The Stitch Safari Podcast

The romantic and exquisitely wrought designs of the Japanese aesthetic featured on numerous Kimono, inspired many through their elegance and exoticism.  From the understated, to the overt, from wartime propaganda kimonos of the 1930’s and 40’s to some of the most beautiful depictions of blossoms and geometric patterning ever seen, the Kimono seduces and captivates, still.

Rank Badges or Mandarin Squares as they’re also known, are a true representation of the elegance and diversity of East Asian embroidery – there’s absolutely nothing not-to-like here, combining design and embroidery skill of an extremely high level – an experience that should not be overlooked in the annals of research or design styles.

Dragon Robes conjure exotic, mythical images of a colourful past concept of the mysterious Far East, drawing deeply on ancient Chinese culture and symbols, creating exquisitely embroidered garments of magnificent elegance and technical prowess.

East Asian Silk Embroidery - an exquisite and stunningly beautiful art form emerging from China, the ancient masters of silk, migrating to Korea and Japan – forming the remarkable and unmistakable, East Asian embroidery aesthetic. 

Embroidery was front and centre, of Elizabeth I's wardrobe, playing its role in enriching surfaces, referencing the symbology of colour – a tool highly used in Elizabethan times, and the means by which she could communicate through the sometimes disparate elements of the designs used.  

Bess of Hardwick is probably best known for the immense value of the inventories she had made sometime during 1601, itemising all the furnishings and embroidered textiles from her three properties – many of which were examples of her own craftsmanship and that of Mary Queen of Scots. 

There was one event during 1520 that was quite possibly the costliest, most excessive, most elaborate, dazzling display of overt and blatant showiness and wealth the world had ever seen.  It was, of course, the man-made chivalric court festival known as The Field of The Cloth of Gold.

The Tudor’s were the great image-makers of their time, glorified by some of the world’s most magnificent paintings and extant textiles and embroideries, displaying both their majesty and their rituals.

Dimension and height in the needle arts create visual excitement and form,  and the Elizabethan’s propelled this form of embroidery to a whole new level in their Raised or Embossed work. 

This delicate, counted thread technique, traditionally worked in black thread on a white or off white even-weave fabric such as cotton or linen, has a long lineage, harking back to its North African and Moroccan roots as the true birthplace for this style of embroidery.