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December 8, 2011

E is for Embroidery (again)

Decorating textile by hand with needle and thread may be a dying handicraft. Machines can do most of that embellishing work today faster and cheaper.

But in the Chinese southwestern mountain province of Guizhou I still saw a lot of amazing hand embroidery - often on attractive traditional ethnic Miao costumes that I must one day show you.

Today I share with you this intricate silk embroidered bell tower wall hanging that was being prepared for display at a local trade show in the provincial capital Guiyang. [Better seen enlarged, of course.]



Guizhou, 2006

If you are partial to exquisite embroidery, you can see my earlier posts about embroideries I found in Mongolia here and here.

The letter is E at Alphabe-Thursday, so hop on over and see what E topics others have found to post.

32 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 8, 2011 at 9:56 AM

    They are so elegant, fancy, and intricate looking embroidery work! Love the mix of colors too.

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  2. StephDecember 8, 2011 at 10:04 AM

    I love the fine Miao embroidery and the Yi embroidery as well. You were close by as I live in the neighboring province. The Kazahk embroidery is lovely too. I'm envious you were able to visit Mongolia.

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  3. JudieDecember 8, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    Francisca, I watched a woman enbroider some fabric in a film that was made in Saudi Arabia. It was soooo painstaking that I was overwhelmed with what it took to create one finished piece. Thank you so much for your wonderful post.

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  4. DeniseinVADecember 8, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    It looks stunning and it must be absolutely breathtaking to actually see it.

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  5. PondsideDecember 8, 2011 at 2:53 PM

    This makes my efforts at needlework look quite rudimentary! Such detail and colour - gorgeous.

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  6. cieldequimperDecember 8, 2011 at 3:17 PM

    Patience is the word. It is one thing I lack.

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  7. AndyDecember 8, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    This is absolutely stunning. Your photos brought out the best.

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  8. biebkriebelsDecember 8, 2011 at 7:31 PM

    It looks beautiful, nothing can do better than handcraft.

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  9. ElisaDecember 8, 2011 at 7:46 PM

    It´s wonderful Francisca!
    Greetings
    Elisa, in Argentina

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  10. FlowerLady LorraineDecember 8, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    What an exquisite piece of hand embroidery.

    Thanks for sharing.

    FlowerLady

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  11. AndreaDecember 8, 2011 at 9:12 PM

    That is amazing and so beautiful. I am also fascinated by the unsymmetrical shapes of the individual pieces joined together! The Chinese are known in history to be very artistic people, at least they are preserving the embroidery tradition. Did you get yourself one piece like that?

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  12. AnonymousDecember 8, 2011 at 10:44 PM

    The colors in this are amazing! What a wonderful piece!

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  13. Cezar and LéiaDecember 8, 2011 at 11:08 PM

    I love the intensive colors and so beautiful design!They are very creative and talented!
    ** vous êtes Belge!!!! How cool!
    bises
    Léia

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  14. anitamombanitaDecember 9, 2011 at 1:06 AM

    The piece in the first photo is simply exquisite!!

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  15. Susan AndersonDecember 9, 2011 at 1:10 AM

    Simply gorgeous!

    =)

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  16. Susan AndersonDecember 9, 2011 at 1:11 AM

    (Or maybe I should have said, "Exquisite"...)

    ;)

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  17. Sallie (FullTime-Life)December 9, 2011 at 1:35 AM

    Beautiful Kaleidoscope-like patterns. I can barely imagine the talent and patience that goes into creating something this lovely.

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  18. AnonymousDecember 9, 2011 at 2:02 AM

    Wow - it's all stunning!

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  19. LolaDecember 9, 2011 at 3:05 AM

    Superb ‘E’ post – so beautiful!

    Have a great weekend & look forward to *seeing* you soon.

    Here’s mine

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  20. Melbourne Australia PhotosDecember 9, 2011 at 3:36 AM

    I have tremendous admiration for the patience these people have in creating these craft pieces.
    Great photos!

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  21. EG CameraGirlDecember 9, 2011 at 4:24 AM

    I love embroidery (used to do a LOT of it) so you can post it every time E comes around...if you show us new photos. :))

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  22. ElisaDecember 9, 2011 at 5:11 AM

    My dear Francisca,
    Not even a mention in Elle. I have to recognize that it was a little dissapointing :(
    My best regards
    Elisa, in Argentina

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  23. GattinaDecember 9, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    No machine can replace such a work ! Beautiful ! In Morocco I saw also still a lot of handmade things like the famous carpets for example.

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  24. Carole M.December 10, 2011 at 5:48 AM

    I used to do a lot of embroidery (under stitching label); I was really taken with this post and wonderful vibrancy.

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  25. The PoetDecember 11, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    Hello.
    WoW! I'm in no way shape or form qualified to even sew a button, but I know quality when I see it. This is magnificent! I wonder how long it would take to make something like that? The detail, the colors, the skill...I'm in awe of these talents.
    Excellent post!
    Thanks for sharing.

    For ref:
    Eleven Roses And You

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  26. Cheryl D.December 11, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    That is absolutely stunning! I can't imagine the amount of work that goes into doing that by hand!

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  27. KaoriDecember 11, 2011 at 9:17 PM

    Wow, that must take so much time to finish! Handmade crafts are so special and I hope it never dies out. The photo of it spread out is stunning!

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  28. UnknownDecember 12, 2011 at 6:03 AM

    wOW,these are beautiful. Very colourful too.

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  29. jennyfrecklesDecember 13, 2011 at 4:05 AM

    That's magnificent; the colours sing. There must be hours of work in it.

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  30. UnknownDecember 14, 2011 at 3:01 AM

    So much work. Great patterns!

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  31. Vicki/JakeDecember 16, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    Way late visit...but how beautiful! Can't imagine the hours of work that went into this. Pure art....

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  32. JennyDecember 16, 2011 at 11:53 PM

    I am so glad you shared these Elegant Embroideries....

    Extraordinary!!

    A+

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