Hardanger Embroidery (pronounced har danger) got it's name from a little town in western Norway. To the women of Norway, their aprons were such a very important part of their dress, that they would adorn their aprons with this beautiful type of stitching. This type of embroidery needle work, is very old and can be dated back to Persia and Asia, where the work was done with colored silk on a very fine gauze netting. this type of embroidery work was easy to do, as well as easy on the eyes. The hardest part is keeping a correct thread count, this is absolutely necessary in order for the pattern to emerge flawlessly.
In a book "Haranger Embroidery by Jill Carter" Jill writes that "Traditional Hardanger Embroidery is characterized by satin stitch blocks (Klostersaum) formed into geometric designs, and the cutting and withdrawal of threads within these shapes. The resulting grid is embroidered and embellished with needle weaving (Stoppesaum) and lacy infilling stitches, thereby making it stronger as well as decorative."
Since the square is the foundation on which this beautiful needle work is based on, any fabric woven in a square mesh, with the warp and the filling are of equal size, (that way when the threads are draw there will always be a perfect square) which means there are more fabrics today that are not only beautiful but great for hardanger embroidery as well. With more fabrics to work with, some of the most common stitches in hardanger embroidery, which are the Kloster stitch, the diagonal Kloster stitch, Kloster blocks stitch, the diagonal Kloster block stitch can be used to make embroidered works of art.
Comments (0):