An Overview of Medieval Embroidery Stitches

The word embroidery is derived from the medieval French/anglo-saxon word for edge, first used to describe the embroidery used on church vestments. Evidence that peoples adorned their clothing with decorative stitches goes back until the Iron Age. But not many good examples survived until the Anglo-Saxon and Viking ages. (Staniland, 4)

The earlier stitches were running/double running, couching, back/stem stitch, chain stitch and split stitch. The Bayeux tapestry probably commissioned by Odo the bishop of Bayeux from 1049/50 to 1097. (Staniland, 57) was produced using couching, stem stitch and chain stitch.

Appliquéing scraps of fabric onto a ground fabric was also widely used, there are several examples that still exist dating to the 13^th century. The edges of the applied fabric were secured in hem stitch and sometimes a few lines of a couched thread. Edges could also be sealed with bees wax to keep them from fraying. There are few surviving examples but there are many mentions of decorative wall hangings made using the appliqué technique. (Staniland, 33)

Cross stitch was also used but not in the way we do today. 12^th century chasuble(a priest’s outer garment) worked in long-armed cross stitch from the Black Forest area of Europe still exits today. Another example of cross stitch being used is a seal bag produced around 1319 in London. The seal bag was embroidered with the arms of the city of London done in cross stitch, under side couching and split stitch. (Staniland, 36) Also Assisi embroidery popular in the 13^th century uses a voiding technique with cross stitch. In this style of embroidery the pattern is left blank and the background is filled in with stitches.(Lesner)

Other styles of counted embroider would have been tent stitch(needle point stitch), brick stitch and black work. Brick stitch, a kind of satin stitch was a popular embroidery technique in Germany in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. (Staniland, 37) Black work is done using double running stitch to make a (mostly) reversible pattern in black silk on white linen.

Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife has widely been attributed to bringing blackwork to England from Spain. But there are descriptions of embroidery that sounds a lot like black work in works by Geoffrey Chaucer (Gostelow, 13) So it is very possible that the English knew of the stitch well before Catherine.

This is a very very brief over view of some of the stitches used in Medieval embroidery. I have recently discovered embroidery and how rewarding it can be. It is more work that just using trim but it really makes your garb look more authentic, and it is fun too. So happy stitching.. Have you done your strand today?

Bibliography

Gostelow, Mary, Blackwork: Dover Publications INC., 1976

Leszner , Eva Maria; Assisi Embroidery: B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1988

Staniland, Kay; Medieval Craftsmen: Embroiderers: University of Toronto Press, Toronto Canada, 1991.

Web resources for Medieval Embroidery

Great site on book reviews for embroidery

http://www.therotunda.net/elspeth/em-books.html

Anglo-Saxon emb. Site

http://www.regia.org/embroid.htm

A great site on the history of embroidery

http://crossstitch.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.needlepoint.org%2FArchives%2F00-03%2Fhistory-i.htm

Tent stitch reference and other canvas work

http://members.aol.com/tbyrnes883/armonye/canvas.html