Hand Embroideries / Needlework

Updated: Mar 3

Materials required for Hand Embroidery / Needlework
How to lock the thread before starting embroidery...
Common Embroidery Stitches
How to select right kind of fabric, Needles and Threads for Hand Embroidery...
Safety Precautions for Hand Embroidery
Embroidery Crafts are good for Mental Health and Well-being!

Maya has just started her school vacation; it’s different this year though! All these years, she was used to packing her bags and proceeding to an expensive holiday with her parents. This year Maya’s mom Grace decided to spend time with their grandma, Daksha at her ancestral home. While Maya loved the grand welcome and the affection displayed by her grandma, she was particularly missing her favourite TV shows, mobile phone, etc. It’s not that there was no connectivity at her grandma’s place, there were super strict restrictions about how much time she could spend on digital screens, ‘My house, My rules’, said the grand old lady!

Maya just didn’t know how to spend her time without digital screens and she was bored to the hilt! After her futile episodes of tantrums & upset, Maya was forced to take a look around the house and find something to spend her time. The dominant boredom and extra time-in-hand, made her aware of some interesting things in her surroundings, that she had never noticed before. Her grandmother’s place was nothing short of a house of wonders with almost everything in the decor unique and hand-crafted! Hand-embroidered pillows, landscape paintings on the wall, and more. This was so different from the bought decor prevalent in her circle, you could find something similar in every other house she had been to!

She noticed how her grandmother used to spend lazy afternoons embroidering lovely motifs on the corners of new pillow covers! Not finding anything else to do, she decided to keep her tantrums aside, and sat observing her granny in the hand-embroidery sessions.

‘Would you like to try this’, was the unexpected response from the senior lady!

‘What me? Oh,we youngsters do big things in academics, sports or something digital…you know….real skills for 21st centuryl!’

‘No harm trying it once, now that you are trapped in my century for few days!’

…And voila!....always prepared for everything granny, opened her ornate desk and appeared a lovely gift bag. Contents of the embroidery bag…

Materials required for Hand Embroidery

Embroidery threads
Embroidery scissors
Round embroidery frame
Embroidery needles
Fabric pencils
Tracing papers
Thread clippers
Thimble
Fabric

…and what should I start with….exclaimed Maya!

‘You can help me with something I have started’.

Daksha, gave her a table cover with some printed motifs. ‘Just run the needle up and down the line, but make sure that the action is equidistant. But before you start, let’s learn to lock the thread’.

How to lock the thread before starting embroidery...

‘Oh, I know that bit….I will roll the thread end between my fingers a couple of times and a knot will be formed. This will rest at the back of the fabric and lock the thread…correct?’ beamed Daksha.

‘Well…that’s a bit amateurish, let’s learn how professionals start their embroideries!’ Daksha made Maya make a few overlapping back stitches at the same spot on the fabric leaving a small tail of thread at the back. The thread itself locked between the yarns of the fabric, without leaving an ugly lump at the back. ‘Oh, that was some technique’, thought Maya.

Next, she started covering the printed lines on the pattern, running the needle up & down the fabric. ‘What is this stitch called Grandma?’, ‘Running Stitch’ was the prompt response!

As Maya’s needle progressed through the fabric, her boredom and prejudice to the craft started evaporating. As, she embroidered curved lines, one after the other, it felt as if she was going through a journey. A journey so encompassing, that for some time, it made her forget about all the negative thoughts and stressful episodes that her notorious, teenage mind otherwise played again and again.

Surprisingly, Maya found herself enjoying the craft! Every time she finished a section, there was a sense of proud, satiety, and something else that she couldn’t explain. She completed the motif in next few days and couldn’t keep herself from looking at the piece of art again and again. The pride in her eyes of being able to create something beautiful & tangible, that will now be proof of her dexterity, focus & aesthetic sense forever was amazing. Granny happily gifted the table cover to Maya and asked her to keep it. She would proudly show it to her friends when she went back home after vacations.

Now, that beautiful piece of art in running stitch was over, she wanted to learn more complex stitches. While scanning her granny’s study, Maya came across a lovely poster. This poster had a table with names, sub-styles & cultural information about a large number of hand embroidery stitches.

‘Are there actually so many!’ exclaimed Maya.

‘No, there could be many more, these are just the basic ones that every embroidery enthusiast, should know about. Embroidery as an art has been developed and perfected in every culture as per their own life experiences, skills and availability of resources. It can take a lifetime to gather all the amazing stuff that has been done by experts around the world in hand embroideries’, explained Daksha.

