Composition in Embroidery... Understanding it's importance.
Understanding Composition in Embroidery
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| Needle painting using French knots, couching, and seed stitches. |
be a mountain scene embroidered in cross stitches or a vase of colorful flowers embroidered in ribbons, beads, and thread. Or a piece of colorful abstract art that is more your style.
Why did it catch your eye when you first saw it? Why do you like it even now?
If you say "It's the way it all comes together", you are right. What you described is a little thing called Composition.
In today's masterclass, let's discuss it.
What is Composition?
The composition or texture of a surface is how something feels; visually, and the actual feel of it.
To an embroidery artist, the composition of a piece of embroidery is a way to express who they are in their work.
Their embroidery work is the surface they use and technique and color are the devices that express the emotion of their pieces.
There are two types of composition... Actual and visual.
Actual Texture is physical; the actual surface of a piece… is it rough or smooth; bumpy or flat? It is the result of the materials and the techniques used.
In embroidery, this would include the fabrics, and the materials and techniques used to embroider the fabric.
Visual Texture is when an artist uses their skill to create the illusion of an object's texture… the shiny surface of the skin, the fluid folds of a table cloth, or the twinkle in an eye.
In the world of embroidery, we use both forms of composition actual and visual texture to add detail and composition, taking our art closest to nature and we hook both color and technique into the texture to achieve the most natural appearance to the work.
Creating Texture in a Pattern with Stitches
How do embroidery artists build texture? Simply put, by a limited stitch pallet together with simple techniques. They use their imagination and design rather than a complicated process.
You can do this too. Consider limiting your stitch pallet and technique and use your imagination to create your masterpieces. A few simple stitches arranged a certain way in an effective color pallet is all it could take.
Stitches that Create Texture
When it comes to adding dimension to hand embroidery, the stitches themselves add lots of visual interest to a piece.
Contrasts of knots with smooth line stitches or incorporate more intermediate woven and textural stitches that will pop off of the surface of your work.
The stitches that create flat lines are straight stitch, seed stitch, couching, running stitch, and cross stitch. These will incorporate techniques like shadow work, void work, or needle painting.
For all forms of raised work, the stitches sit on the surface of the material to create a three-dimensional picture.
These stitches would include French knots, bullion stitches, couching stitches, satin stitches, buttonhole stitches, and the stitches used in stump work, padded work, and bead embroidery.
Creating Composition with Techniques
Hand embroidery technique is defined by the way the many embroidery stitches are worked when worked by hand.
Often stitches like the straight stitch have endless variations that can be used in a design. The stitches can be controlled by playing with the tension of the thread… a tighter thread creates smaller stitches that sit closer to the fabric and give it a sketch-like quality.
So, choose a simple stitch and color palette, and begin your work.
Work Techniques Created by the Stitches
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| Picture courtesy of Pinterest. |
Open work like cut-work embroidery and drawn thread embroidery.
Counted thread work, like cross stitch and black work.
Void work where the embroidery fills the background of the design.
Stumpwork Is padded embroidery with a 3D look. This work combines mank techniques; silk work, gold-work, counted work, flat & raised stitching, bead-work, padding, and needle lace to create the effect of projection and texture.
Raised work or padded embroidery worked to form a three-dimensional effect. Zardosi work, and Laid work.
White work, white embroidery stitches are done on white fabric like shadow work, and Broderie Anglaise (eyelet embroidery).
Applique fabric cut out in designs and embroidered on a base fabric.
Crazy Patchwork, is the assembling of small pieces of material on a base material and then working them with hand stitches.
Outline work worked in back stitch, chain stitch, and stem stitch.
Needle painting or silk shading is a design filled with straight stitches in different shades of the same color.
Bead Embroidery beads are stitched to the surface of the fabric to create your picture.
Hardanger is a counted embroidery technique that involves making small cut-work squares in between blocks made with a satin stitch.
Candlewick embroidery is French knots that fill the full design.
Regional-specific embroidery work, originated in different countries of the world, thousands of years ago...Japanese embroidery, Brazilian embroidery, and so on.
These are just a few. Being skilled in a few of them is more than adequate to be counted among accomplished artists.
My point is... you can do beautiful, artistic pieces with nothing more than your imagination, a simple stitch palette in a set of colors that please the eye.
I hope this article, together with the one on Color theory has given you what you need to get started practicing your skill.
Soon, as your technique and skill improve you will become an accomplished embroidery artist.
At Tiny Strand Stitchery, our Freestyle Stitches and Creative Stitches embroidery courses take you into these wonderful techniques. You will learn about stitch techniques, color and composition, and much, much more.
Get in touch to find out more about our courses. We conduct Individual or group lessons for beginners and intermediates or individual and group refresher workshops. We are just an email away.
Join me next time to learn how to use composition in your embroidery, and don't forget to leave a comment telling me your thoughts.
Until Then... Happy Sewing!
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