In honor of World Embroidery Day, here’s a beginner’s design. Even if you have never stitched before, you can do this one.
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Symbolism in Needlework compilation
Sometimes when I am designing a piece, no matter how big or small it may be, I want to include some symbolism. Either as a special meaning, an inside joke, or merely to continue a tradition that has spanned millennia of embroidery, I want the item I am stitching to just say something *more*.
What I have had to help me in this has been volumes of mythology, the internet, and notes on little scraps of paper. But that has meant I spend more time looking for my notes or relooking on the internet for information I have already collected. I actually just did a ‘files that contain the word’ search in order to find some notes while writing this blog post.
So, here is a work in progress of thoughts I may want to symbolize in my stitching, compiled over years of studying embroidery and art, and far from complete. So if you also want to add a concept or a deeper meaning to your work, this will be at least a good place to start looking.
If there is a concept I have not yet touched on, please let me know. This is a work in progress and certainly not a finished collection.
Authority: staff
Beauty: rose, shell
Betrothal: clasped hands, red carnation, ring
Blindness: beetle
Charity: bread, child, cornucopia, dove, fruit, heart, hen, lamb, lioness, pelican, phoenix, hen, stag
Cleverness: cat, serpent, squirrel
Compassion: milk
Courage: bees, eagle, leopard, lion, salamander, thyme, edelweiss
Cruelty: Bear, crab
The Dead: cherries, cherry trees
Death: crow, swan (good death), primrose (early death), butterfly (early death)
Deceit: cat, crab, daisy, duck
Devil: locust, dragon, serpent, pig, frog, goat, leopard, monkey/ape, owl, toad
Devotion: candle
Diligence: Bees, ants, human arms, chair, dolphin
Discipline: valerian (readiness), scythe, spider
Eternity: circle
Evil: crow, dragon, fly
Fertility: barley, cornucopia, lotus, strawberry
Friendship: basket of flowers, forget-me-not, garland of roses
Gentle: hare, hart, lamb
Gluttony: pig
Goal: castle
Gossip: parrot
Grace: swan
Greed: toad
Grief: anemone, tomb, urn, weeping willow
Happiness: basket of fruit, cherries, butterflies, holly
Health: cornucopia, basket of fruit, caduceus, cherry tree
Honor: Hyssop, anvil, castle, crescent moon (hope for)
Hope: bees, birdcage, crow, holly, anchor, bread and wine, crown, fish, lion, phoenix, rainbow, scallop shell, ship
Hospitality: candle, chair, pineapple, table, bread, wine, apple, barrel
Humility: donkey, camel, daisy, dove, lamb, ox, violet
Ill temper: bear
Immortality: phoenix, peacock, ivy, kingfisher, milk, pomegranate, scallop
Innocence: crown, flowers, garland, lily, strawberry, violet, lamb, child
Jealousy: crocodile, rat
Justice: lion, scepter, thunderbolt, scales
Knowledge: fountain, key, sun
Lazy: monkey/ape, snail
Liberty: butterfly, cat, hawk, bell, fish, wings
Life: fountain, water, well
Life after death: barley, pair of birds, butterfly, phoenix, wheat, corn, holly, ivy, lizard, octagon
Longevity: trees, apple, pine, oak, basket of flowers, deer, dove, elephant, hare, knot, marigold, stork, tortoise/turtle
Love: bird, bows and ribbons, dolphin, apple, basket of fruit or flowers, birds, carnation, heart, shell, swan, rose, tulip
Loyalty: dog, dove, anchor, elephant, goose, forget-me-not, kingfisher, key, pine, ivy, swan, violet, cumin, ring
Luck: clover, horseshoe, ship, vase of carnations, crow (bad), peacock (bad)
Lust: monkey/ape, toad
Marriage: clasped hands, dove, pair of ducks, ship, geese
Masculinity: horse
Melancholy: violet
Metamorphosis: caterpillar, butterfly
Mischief: squirrel
Moderation: clock
Mortality scissors (open)
Motherhood: basket, beehive, pink carnations, cow
Old age: grasshopper, oak tree
Overcoming trials: Acanthus, heron
Patience: donkey, ox, ram, rose
