Couching
Also: laid work
Couching is an embroidery technique in which a thread, often metal, is laid on the surface of the fabric and fastened down with small stitches of another thread.
In couching, the decorative thread never goes through the cloth. It is laid on the surface along the line of the design, and a second, finer thread makes tiny stitches over it at intervals to hold it down.
Why use it for gold?
Metal threads are stiff, fragile and expensive. Pulling them through fabric damages them and wastes the part that lies hidden on the back. Couching keeps all of the metal on the front, which is why it was used for gold and silver work on church and ceremonial textiles and on court dress. The couching stitches can be made almost invisible, or worked in coloured silk to form a pattern of their own.
Sources
- Jacket (catalogue entry). Victoria and Albert Museum
- Couching. Embroidered Stories, University of Edinburgh
- Everything you wanted to know about couched goldwork embroidery. PieceWork
See also
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