Embroiderers' Guild of America

Last updated

Formation1970
Founded atNew York City
131914577

The Embroiderers' Guild of America, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, [1] is an organization dedicated to "fostering the art of needlework and associated arts." Its members practice any and all forms of needlework, and are dedicated to education and community outreach. EGA has chapters throughout the United States. Chapters are organized into regions. Events are organized at all levels of the organization.

Contents

Membership in EGA is open to anyone interested in embroidery from the beginner to the professional. Members work within local chapters or a member-at-large network to improve their skills and knowledge. Also, the organization and individual members are involved with museums for education and preservation purposes. EGA offers individual and group correspondence courses, teacher and judge certification programs as well as master craftsman programs.

The Guild's definition of embroidery is intentionally un-confining: anything made "using a needle with an eye in it". In 2020 the national guild has over 8,800 national and international members organized in 260 local chapters in 13 regions, as well as 3 online chapters. [2]

History

1957: needlework class

Three women, Dorothy (Mrs. F. Huntington) Babcock (formerly Dorothy Doubleday), Margaret (Mrs. Daryl) Parshall, and Miss Sally Behr (later Pettit) form a needlework class in Mrs. Babcock's New York City apartment. The following year this group launched the American Branch, Embroiderers' Guild of London.

The Guild was created in 1958, in New York City, as a branch of Embroiderers' Guild of London. In 1970 the Guild withdrew from the London Guild and established The Embroiderers' Guild of America. [3]

The organization's head office in Louisville includes a gallery for displays from its permanent collection and changing exhibits of embroidery.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embroidery</span> Art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn

Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, overlays, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses, stockings, scarfs, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin wool work</span> Embroidery technique using worsted yarns

Berlin wool work is a style of embroidery similar to today's needlepoint that was particularly popular in Europe and America from 1804 to 1875. It is typically executed with wool yarn on canvas, worked in a single stitch such as cross stitch or tent stitch, although Beeton's book of Needlework (1870) describes 15 different stitches for use in Berlin work. It was traditionally stitched in many colours and hues, producing intricate three-dimensional looks by careful shading. Silk or beads were frequently used as highlights. The design of such embroidery was made possible by the great progress made in dyeing, initially with new mordants and chemical dyes, followed in 1856, especially by the discovery of aniline dyes, which produced bright colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal School of Needlework</span> Embroidery school in Hampton Court Palace

The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) is a hand embroidery school in the United Kingdom, founded in 1872 and based at Hampton Court Palace since 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crewel embroidery</span> Type of embroidery using wool

Crewel embroidery, or crewelwork, is a type of surface embroidery using wool. A wide variety of different embroidery stitches are used to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Yeats</span> Irish artist (1866–1949)

Susan Mary Yeats, known as Lily Yeats, was an embroiderer associated with the Celtic Revival. In 1908 she founded the embroidery department of Cuala Industries, with which she was involved until its dissolution in 1931. She is known for her embroidered pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Morris</span> An English artisan, embroidery designer

Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model, Jane Morris.

Erica Wilson was an English-born American embroidery designer based in New York, known particularly for needlepoint. She also designed wallcoverings and greeting cards. Her designs were published by Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Wilson earned the nicknames "Julia Child of embroidery" and "America's first lady of stitchery" for her work.

The Embroiderers' Guild is the UK's leading educational charity promoting embroidery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cutwork</span> Needlework technique

Cutwork or cut work, also known as punto tagliato in Italian, is a needlework technique in which portions of a textile, typically cotton or linen, are cut away and the resulting "hole" is reinforced and filled with embroidery or needle lace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knotted stitch</span> Any of various embroidery stitches in which the yarn or thread is knotted around itself

A knotted stitch, also known as knot stitch, is any embroidery technique in which the yarn or thread is knotted around itself. A knotted stitch is a type of decorative embroidery stitches which form three-dimensional knots on the surface of a textile. Common knotted stitches include French knots, coral stitch, and Pekin knot which is sometimes also referred as French knot although there is a difference in techniques between these two stitches. Knotted stitches can be subdivided into individual or detached knots, continuous knotted stitches, and knotted edgings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straight stitch</span> Type of simple embroidery and sewing stitch

The straight or running stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric at a regular distance. All other stitches are created by varying the straight stitch in length, spacing, and direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English embroidery</span> Embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Whyte</span> Scottish embroiderer and teacher of textile arts

Helen Kathleen Ramsay Whyte MBE (1909–1996) was a Scottish embroiderer and teacher of textile arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxburgh Hangings</span>

The Oxburgh Hangings are needlework bed hangings that are held in Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, England, made by Mary, Queen of Scots and Bess of Hardwick, during the period of Mary's captivity in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework</span> American arts and crafts society, 1896-1926

The Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework was founded in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1896 by Margaret C. Whiting and Ellen Miller. They formed the society in 1896 as a way to help residents boost the town's economy by reviving American needlework from the 1700s. It was inspired by the crewel embroidery of 18th-century women who had lived in the Deerfield, Massachusetts, area. Members of the Blue and White Society initially used the patterns and stitches from these earlier works, but because these new embroideries were not meant to replicate the earlier works, the embroidery soon deviated from the original versions with new patterns and stitches, and even the use of linen, rather than wool, thread. The society disbanded in 1926 for several reasons. Ellen Miller was in declining health; the trained stitchers were getting old and could not continue; Margaret C. Whiting's sight was fading; and, the design and quality of commercially produced items was increasing.

Louisa Pesel (1870–1947) was an English embroiderer, educator and textile collector. She was born in Bradford, and studied textile design at the National Art Training School, causing her to become interested in decorative stitchery. She served as the director of the Royal Hellenic School of Needlework and Lace in Athens, Greece, from 1903 to 1907. Pesel served as the first president of the Embroiderers' Guild. She produced samplers for the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum and cushions, kneelers, alms bags and a lectern carpet for Winchester Cathedral. She collected textiles extensively, and following her death in Winchester in 1947, her collection went to the University of Leeds.

Leek Embroidery Society was established in 1879 in Leek, Staffordshire. It was known for producing both domestic and ecclesiastical embroidery work, which was granted prestigious awards for its fineness and high quality. The Society also developed a form of embroidery using tussar silk and aimed to promote art embroidery and fine needlework which would be shown in many international exhibitions. The establishment of the Leek Embroidery Society also led to the founding of the Leek School of Art Embroidery.

Ada Grace Ida Christie (1872–1953) was an English embroiderer, teacher and historian of embroidery who published a comprehensive work on opus anglicanum in 1938, documenting every known example. "She is regarded as one of the most influential people in the early twentieth century with respect to the development of embroidery and embroidery studies in Britain and elsewhere."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Giving Alliance</span> American non-profit organization specializing in new clothing acquisition and donation

National Giving Alliance, formerly Needlework Guild of Philadelphia, Needlework Guild of America, and NGA, Inc., is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides clothing and other essential living items along with other charitable services to children and families in need in the United States, including unhoused families and those from low and moderate income households.

References

  1. "The light is better in Louisville" was the winning pitch in 1989, when the location for a new national headquarters, formerly in New York, was being decided.
  2. "Embroiderers' Guild of America | We Promote Embroidery". EGA. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  3. "Embroiderers' Guild of America | We Promote Embroidery". Embroiderers' Guild of America. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.