Embroidery is widely viewed as a historic craft, as something that people, mainly women, only did in the past. Embroidery is certainly more common in historical clothing, as in eras when clothing was made by hand, a skilled seamstress would add careful details like embroidered embellishments and patterns. With modern-day clothing manufacturing, embroidery is definitely less present in our clothing, and thus less present in our daily lives. That doesn’t mean it’s any less important a skill than it once was – merely a less common skill.
While embroidery was more often used historically, it’s still a skill that is practiced today because of its continued significance in cultural traditions and the enjoyment of embroidery as a hobby.
As embroidery was more common historically, it’s become embedded within a great deal of cultural traditions that many people continue to engage in. For example, all types of Czech kroje (pronounced kroy-eh) incorporate elaborate, decorative embroidery and every detail, pattern, and color harkens back to a particular Czech cultural group (Bohemian, Moravian, or Silesian) and even to specific towns. Embroidery is, therefore, a vital part of preserving Czech history and culture. Today, American Czechs will often research their family’s history to make and decorate their kroje in line with their ancestors’ traditions. Such is the case in my family. My cousin, the current Miss Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen, Josephine Davis, and her mother, Brenda Davis, spent days researching and embroidering to honor our family history through their kroje.
Embroidery’s historical significance is seen in other places, too. For instance, Lagartera, Spain, is home to a unique kind of embroidery called “labrado” that uses special techniques not found anywhere else in the world. The skill of embroidery helps keep the vibrant traditional dress of the small town in Castilla-La Mancha alive and well.
Much like other fiber arts, such as sewing or knitting, embroidery is still a very common hobby. Personally, I enjoy spending my free time on various embroidery projects, some of which are purely decorative (like the embroidery kits found in craft stores) and some of which are functional (like my current project of making my own set of kroje). As I mentioned previously, others in my family – especially my cousins and aunts – enjoy embroidery as well. In addition, there are various thriving online communities devoted to embroidery, varying from TikTok pages to blogs. Embroidery isn’t an antiquated technique, nor solely devoted to practical pursuits: it’s a popular hobby that’s alive and well.
Embroidery holds incredible and enduring historic and cultural significance, but it is also a thoroughly modern hobby. Embroidery brings cultural traditions from the past to the modern day, and because of that, its importance cannot be understated. It doesn’t belong solely to history or to modernity; instead, embroidery fits neatly into both.
