Beadwork is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary by the kind of art produced. Most often, beadwork is a form of personal adornment, but it also commonly makes up other artworks.
Bead weaving is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads. Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together. It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
Crochet is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term crochet, which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made from a variety of materials, such as metal, wood, bamboo, bone or even plastic. The key difference between crochet and knitting, beyond the implements used for their production, is that each stitch in crochet is completed before the next one is begun, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. Some variant forms of crochet, such as Tunisian crochet and broomstick lace, do keep multiple crochet stitches open at a time.
Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to stitch thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on hats, clothing, blankets, and handbags. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.
Hardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave linen or cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery.
Drawn thread work is one of the earliest forms of open work embroidery, and has been worked throughout Europe. Originally it was often used for ecclesiastical items and to ornament shrouds. It is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of even-weave fabric. The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns. The more elaborate styles of drawn thread work use a variety of other stitches and techniques, but the drawn thread parts are their most distinctive element. It is also grouped with whitework embroidery because it was traditionally done in white thread on white fabric and is often combined with other whitework techniques.
Needlepoint is a type of canvas work, a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Traditionally needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, many needlepoint designs use only a simple tent stitch and rely upon color changes in the yarn to construct the pattern. Needlepoint is the oldest form of canvas work.
Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern. Chain stitch is an ancient craft – examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dated to the Warring States period. Handmade chain stitch embroidery does not require that the needle pass through more than one layer of fabric. For this reason the stitch is an effective surface embellishment near seams on finished fabric. Because chain stitches can form flowing, curved lines, they are used in many surface embroidery styles that mimic "drawing" in thread.
A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high carbon steel wire and are nickel- or 18K gold-plated for corrosion resistance. High-quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and one-third titanium alloy. Traditionally, needles have been kept in needle books or needlecases which have become objects of adornment. Sewing needles may also be kept in an étui, a small box that held needles and other items such as scissors, pencils and tweezers.
Stumpwork or raised work is a style of embroidery in which the stitched figures are raised from the surface of the work to form a 3-dimensional effect.
Armenian needlelace is a pure form of needle lace made using only a needle, thread and pair of scissors.
Tambour lace refers to a family of lace made by stretching a fine net over a frame and creating a chain stitch, known as tambour, using a fine, pointed hook to reach through the net and draw the working thread through.
Chikankari is a traditional embroidery style from Lucknow, India. Translated, the word means embroidery, and it is one of Lucknow's best known textile decoration styles. The main market in Lucknow for Chikankari based products is Chowk. Production is mainly based in Lucknow and in the adjoining districts.
The peyote stitch, also known as the gourd stitch, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Peyote stitch may be worked with either an even or an odd number of beads per row. Both even and odd count peyote pieces can be woven as flat strips, in a flat round shape, or as a tube. Tubular peyote is used to make pouches or to decorate objects such as bottles or fan handles.
Embroidery in India includes dozens of embroidery styles that vary by region and clothing styles. Designs in Indian embroidery are formed on the basis of the texture and the design of the fabric and the stitch. The dot and the alternate dot, the circle, the square, the triangle, and permutations and combinations of these constitute the design.
Brick Stitch, also known as the Cheyenne Stitch or Comanche Stitch, is a bead weaving stitch in which individual beads are stacked horizontally in the same pattern as bricks are stacked in a wall.
Bead crochet is a crochet technique that incorporates beads into a crochet fabric. The technique is used to produce decorative effects in women's fashion accessories. The word "crochet" is derived from the French "croche" or "croc" meaning "to hook". Published descriptions of bead crochet date from around 1824 although it was probably common before then. At one time, bead crochet was thought by some people to be appropriate only for rich people.
English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
Right-angle weave stitch, also known as RAW, is an off-loom bead weaving technique. Beads are stitched together with thread only making right angle turns, hence the name. The result is an almost fabric like piece of beadwork. Right-angle weave can be woven with either one needle or two. With single needle right-angle weave, the thread path moves in a figure-eight pattern. For double needle right-angle weave, the threads cross each other along the center bead of each stitch as they head in opposite directions. RAW can be formed into flat pieces, tubes, or 3 dimensional figures. There are also variations on the basic stitch like cubic right angle weave (CRAW) and prismatic right angle weave (PRAW). Seed beads, fire polished beads and crystal beads are common choices in pieces using right-angle weave.
The Kutch Embroidery is a handicraft and textile signature art tradition of the tribal community of Kutch District in Gujarat, India. This embroidery with its rich designs has made a notable contribution to the Indian embroidery traditions. The embroidery, practiced normally by women is generally done on fabrics of cotton, in the form of a net using cotton or silk threads. In certain patterns, it is also crafted over silk and satin. The types of stitches adopted are “square chain, double buttonhole, pattern darning, running stitch, satin and straight stitches”. The signature effect of the colorful embroidery sparkles when small mirrors called abhla are sewn over the geometrically shaped designs. Depending on the tribal sub groups of Rabari, Garasia Jat, and Mutava involved with this craft work many hand embroidered ethnic styles have evolved. These six styles: Suf, khaarek, Paako, Rabari, Garasia Jat, and Mutava.
