Featured needlework cushion info

Looks hand-done to my eye.

Debora

 

I'm guessing you weren't taught by nuns?

 

No, but crafts were a compulsory subject at school, and the only one ever where I got less than an A. Except later when I tried to learn to type and my diploma stated “attended”. Still can’t type.

 

Looks machine-made to me... by someone who wasn't taking much time/care while running the machine.

 

Okay, a non-crafter’s question:

Bluumz’s comments made me go look at machines that can make a chain stitch. So, if “handmade" means only something made by a needle and thread without any help from any machine, this might not qualify.

On the other hand, if it was made by someone running a machine like this

,

from a basic design, with individual workers choosing their own colors and making small variations to the shapes, would it be called machine-made or handmade?

Based on the photos of the original in this thread and the one still sold online, these covers are individually made and not exact copies of each other, i.e not made e.g. by feeding a design into machine that would then spit out countless exact copies.

 

The chain stitch machines I'm familiar with are regular sewing machines that don't use a bobbin. They were often hand-cranked in the past and could just sit on a table. Not popular in the USA, but I"d imagine some of our British members have used one. Or seen it anyway.

 

In needlework, it's hand-stitched that matters, not handmade... which can really mean homemade... on a machine.

 

the pattern has probably been done in many different forms for generations

this isnt old, but can only judge it by what it looks like, i think some homemade / hand stitched amateurish hobbyist project

 

Thank you! Very useful to know! I assume the distinction matters mostly in vintage and antique, art etc.

The store that sells these pillowcases in different colors, as we speak, claims they are handmade in Kashmir so may well have been stitched by some sort of machine— especially if changing the thread/yarn and varying e.g. the stitch length is easy. There is a great variation in even the thickness of the thread/yarn here.

I’m so inept at using my own sewing machine —changing stitch length, tension etc etc and feeding the fabric, not to mention changing the thread color, which is major operation for me—that I often find it easier and quicker to sew something by hand.

Edit. Added a link that shows the backside of some old hand-embroidery.

https://www.needlenthread.com/2012/08/other-side-hand-embroidery.html

 

I do fairly well at it. My grandmother taught me to use her machine when I was about nine. She had me threading her needles at five - my eyes worked close-up.(LOL) I have a friend who actually likes stitching quilts by hand; she's even crazier than I am. Her Christmas gift this year was an 1890s quilt top. Badly damaged alas, but hand-stitched. Most fabrics with black dye from that era do NOT hold up; the dye eats the fabric.

 

I used to turn my too loose and straight jeans into tight bellbottom ones when in high school. Have only done pillowcases and curtains since then. Straight lines only.

Here’s link to a store that sells pillows with the same design that Charlie’s pillow has.

The Chandni Chowk Chain Stitch Collection is hand made to a very high standard in Kashmir.

Embroidery stitch work is 100% Wool stitched onto a 100% Cotton base fabric. The embroidery is done using a crochet hook called an 'Aari' and the stitch work follows a design outline applied to the fabric. It requires the use of an embroidery hoop or frame on which the material is stretched taut and secured prior to stitching ensuring an even amount of tension in the stitches, so that designs do not become distorted.
The technique is at least a thousand years old and is the style used for the Bayeux Tapestry and many Jacobean embroidery works. Hand embroidery work, including Crewel Work is one of the most celebrated traditional artisan skills in the Kashmir region.

https://www.chandnichowk.co.uk/product-page/chain-stitch-cushions

Chain stitching/crewel work seems to be one of the promoted handicraft items of Kashmir now. There are lots of fairly recent videos of barefooted Kashmir girls and women sitting in a circle on the floor using this Aari hook, helping them “gain financial independence.” The fabric is certainly not stretched taut or secured in the videos…

Just to make sure — none of this is meant as proof that Charlie’s pillowcase is hand-stitched. I just thought the Kashmir chain stitching was interesting to watch & learn about. (Yes, yet another rabbit hole…)

 

It doesn't need to be for this kind of stitching. I only used an emboridery frame for very detailed work with tiny stitches, like petit point.
Some people use a frame for all their embroidery though.