Art embroidery

Art embroidery is the name for a style of hand embroidery from the late 19th century in which a designer plans the pattern as a work of art and the stitching is kept simple. It belongs to the Arts and Crafts movement.

Lynn Hulse, writing for the Ashmolean Museum, describes the art embroiderers as a generation who sought to lift embroidery from a domestic craft to a serious art form. She notes that they relied on the simplest and most common stitches, including long and short, satin, stem, split, darning, couching, laid work and French knot, and that they favored what one commentator called "old-fashioned flowers," drawn with few lines or few shades.

The V&A describes May Morris's designs in the style as using stylized natural forms, flowing lines and medieval influences, with directional stitches that add texture and a sense of movement. In her 1893 handbook Decorative Needlework May Morris argued that design comes first, that nature should be recalled rather than copied, and that medieval work is the best thing to study.

The term is not a technique with one fixed stitch list. It describes a way of working: design before stitching, plain stitches used well, and old work as the model. The Morris & Co. embroidery department, which May Morris ran from 1885 to 1896, is one commercial example.

Sources

1. The Many Talents of May Morris (Lynn Hulse). Ashmolean Museum
2. Unsung Artists: May Morris (1862-1938), V&A Blog. Victoria and Albert Museum
3. May Morris, Decorative Needlework (London: Joseph Hughes, 1893). Internet Archive

See also

• Couching
• Crewelwork

Read more

• May Morris: She Ran Morris & Co.'s Embroidery Studio

Last updated October 19, 2026 · Markdown