Back to the Crewel World: Yarn Embroidery Revisited

Heirloom crewel embroidery (Annake's collection)

(Last month I promised to revisit the subject of crewel embroidery. This is a topic that we posted on in 2015 and 2016. To prevent too much duplication of information and techniques, I will give you links to those posts from time to time.)

An article in one of our regional newspapers cited the return of interest in embroidery. As someone who never lost interest, I found this very encouraging. It said some new embroideries were less about decoration than in past decades, and they tended more toward slogans and expressions of personal choice and opinion. There's certainly nothing wrong with that. Tee shirts and sweatshirts have been doing that for ages. Some designs were described as whimsical or comical. (If you want to sell your needlework,  you must be careful not to use a design based on copyrighted characters like Disney cartoons or syndicated comic strips.) A lot of work was called “very individualistic”. I always encourage readers to use the techniques you've learned to create something uniquely your own. Even when I provide a pattern, I try to describe how you can vary it greatly in color, stitches, background material, etc. You can even use the same pattern to create an entirely different form of needle art, or use it in a different medium entirely. These are points I intend to strongly emphasize in upcoming posts.

Drawing, turned into a needlepoint chart, works for crewel as well

The word crewel refers to the type of yarn, a loosely twisted 2-ply (2-strand) wool yarn. Traditionally, crewel embroidery is done with a 2-ply wool yarn on a medium-grade to fine-grade linen.

Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry

One of the oldest (and largest) pieces of crewel embroidery still in existence is the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting William the Conqueror's victory over England in 1066 AD. (Although called a tapestry, it is really a huge embroidery rather than a woven tapestry.) You might have seen recent news stories about this famous work. (Look here and here.) The piece, believed to have been made by needleworkers in Normandy and completed about 1100 AD, is 231 feet long (!) and 20 inches high. Besides land and sea battles, it shows many details about the costumes, artifacts, techniques and customs of the era.

Crewel pillow cover

Like Spanish blackwork, crewel embroidery became popular in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.  She loved roses and native wildflowers, so those motifs were widely used, along with leaves and vines like those in this much more recent (20th century) pillow cover.  One of the major functions of this type of embroidery was to provide warmth: the embroidery added weight and thickness to bed curtains, canopies, draperies and wall coverings made of linen or wool. The work was usually done by a number of needleworkers supervised by an experienced embroiderer who may also have designed the motifs. Lovely examples of this work are exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Modern bag embroidered in the Jacobean style

Crewel embroidery reached the peak of its popularity during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I 's successor, King James I, who liked to do the embroidery himself. (Crewel was never considered ‘un-manly’ in much of the world.) The work of this period was also called Jacobean Embroidery. This 20th-Century European handbag is done in the Jacobean style.  The designs were heavily influenced by Chinese and other Oriental fabrics, porcelains, and lacquer-work beginning to be imported into England at that time. The Jacobean influence can still be discerned in modern crewel embroidery.  Dragons and other mythical creatures were also popular in the 17th Century.

Early colonists brought crewel patterns and techniques to the New World, where they became quite popular. Some of the stitches commonly used were running stitch, double running stitch, back-stitch and cross-stitch. These basic stitches were further embellished by such techniques as whipping, lacing, and interlacing.  If more experienced embroiderers will bear with me for a few paragraphs, I will demonstrate these stitches for beginners.

A running stitch (also called a basting stitch) is one that covers the same number of threads each time, leaving a blank space of the same number of threads between the stitches.

A double running stitch starts at the end of the running stitch line, often with a second color, and fills in the spaces between the running stitches.

The next row shows a running stitch (dark blue) whipped (overcast) with a second color.  That second color stays on top of the fabric except at the two ends.

The next row shows a double running stitch in two colors that is then whipped with a third color.

This next stitch is the laced running stitch.  It begins with a running stitch (dark blue). The second color (rose) stays on the surface of the fabric except at the ends. It is pulled into a little arc under each running stitch and forms a longer, shallower, downward arch between stitches. This gives it a scalloped appearance. If I were doing this on linens or a garment that needed to be washed, I would use thread from the background fabric to couch the arches to the fabric. That is, I would hold the loops down with tiny upright stitches at the centers of the loops.

The laced double running stitch starts with a double running stitch in two colors. Lace it with a third color. Because the arches are caught at the joining of two stitches rather than crossing an empty space between stitches, the top and bottom arches are the same size and the scalloped effect is gone. This is another stitch pattern that benefits from couching.