Common Embroidery Stitches

Stitch	Variations	Style	Reversible	Regional Styles
Running		Line	Yes	Kantha, Spanish Black Work
	Interlacement	Line/Block	No	Kantha
	Double Running	Line	Yes	Kasuti, Spanish Black-work
Back		Line	Yes	Kasuti, Black work
	Chevron Stitch	Block	No	European Embroideries
	Turkey work	Surface	No	European Embroideries
Stem		Line	Yes	Asian Embroideries, Spanish Black work
	Split Stitch	LIne	No	European Embroideries
Chain		Line	No	Kutch, Mochi, Ari, Kashida, European Embroideries
	Lazy Daisy	Block	No	European Embroideries
	Threaded Chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
	Zig-zag chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
	Twisted chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
	Squared chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
	Feathered Chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
	Heavy chain	Line	No	European Embroideries
Feather Stitch		Line	No	Universal
Buttonhole/Blanket		Edge/Shape	Yes
	Long & short blanket	Edge/Shape	No	European Embroideries
	Closed blanket	Edge/Shape	No	European Embroideries
	Double blanket	Edge/Shape	No	European Embroideries
	Knotted blanket	Edge/Shape	No	European Embroideries
Overcasting		Edge/shape	Yes	Generic
Cross		Block	No	Canvas, Counted thread work
	Double Cross	Block	Can be	Spanish Block Work
Sindhi Taropa		Block	No	Sindhi Embroidery
Couching		Surface	No	European Embroideries
	Circular couching	Block	No	European Embroideries
Satin		Shape	No
	Basic	Block/Shape	Yes	Kashida & Chamba Rumal
	Surface	Block/Shape	No	Phulkari
	Long & short	Block/Shape	No	Kashida & Chamba Rumal
	Padded Satin stitch	Block/Shape	No	European Embroideries
Herringbone		Shape	No	Gujarat Kutch Embroidery, Bengal Kantha Embroidery
	Double herringbone	Shape	No	European Embroideries
French knot/Bullion		Knots	No	European Embroideries
Smocking		Surface	No	European Embroideries/ Indore work
Pattern darning
	Pulled Work/Open work	Block	Yes	Luckhnow Chikankari / European Embroideries
	Cut work/Open work	Shape	Yes	European Embroideries
	Drawn thread work/Open work	Shape	Yes	European Embroideries
Basic Weaving stitch		Surface	No	European Embroideries
	Woven Web	Surface	No	European Embroideries
	Spiders Web	Surface	No	European Embroideries
Stone / Metal Embroideries		Surface	No	Asian & Middle Eastern Embroideries

Day-after-day Maya spent hours with her grandmom and her equally grand poster,

Embroidery Sampler

picking up one stitch after the other and developing some motifs on a sampler, so that she could carry it home for reference whenever she wanted to practice hand-embroideries. It was through conversations in these leisure hours that the amateur embroiderer realised the importance of fabric , thread and needle selection for making hand embroideries:

How to select right kind of fabric, Needles and Threads for Hand Embroidery...

She realised that although embroideries can be done on almost every kind of fabric, canvas and matty are the first choice for amateurs as they can literally count the number of threads, and holes to be able to produce a uniform embroidery. Similarly when it comes to thread selection, always begin with twisted cotton threads and as one becomes comfortable with the art, twisted and untwisted silk threads could be used as well. The needles for embroidery would come in different thicknesses and sizes. Beginners could use tapestry needles (thick and blunt points can be used in fabrics with already defined holes). However, more confident embroiderers, working on thinner fabrics would work with sharp-tipped, thinner needles that would slide between the yarns but not make a damaging hole in the fabrics. So, the finer the fabric, the finer the needle is the thumb rule.

However, Granny’s training didn’t just limit itself to embroidery stitches. In the course of their conversations, she would explain to Maya the art and science behind color combinations, how colours and stitches could be used to visually communicate without the help of words etc.

Picture Credits: Manjul Malhotra

Picture Credits: Nitika Garg

Picture Credits: Prachi Mehrotra

However, the most tedious part of these sessions was that before every session, granny would make Maya read all safety precautions to be taken while working on hand embroideries. ‘It is important to keep yourself, people sitting around you safe and your work environment tidy; irresponsible behavior with pins and needles can lead to fatal accidents.’ So she was made to repeat everyday:

Safety Precautions for Hand Embroidery

Always sit with a pin-cushion at an approachable distance. All the pins and needles not being used at that point of time should be safely secured in the pin cushion.
Whenever you want to take a short/long break from embroidery, do not leave the needle hanging from the fabric. Secure it safely double dipped in the fabric, the way you would do for a running stitch.
You can use thimble to protect your thumb and fingers from pin pricks.
Never use old, rusted needles and pins. These can cause serious infections with a small prick.
Discard rusty or broken pins and needles safely wrapped in a paper before throwing it away in the bin. This is for the safety of people who might be engaged in sorting or disposing the garbage.
Always keep a strip of small bandges handy in your embroidery kit to deal with pin pricks.
While embroidering, never pull the needle in the direction of your eyes/face or towards someone else sitting around you. This will help avoid accidental pin pricks to your own body and people sitting around you.
The embroidery thread in the needle should not be so long that you have to pull your hand away from the shoulder to pull the thread out of the fabric. Too long a thread increases the possibility that you might inadvertently hurt yourself or the person sitting next to you.
Never practice embroidery in crowded spaces where you do not have enough space to move your hands safely.
Do not practice embroidery in moving vehicles.
Last, but not the least, pack the contents of the embroidery kit immediately after the work is completed for the day. Do not keep the contents open and scattered even if you have the luxury of a secluded work area.

Oh, that's a long list, one that she has to go through religiously everyday, before starting on her work.

Embroidery Crafts are good for Mental Health and Well-being!

The vacations ended and Maya said goodbye to her granny & her house of wonders with a proud bag, full of her own hand-embroidered wonders. These pieces of art would forever be a testimony and happy reminder of her capabilities, the fruitful time spent with her nanny, and the lifelong learning she got in the process.

On her flight back home, Maya kept thinking about the strong, deep and calm feeling of achievement that she felt after completing every hand-embroidery motif. The experience of constructing art pieces was so different than her experience on social media, computer games, and more where every achievement brought more stress and aggression, as if a package deal! While she had always looked to her screens for entertainment and to destress, she realized she had almost always exited the screen (tv, mobile, computer), more agitated than before. The feeling of happiness and self-satisfaction she got after pouring her heart out on the fabric and making individual decisions about design, colour combinations and stitches to be used; was unparalleled. Something that could not be described in words. Every craft she developed, left her so much calmer, proud, and observant towards small details she had missed out in her life so far.

This is the kind of stuff they say about therapies right?

Self-learning for Personal Development