FOR THE LOVE OF EMBROIDERY (A hand embroidered shirt / Izvezena košulja)

Hello there! I will add a little update to this post published in November 2014. The reason why I felt like this post needs a little update is simply because I wanted to write a bit about embroidery. 

I always enjoyed embroidery. I consider it a form of art!

CITED FROM BRITANNICA  https://www.britannica.com/art/embroidery

embroidery, art of decorating material, primarily textile fabric, by means of a needle and thread (and sometimes fine wire). The basic techniques include crewel work, needlepoint, cross-stitch embroidery, and quilting, as well as quillwork and featherwork.

Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings show that clothes, couch covers, hangings, and tents were so decorated. Quilting was known to the ancient Persians and, at the time of the Battle of Marathon (490 bce), quilted garments were worn as armour; Greek vase paintings show these quilted suits covered with embroidery. Greeks depicted on vases from the 7th and 6th centuries bce and later are dressed in embroidered garments.

The earliest surviving embroideries are Scythian, dated to between the 5th and 3rd centuries bce. Roughly from 330 ce until the 15th century, Byzantium produced embroideries lavishly ornamented with gold. Ancient Chinese embroideries have been excavated, dating from the T’ang dynasty (618–907 ce), but the most famous extant Chinese examples are the imperial silk robes of the Ch’ing dynasty (1644–1911/12). In India embroidery was also an ancient craft, but it is from the Mughal period (from 1556) that numerous examples have survived, many finding their way to Europe from the late 17th to the early 18th century through the East India trade.

tylized plant and floral motifs, notably the flowering tree, influenced English embroidery. The Dutch East Indies also produced silk embroideries in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Islamic Persia, examples survive from the 16th and 17th centuries, when embroideries show geometric patterns far removed by stylization from the animal and plant shapes that inspired them, owing to the Qurʾān’s proscription of depicting living forms. In the 18th century these gave way to less severe, though still formal, flowers, leaves, and stems. In the 18th and 19th centuries a sort of patchwork called Resht was produced. Of the Middle Eastern work in the first half of the 20th century, there is a colourful peasant embroidery made in Jordan. In western Turkestan, Bokhara work with floral sprays in bright colours was done on covers in the 18th and 19th centuries. From the 16th century, Turkey produced elaborate embroideries in gold and coloured silks with a repertoire of stylized forms such as pomegranates, the tulip motif eventually predominating. The Greek islands in the 18th and 19th centuries produced many geometric embroidery patterns, differing from island to island, those of the Ionian islands and Scyros showing Turkish influence.

Northern European embroidery was, until the Renaissance, mostly ecclesiastical. An extant cape embroidered with eagles, presented to Metz Cathedral by Charlemagne, well represents Carolingian embroidery. The 10th-century stole of St. Cuthbert, embroidered in gold thread, preserved in Durham Cathedral, is the earliest surviving English embroidery. The 11th-century Bayeux tapestry—which is, in fact, embroidery—is Norman work done in England. The Crusades transmitted motifs of Saracenic art (such as pairs of confronting stylized animals), further reinforced Byzantine influence in Europe, and initiated heraldic embroidery. The sacks of Antioch (1098) and Constantinople (1204) resulted in pillage of embroideries, which (possibly as “conscience” gifts) were afterward presented to the church. Heraldry, also a formative influence after this time, is represented by the tunic (c. 1376) of the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral. The greatest period of English embroidery was 1100–1350, when it was known all over Europe as opus anglicanum (Latin: “English work”). In 1561 Elizabeth I granted a charter of incorporation to the Broderer’s Company, a further step in the development of secular embroidery already apparent in Henry VIII’s reign. Sixteenth-century English and French embroidery were closely related, both tending, for example, to adapt engraved designs for their needlework patterns. Embroidery during this period was becoming an amateur craft rather than a profession, a change that was even more marked in the 17th century. The fashion for crewel work, or worsted (wool) embroidery, dates largely from the 17th century, as does needlepoint, or canvas work. Samplers, used to record stitches and designs, became mainly decorative after the appearance of pattern books.

Embroidery in 17th- and 18th-century North America reflected European skills and conventions, such as crewel work, although the designs were simpler and the stitches were often modified to save thread; samplers, embroidered pictures, and mourning pictures were the most popular.

In the early 19th century almost all other forms of embroidery in England and North America were superseded by a type of needlepoint known as Berlin woolwork. A later fashion, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, was “art needlework,” embroidery done on coarse, natural-coloured linen.