For the next pattern row, do the double running row in a single color. Keeping the second color on the surface except at the two ends, loop it around the places where the running stitches join. This is the Pekinese stitch, which usually doesn't require couching.

If you know how to back-stitch, you can whip, lace, and do Pekinese stitches on rows of back-stitching as well, adding to your ‘vocabulary’ of stitches. Practice these stitches until you feel comfortable with them. You can use them for curved lines as well as straight ones, but you need to keep the stitches the same size as you do that.

As I noted earlier in this post, traditional crewel embroidery is done with a 2-ply wool yarn on a medium-grade to fine-grade linen. Some show judges will not let you call a piece "crewel embroidery" unless it is done this way. That was fine, I suppose, in the 17th Century when the technique was at its peak, but it is the 21st Century, and time to broaden our horizons!  Personally, I like to do this technique on wool or a good wool-like synthetic with anything from 1 to 5 plies of yarn (both wool and acrylic), using all kinds of flosses, metallic threads, etc., for special effects.  I like crewel yarn and 3-ply Persian yarn that I separate as needed. Separating the plies also allows me to blend them by combining different colored plies together in my needle.

A blended yarn sampler

Unfortunately, these yarns have become more expensive and harder to find.  Also, some people are allergic to wool or simply can't afford it. Feel free to experiment with the cheaper, more readily available alternatives. You may find some acrylic and other synthetic yarns easier to embroider with than others.  Practice with them so that you can make good choices before you begin a project.

Crewel needles that are sold as such are usually designed to handle 1-ply or 2-ply yarn.  If you want to work or experiment with more plies, you will need needles that have large enough eyes to accommodate the extra yarn. Try to get an assortment of needles with different lengths and sizes of eyes. The needles should have sharp points that slip between the threads of the background fabric. If the needle point punches a hole in the fabric, it is too large and heavy.

Surface stitching anchored by the outline

I also like to keep a variety of blunt-pointed tapestry needles on hand. Once I have outlined the edges of a design part, I often fill the center with stitches that lie flat on the fabric but do not penetrate it. They are held in place by running them underneath the outline stitches.  While the yarn should not be loose enough to move out of its place on the surface of the fabric, it must not be pulled tight enough to pull the outline out of shape. This requires a little practice on a small piece of the fabric to get it just right. The blunt tapestry needle will slip under the outline stitches without splitting them.


You will need some sort of support for your work, otherwise it will eventually pull out of shape. If you are a beginner and doing small projects, start with a set of a 6-inch, 8-inch, and 10-inch hoops. Please use wooden hoops. Metal and plastic ones slip. For more ambitious projects, you may want a frame. Here is a popular kind:

Large adjustable needlework frame

Some other things you will need, if you don't already have them at hand, include: a pair of small, sharp scissors; a bag or basket that never contains anything but your needlework; a well-fitting thimble (if you use one) and a ruler or measuring tape.

For the next "family" of crewel stitches, both beginners and experienced stitchers can follow this link:

The Chain-Stitch Family, Part I: Plain Chain With Variations

Watch for another crewel article soon. Enjoy!

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A World in Stitches - Introducing Folk Embroidery

Hello, again, and Happy New Year! It’s taken a while to get back up to speed after the holiday break, but we’re brimming with ideas for a new season of posts. We will introduce you to some new artisans, new arts, and new techniques for some crafts we’ve explored in previous articles. We will take up new needlework topics like trapunto and reverse applique and non-needle arts like batik; but that doesn't mean we will neglect old favorites like needlepoint: we plan to feature new ideas for shaped four-ways, patterns based on optical illusions, and a hybrid form of tapestry work that I like to call “stained-glass stitchery.” We hope each of you will find something you like and want to try. As for needlework, we plan to devote quite a bit of space to folk embroidery, starting with this post.

What Is Folk Embroidery?

Hand-made bone needle, used to sew the tunic shown below

Folk embroidery, like most folk arts, began in rural areas, where people made simple homespun fabrics or in remote places where the skins and furs of animals were used for clothing, bedding, and even shelter. Decorative stitching and applied objects served to make coarse, drab fabrics appealing and to express individual creativity. At various times and places, stitches were combined with feathers, seeds, bones, teeth, claws and porcupine quills. The first “sequins” were probably fish scales or beetle wings. Sinews and plant fibers were used before thread, floss or yarn were invented. Did you know that the first known needles were carved from ivory in what is now France some 20,000 years ago? 

