Oh the delights of Google. Today’s wormhole led me to a couple of wonderful embroidery-related discoveries…
Candlewicking
I came across this fascinating article about how frontier women who wanted to embroider turned to using candlewicks due to the scarcity of thread. They also developed stitches that used less thread, avoiding satin stitches in favor of a more open design. I love the look of this.
The Forbidden Stitch
The stitch with the sexiest name comes from Chinese embroidery. The coolest (and apparently fake) story is that it was so intricate that it would turn the embroiderer blind, so was therefore forbidden. The true story appears to be that it comes from the Forbidden City, and was therefore forbidden to be used elsewhere. Along with the backstory, the stitch sadly is not as sexy as its name.
More at NY Times (sub req’d).