Micron Document




Needlework
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
top
Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile handicrafts that involve the use of a needle.cite-ref-1[1] Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a hook), or tatting, (which uses a shuttle).

Similar abilities often transfer well between different varieties of needlework, such as fine motor skill and knowledge of textile fibers. Some of the same tools may be used in several different varieties of needlework.

Contents

Types

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Background

Needlework was an important fact of women's identity during the Victorian age, including embroidery, netting, knitting, crochet, and Berlin wool work. A growing middle class had more leisure time than ever before; printed materials offered homemakers thousands of patterns. Women were still limited to roles in the household, and under the standards of the time a woman working on needle work while entertaining the parlor was considered beautiful. According to one publication from 1843: "Never is beauty and feminine grace so attractive as, when engaged in the honorable discharge of household duties, and domestic cares."cite-ref-victorian-2-0[2]

Fancy work was distinguished from plain sewing and it was a mark of a prosperous and well-managed home to display handmade needlework. While plain sewing was often handed over to servants, even in middle class households, fancy work would often be done while entertaining guests, in the afternoons, evenings, or on Sundays. The types of goods that could be decorated with needlework techniques was limited only by the imagination: knitted boots, embroidered book covers, footstools, lampshades, sofa cushions, fans and on and on.cite-ref-victorian-2-1[2]

Types

Bead weaving: loom and off-loom
Braiding and tassel making
Lucet
Sewing

See also
References

cite-note-11. "Needlework". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
cite-note-victorian-22. citerefledbetter2012Ledbetter, Kathryn (2012). Victorian Needlework.

External links

Look up

needlework

in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to

Needlework

.

Wikisource has several original texts related to

Needlework

.

Art in Needlework: A Book about Embroidery by Mary Buckle and Lewis F. Day, available through Project Gutenberg
Beeton's Book of Needlework by Isabella Mary Beeton, available through Project Gutenberg
Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont, available through Project Gutenberg