Peace: kingfisher, olive, apple, caduceus, cornucopia, elephant, flowers, lion & lamb, rainbow, instruments
Perfection: circle
Perseverance: ram, bee, cock, camel, hawk
Playfulness: butterfly
Pleasure: butterfly, moth
Power: bull
Pride: cock, falcon, hart, horse, mirror, ox
Prosperity: acorn, fruit, olive, pomegranate, moth (destruction of)
Protection: iris, thistle, woodpecker
Prudence: camel, hedgehog, anchor, deer, dolphin, elephant
Purity: iris, lamb, lily, peacock, harp, hart, lily, marigold, stork, strawberry, unicorn, milkmaid
Resurrection: lizard, swallow
Salvation: dolphin, well
Selflessness: bees
Self Reliance: acorn, duck
Servitude: chain
Sobriety/temperance: bees, camel, clock, elephant
Solitude: crow, hart
Straightforwardness: bull
Stealth: cat
Strength: acorn, bull olive, pillar (support)
Stubbornness: donkey, turtle (good)
Stupidity: donkey
Trust: robin
Truth: bell, lamp, well, heart, lozenge, raven
Vanity: mermaid, mirror, peacock, poppy (all looks, no value)
Vengeance: bear
Victory: garland
Watchfulness: candle, cock, griffin, dog, dragon, goose, hare, lion, peacock, weathercock
Wisdom: bees, book, lamp, lion, owl, serpent, elephant, fox,
Women: pincushion (virtuous), vase
Youth: primrose, sun, lamb
Winter Warmth: A Fiber Art Show
I am very happy to say that I have had three pieces included in the Springville Center for the Arts fiber art show this year. They are on display right now in their great gallery space.
These are my shoes, which are one of my favorite pieces.
My shawl, which was actually designed fro Stevie Nicks, although not chosen by her for use.
This is my Anne Boleyn at Traitor’s Gate
And these are my men and me.
I am going to see if I can upload a gallery, where I can explain these pieces in detail.
Other than that, I am very thrilled and happy.
First (and probably oldest) Throwback Thursday!
What is this?
I am willing to bet, you can not only name the tool just by looking at it, you have one in your home, and you know the basics of how to use it. You have probably used it in the past, yourself.
You know they are old. After all, your grandmother and her grandmother used them. What you probably don’t realize is how very old they are.
This one is at least 50,000 years old and is the oldest needle we have found yet.
Yes this one was hand carved from a bird’s bone, while the ones you have tucked away were probably mass produced by machine from metal (here’s a video showing it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZJPpuL2sqQ
What amazes me is not just that scientists working at the Denisova cave in Siberia have found the world’s oldest (so far) needle, it’s how very old the technology is. We are all amazed by living fossils, those plants and animals that haven’t changed in thousands or millions of years, but this is a living fossil of technology. It wasn’t even made by our human ancestors, but by other hominids who have since died out. And it most likely predates string, as the need for a needle is caused by the use of sinew, hair, and plant fibers, prior to those items becoming thread. To me, the jump from sewing practical stitches to sewing decorative stitches (the essence of embroidery) is so minimal, I doubt this lovely needle wasn’t used for embroidery work.
And even though the materials have changed as our ability to work new materials has developed, the tool itself and the way it’s used has not changed at all. Please let me know if you know of any other tool still in common use today that hasn’t changed from in 50,000 years. And you can still purchase brand new ones made of bone:
For more info, here’s the Siberian Times article about the needle. And very cool jade bracelets.
http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0711-worlds-oldest-needle-found-in-siberian-cave-that-stitches-together-human-history/
I think that makes for a good first Throw Back Thursday. I’m not sure it’d be possible to take needlework any further back.