Viking style tunic with fishbone stitch seams

J.D. and I occasionally do programs about life in the Viking Age. Because we have to make or trade for all of our garb, tools, and gear, we do a great deal of research to assure what we use and show is as authentic as possible. Unfortunately fabric, thread, and yarn are fragile compared to stone, metal, and wood. They rarely survive for centuries. For embroidery, I study photographs of very old pieces from museum collections to identify familiar stitches and to understand how unfamiliar ones were made. I compare pieces from different geographic areas. It is like a treasure hunt. Often it is possible to follow the progress of a pattern or technique over great distances. For example, one can see how the wool and silk embroideries brought by the Moors when they conquered Spain became the inspiration for the exquisite blackwork embroidery of the Elizabethan Age in England. Or one can follow techniques from the Byzantine Empire up the great rivers to the Baltic states, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.

I was offended some years ago when a so-called “expert” on the Viking Age (a man, of course) proclaimed that the women of that time knew only eight embroidery stitches. How do I know that he was wrong? First, five decades of teaching have shown me that most innovations are the result of mistakes – such as not having enough of one color of thread to do what you’ve planned; or of misunderstandings – the fishbone stitch that seams the tunic above can be accomplished two entirely different ways, and it’s impossible to tell which is used unless you can see the back of the stitch; or of desperation – fabric was precious in those days, and women had to salvage what they could when Ole got too fat for his britches, or got blood on his new tunic butchering a pig (or a Saxon, as the case may be). And what do women do when they get together? They exchange information on everything from recipes and child care to networking and politics. They always have; they always will. Don't you think they would have done the same thing with embroidery stitches and patterns?

Let me show you how you can learn eight stitches in a very short time. You will need a scrap of fabric, a needle, and three colors of floss. Start with the simplest possible stitch –- the running or basting stitch (see below). Make ten rows of this stitch evenly spaced apart. (I have made very large stitches for visibility; yours don't need to be so large. The stitches will look neater at a smaller scale.) Be sure each row is firmly anchored at both ends.

Leave the first row of stitches as it is. With the second color, and working from the opposite direction, fill in the spaces between the stitches in the second row. This is the double running stitch and is the basis for the Holbein stitch I wrote about last summer. In the third row, the running stitches are whipped (overcast) with the second color. This is the whipped running stitch. The second color stays on top of the fabric except at the two ends. Make the fourth row into a double running stitch like the second row. Then whip (overcast) all the stitches with your third color, which stays on the surface except at the ends where it pierces the fabric. This is the whipped double running stitch.

The fifth row illustrates the laced running stitch, in which the second color stays on the surface and is pulled into a little arch under each stitch –- with a longer, shallower arch in the opposite direction between stitches. This gives it a pretty scalloped appearance. (If I were using this on linens or a garment that had to be washed, I would use a strand of the background thread to couch down [hold the stitch in place with a tiny upright stitch] each arch at its center.) Make the sixth row into double running stitch with the second color. Then lace it with the third color. This is the laced double running stitch. Because the arches are caught at the joining of two stitches rather than crossing an empty space between stitches, the top and bottom arches are the same size and the scalloped effect is lost. This is another stitch that benefits from couching. Make the seventh row into double running stitch, but this time use only your first color. Keeping the second color on the surface except at the ends of the row, loops the floss around each place where the running stitches join. This is the Pekinese stitch, which doesn't usually require couching. (If you know how to back-stitch, you can whip, lace, and do Pekinese stitches on a row of back-stitching just as you did on the running stitches – and thereby double the number of stitches I promised to show you!)

The last two stitches are worked between two rows of the running stitch. For the first of these, make a cross-stitch in each space between the rows of running stitches. This has no name as far as I know. The shapes created, however, are often called lozenges, so I suppose we could call it the lozenge stitch. The eighth stitch requires an extra step. First, turn both rows into double running stitches with your first color. Bring your needle with the second color up halfway between the two rows of stitches. Make a Pekinese stitch around the first joining on the bottom row of stitches. Then make a Pekinese stitch on the joining directly above on the top row. Continue alternating bottom and top stitches all the way across, ending by pushing your needle down midway between the rows at the other end. This is called the interlaced double running stitch.

Now you know eight more stitches, based on nothing more than simple running stitches and the concept of wrapping another thread around or between them. Wasn't that easy? Keep experimenting with doubling stitches, reversing them, combining them or adding more colors. Who knows? Maybe you will invent an entirely new stitch! You can see some new stitches on the hand-embroidered blouse below.

Enjoy your new stitches,

Hand-embroidered blouse from Hungary

  This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.