As my series on embroidery and needlework continues, I thought I’d bring to your attention drawn thread work. You probably have seen it around on tablecloths and fine linen clothes and always wondered about it. What makes it really interesting is it’s not that hard to do and the results are gorgeous, fashionable, and you can maybe recycle a piece of linen clothing in the end (once you learn the techniques).
Drawn thread work is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of even-weave fabric. The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns. The more elaborate styles of drawn thread work use in fact a variety of other stitches and techniques, but the drawn thread parts are their most distinctive element.
Today, the most popular style of drawn thread (cutwork) is Hardanger. It originally comes from Norway, and there from the traditional district of Hardanger. The backbone of Hardanger designs consists of satin stitches, in geometrical areas both warp and weft threads are removed and the remaining mesh is secured with simple weaving or warping, or with a limited number of simple filling patterns. The designs tend to be geometric, if they include flowers or such they are very stylized due to the nature of the technique. Hardanger never includes Buttonhole stitches, except for securing the edges of a piece of fabric.
It is usually executed using rather coarse fabric and thread. It was known in all Europe at least since the early 20th century, but it was only one style among many others. After it was made popular in the 1980s by some enthusiasts it became a craze. It is easy enough that hobby embroiderers can learn it from written instructions only and produce intricate pieces in a reasonable amount of time. The patterns available today are of course adapted to meet every possible modern taste.
Modern Hardanger fabric is an even weave cotton material woven with pairs of threads, typically twenty-two pairs per linear inch in both directions, referred to as “22-count.” The weave gives a squared appearance to the fabric (similar to Aida cloth), with distinct holes, making it easy to count and work on. Other evenweave fabrics are also suitable for Hardanger embroidery but do not usually have the clearly defined block appearance.
On a cold and snowy evening you can download the book on “Encyclopedia of Needlework” and as mentioned before it’s pretty easy to learn from pictures and descriptions. Or go to Caron.net for more history and photos.
Give it a try.
