Are We Losing Traditional Embroidery Skills?

Only 20 years ago the term embroidery was something that conjured up images of our mothers and grandmothers sitting for hours delicately embroidering aprons, clothing or tapestries for use with upholstery. It seems now, that with the every increasing reliance upon technology, the younger generations are not being taught the skills and techniques of embroidery that used to be passed down from mother to daughter.

The modern need for embroidery is normally for corporate use. Where an emblem or motif is stitched onto a shirt or t-shirt. These are mass produced on automated sewing machines. All that is required is a little graphic design, then the design is uploaded to the computer and the sewing machine does the rest of the work, often there is very little need for a human presence, even that of supervision. With these automated systems, there is little call for the process of hand embroidery.

Is hand embroidery still alive?

Yes hand embroidery still has a very large following; however the actual type of embroidery that is catered for is often only what the masses deem to be a good hobby. The most popular being Cross-stitch embroidery. Cross-stitch embroidery is catered for in almost any craft or hobby shop that you go into, and this is excellent, as it shows there is still an interest in the embroidery technique. However, hobby and craft stores often don't supply the needs of the more traditional techniques, such as Assisi, Blackwork, goldwork and many more. These more traditional embroidery techniques require much more specialist skills and knowledge to complete accurately, and these skills are not covered with the Cross-stitch embroidery techniques.

Do we still need hand embroidery?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Although, with the demise of the traditional embroidery techniques, there soon becomes a shortage of people with the skills required to perform restoration projects on heirloom pieces of work containing these stitches and methods.

Is the new embroidery technology a bad thing?

No it's not, for many businesses it automates the process of creating the embroidery. And it can mean a new design can be created in very little time, especially as there is always a call for more complex cross-stitch embroidery designs. What is does remove are the skills to create original pieces of embroidery art work based upon the stitches themselves. Traditional embroidery does not take a picture and make it into a piece of embroidery; rather it uses a mixture of very specific stitches to create a very pleasing design or impression of imagery, just like a piece of art work.

So are we really losing the traditional embroidery skills?

Yes, most definitely. More should be done to promote hand embroidery as a hobby and in many cases an art form. We should lead by example, and encourage the next generation to explore some of the wonderful things that can be created through traditional embroidery methods.

Written by Laura Marsh. Did you find this information on traditional embroidery [http://www.simplyblackwork.com/assisi-embroidery.htm] useful? You can find more about the different traditional methods of hand embroidery at [http://www.simplyblackwork.com]