The South American countries were influenced by Hispanic embroidery. The Indians of Central America produced a type of embroidery known as featherwork, using actual feathers, and certain tribes of North America developed quillwork, embroidering skins and bark with dyed porcupine quills.

POST LINK UPDATE

MORE POSTS FEATURING EMBROIDERY 

ANOTHER VISIT TO BUNA IN A GOLDEN DRESS WITH EMBROIDERED DETAILS IN THIS 2014 POST

A GOLDEN DRESS WITH EMBROIDERY (MY OWN  FLOWER DESIGN) IN THIS 2016 POST

SEE HOW I WORE A GOLDEN DRESS I DID EMBROIDERY ON IN THIS 2017 POST

AND CLOSE UP PHOTOS OF MY EMBROIDERY IN THIS 2014 POST

SEE HOW I DID EMBROIDERY ON A VINTAGE MAXI DRESS IN THIS 2018 POST (and in this 2019 post as well)

WHAT CLASSIC MENTIONES EMBROIDERY? WELL, THE SCARLET LETTER!

READ MY BOOK REVIEW OF THE SCARLET LETTER HERE.

SEE MY EMBROIDERED DENIM VEST IN THIS 2017 POST (AND IN THIS 2015 POST TOO)

POST UPDATE 

BUNA- A GREEN OASIS NEAR MOSTAR CITY 

I wrote about Buna many times and for a good reason. It is a gorgeous area and I visit it frequently. Bunica recreational zone is such a lovely place, especially in summer time. Swimming is allowed as the rivers aren't dangerous. I'd say they're much a safer option that Neretva river that is quite cold but also very potent and fast. If you're staying in Mostar, this is a must see as well. Alternatively, you can also choose to stay here. There are motels and villas here, and there is also some private accommodation available. If you're a bird lover (especially a duck lover) bring some bread with you, because the ducks here seem to be always hungry. Moreover, ducks are not the only birds you can see there. 

If you're into bird-watching, this is a pretty good spot. I've saw some interesting birds here in the past, mostly woodpeckers, so I'd say Bunica is a nice destination for bird watching. For example in 2013, I showed you a photograph I took of a beautiful bird Euroasian Hoopoe. The same year, I showed you the spring of river Buna that is said to be the most powerful spring in Europe.  If, you want to see more of this place, you can read about one of my earliest visits here (2013), you can see an outfit post with Buna in the background here (2013), you can read about spring time and my love of flowers here (2017), you can read about my most recent visit here (2017), you can read about winter magic in Buna revisited post here (2016), you can read about summer magic here (2015). Bellow you can find even more links to some of my older posts about Buna and my visits to this place: 

April 6th, 2013

November 28th, 2016

May 16th, 2017

June 10th, 2018

January 24th, 2018

May 18th, 2018

March 20th, 2019

March 27th, 2019

September 14th, 2019 

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: MOSTAR AREA HAS A LOT TO OFFER

Besides being a beautiful city, Mostar has the added benefit of having great destinations in vicinity. That makes it a great city base for exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina. I wrote about this in the past and I will wrote more in the future. I like to blog about Bosnia and Herzegovina as this country is pretty underrated as a tourist destination. During the years I lived here, I got to learn a lot about Herzegovina in particular. This Mediterranean region really has a lot to offer. Expect more travel posts about Herzegovina in the following weeks. 

I caught a bit of cold this weekend, but I'm trying not to let it keep me down. Now, about the outfit...I'm aware that these jeans are a bit short for me (they shrank in washing), but what can I do? (It's not a rhetorical question, if you have a suggestion do tell) Do you notice this white shirt with an angel wing above my heart? I have done embroidery on it myself and it has a special meaning for me. I'll share more photos of this look soon. Thank you for all your sweet comments about my illustrations.

Ovog vikenda postalo je očito  da sam se opet prehladila, ali se trudim da me to ne oneraspoloži. Sada što se tiče odjevne kombinacije. Svjesna sam da su ove traperice malo prekratke za mene (skratile su se u pranju), ali što mogu? (To nije retoričko pitanje, ako imate koji prijedlog, samo izvolite). Primjećujete li bijelu košulju s izvezenim anđeoskim krilom iznad srca? Izvezla sam je sama i ima posebno značenje za mene. Uskoro ću objaviti još fotografija. Hvala vam svima na lijepim komentarima o mojim ilustracijama.