Embroidery

Embroidery is the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. Embroidery is most often used on caps, hats, coats, blankets, dress shirts, denim, stockings, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available with a wide variety of thread or yarn color.

The basic techniques or stitches on surviving examples of the earliest embroidery—chain stitch, buttonhole or blanket stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, cross stitch—remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today.

History

Origins

The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery. Indeed, the remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted:

The art of embroidery has been found worldwide and several early examples have been found. Works in China have been dated to the Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC). In a garment from Migration period Sweden, roughly 300–700 AD, the edges of bands of trimming are reinforced with running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, tailor's buttonhole stitch, and whipstitching, but it is uncertain whether this work simply reinforced the seams or should be interpreted as decorative embroidery.

Embroidery (short story)

"Embroidery" is a science fiction short story by author Ray Bradbury. This story was originally published in 1951 by Stadium Publishing Corp. It is included in the collection A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories (2005).

Plot summary

The plot of "Embroidery" follows three women (who themselves are not described) as they attempt to sew back in the world that surrounds them before it ends in an apocalyptic manner.

The story is set in America, though no real description of the location is given within the story it appears to be an isolated house surrounded by fields and meadows as is the scene in one of the women's pieces of work.

Despite the extreme shortness time makes a constant appearance within the story as the women count down to 5 o'clock, at which time an experiment will occur, the results of which are unknown to the women. The constant reference of time is used to build up a climactic effect, creating a sense of tension as the women await their fate.

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