Editing Embroidery (section)

=== Historical applications and techniques ===
[[File:A pair of Chinese shoes for bound 'lily' feet Wellcome L0035542.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|A pair of Chinese shoes for [[Foot binding|bound 'lily' feet]]]]
[[File:Elizabeth1book.jpg|thumb|upright|Embroidered book cover made by [[Elizabeth I]] at the age of 11, presented to [[Katherine Parr]]]]
[[File:Ramallah Dress (Palestinian Thobe).jpg|thumb|upright|19th century women's ''[[thobe]]'' from [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]]]
Depending on time, location and materials available, embroidery could be the domain of a few experts or a widespread, popular technique. This flexibility led to a variety of works, from the royal to the mundane. Examples of high status items include elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items often were seen as a mark of wealth and status. 

In medieval England, [[Opus Anglicanum]], a technique used by professional workshops and guilds in medieval [[England]],{{sfn|Levey|King|1993|p=12}} was used to embellish textiles used in church rituals. In 16th century England, some books, usually bibles or other religious texts, had embroidered bindings. The [[Bodleian Library]] in [[Oxford]] contains one presented to [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]] in 1583. It also owns a copy of The Epistles of Saint Paul, whose cover was reputedly embroidered by the Queen.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Needlework : an illustrated history |date=1978 |publisher=Paddington Press |author1=Harriet Bridgeman |author2=Elizabeth Drury |isbn=0-448-22066-0 |location=New York |oclc=3843144 |page=42}}</ref>

In 18th-century [[England]] and its colonies, with the rise of the merchant class and the wider availability of luxury materials, rich embroideries began to appear in a secular context. These embroideries took the form of items displayed in private homes of well-to-do citizens, as opposed to a church or royal setting. Even so, the embroideries themselves may still have had religious themes. Samplers employing fine silks were produced by the daughters of wealthy families. Embroidery was a skill marking a girl's path into womanhood as well as conveying rank and social standing.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/ngv-embroidery-exhibition-imagine-a-12yearold-spending-two-years-on-this-20150324-1m699n.html |title=NGV embroidery exhibition: imagine a 12-year-old spending two years on this... |last=Power |first=Lisa |date=27 March 2015 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=30 May 2015}}</ref>

Embroidery was an important art and signified social status in the Medieval Islamic world as well. The 17th-century [[Turkish people|Turkish]] traveler [[Evliya Çelebi]] called it the "craft of the two hands". In cities such as [[Damascus]], [[Cairo]] and [[Istanbul]], embroidery was visible on [[handkerchief]]s, uniforms, flags, [[calligraphy]], shoes, [[robe]]s, tunics, horse trappings, slippers, sheaths, pouches, covers, and even on [[leather]] [[Belt (clothing)|belts]]. Craftsmen embroidered items with [[gold]] and [[silver]] thread. Embroidery cottage industries, some employing over 800 people, grew to supply these items.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200703/the.skill.of.the.two.hands.htm |magazine=Saudi Aramco World |title=The Skill of the Two Hands |last=Stone |first=Caroline |date=May–June 2007 |volume=58 |issue=3 |access-date=2011-01-21 |archive-date=2014-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013230148/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200703/the.skill.of.the.two.hands.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 16th century, in the reign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Akbar]], his chronicler [[Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak]] wrote in the famous [[Ain-i-Akbari]]:
{{blockquote|His majesty [Akbar] pays much attention to various stuffs; hence [[Iran]]i, [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]], and [[Mongolia]]n articles of wear are in much abundance especially textiles embroidered in the patterns of ''Nakshi'', ''Saadi'', ''Chikhan'', ''Ari'', ''Zardozi'', ''Wastli'', ''Gota'' and ''Kohra''. The imperial workshops in the towns of [[Lahore]], [[Agra]], [[Fatehpur Sikri|Fatehpur]] and [[Ahmedabad]] turn out many masterpieces of workmanship in fabrics, and the figures and patterns, knots and variety of fashions which now prevail astonish even the most experienced travelers. Taste for fine material has since become general, and the drapery of embroidered fabrics used at feasts surpasses every description.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/201104/mughal.maal.htm |magazine=Saudi Aramco World |title=Mughal Maal |access-date=2011-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222152801/http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/201104/mughal.maal.htm |archive-date=2016-02-22 |url-status=live |last=Werner |first=Louis |date=July–August 2011 |volume=62 |issue=4}}</ref>}}

Conversely, embroidery is also a [[folk art]], using materials that were accessible to nonprofessionals. Examples include [[Hardanger embroidery]] from Norway; [[Drawn thread work#Poltava-style drawnwork|Merezhka]] from [[Ukraine]]; [[Mountmellick embroidery]] from Ireland; [[Nakshi kantha]] from [[Bangladesh]] and [[West Bengal]]; [[Achachi (embroidery)|Achachi]] from [[Peru]]; and [[Brazilian embroidery]]. Many techniques had a practical use such as [[Sashiko]] from [[Japan]], which was used as a way to reinforce clothing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Handa City Sashiko Program at the Society for Contemporary Craft|url=http://www.japansocietypa.org:80/event-2293412|website=Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705152304/http://www.japansocietypa.org/event-2293412|archive-date=5 July 2017|date=7 Oct 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seamwork.com/issues/2016/04/sashiko|title=Sashiko|website=Seamwork Magazine|publisher=Colette Media, LLC|language=en|access-date=2018-01-26|first=Kat|last=Siddle}}</ref>

Historically, embroidery was often perceived primarily as a domestic task performed by women, frequently viewed as a leisurely activity rather than recognized as a skilled craft.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Fowler |first=Cynthia |title=The Modern Embroidery Movement |date=April 25, 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Visual Arts |isbn=978-1350123366 |edition=1st |location=London}}</ref> Women who lacked access to formal education or writing implements often used embroidery to document their lives through stitched narratives, effectively creating personal diaries through textile art, especially when literacy was limited.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Barber |first=Elizabeth Wayland |title=Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times |date=April 1, 1994 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393035063 |edition=1st |location=New York}}</ref>

In marginalized communities, embroidery has also served as a tool of empowerment and expression. For example, in Inner Mongolia, embroidery initiatives arose in response to economic pressures intensified by climate change, including desertification, allowing women to express themselves and preserve cultural identities through traditional embroidery skills.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Community threads together |url=https://www.chinadailyhk.com/hk/article/252552#Community-threads-together-2021-12-20 |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=chinadailyhk}}</ref> Embroidery has also preserved the stories of marginalized groups, particularly women of color, whose experiences were historically underrepresented in written records. In South African communities, embroidered "story cloths" have captured and preserved critical perspectives and events otherwise missing from historical narratives.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Merwe |first=Ria van der |date=2017 |title=From a silent past to a spoken future. Black women’s voices in the archival process |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/23257962.2017.1388224 |journal=Archives and Records: The Journal of the Archives and Records Association |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=239-258 |via=Taylor & Francis}}</ref>