidery
• Newcastle 900 Anniversary Panel
• Croydon Centenary Panel
• Overlord embroidery
• Pebble Mill Heritage Tapestry
• Quaker tapestry
• New Forest embroidery

The Royal School of Needlework is often involved in the design and/or execution of major embroidery works.

Famous Embroiderers

Beryl Dean

Kaffe Fassett

Ann Macbeth