Crafting: A History

Interested in where and how your favorite crafting techniques originated? They probably have a longer and richer history than you could imagine.

Embroidery

The technique of decorating a piece of fabric with yarn or thread dates back to before the 15th century. While Marco Polo reported seeing women embroidering in Central Asia during his travels there, our historical record of embroidery is sparse until the 16th century, when it became a popular pastime in the Ottoman Empire.

During this time, embroidery was a way for Turkish women to creatively spend their time. Most were illiterate and weren’t trained in the “higher arts” of music or painting; the use of servants meant they didn’t have to spend much time doing difficult house work. Embroidery was a means of personal expression, and a way to showcase skills. It was also a way to cheaply create intricate, attractive textiles; the patterned brocades of the far east and Europe were much more expensive.

The 19th century and mechanization brought machine-made cloth, artificially dyed thread, and pattern books, which changed the look and feel of embroidery for good. Traditional motifs like pomegranates, flowers, tulips, and trellises made way for new designs. In the 1920s, Turkish women finally received a wider array of freedoms, and new pastimes and modes of employ were opened up to them. In the wake of these new freedoms and mechanization, embroidery faded in cultural importance.

Jewelry Making

Humans have been making jewelry for a long time -- nearly 100,000 years, according to a recent archaeological find in a cave in Israel. These shell beads don’t look much like modern jewelry however. To find the first uses of molded precious metals and gemstones, you have to look to Asia, where jewelry has been fashioned for over 5,000 years. Gold and silver earrings were outfitted with jade stones, and gold bands, similar to tiaras, were worn across women’s foreheads. In Greece, gold earrings and necklaces were fashioned and worn for special occasions, about 3,500 years ago.

Skip ahead to the Renaissance, and you’ll see jewelry fashioning changing and incorporating more elements of modern jewelry. Gemstones like emeralds, peridot, opal, and garnet began to be incorporated into jewelry as world trade expanded. Post-Renaissance, jewelry went through a rapid progression of styles, from romanticism, to art deco, to the Modern movement of the 1940s.

Sewing

This useful craft has been around since the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago. Bone needles sewed together animals skins that helped our ancestors survive the cold. The oldest known iron needles were found in Germany, and date to about 5,000 years ago.

Fast forward to nearly the 18th century, and you’ll come upon the first sewing machine, patented by the British Thomas Saint. It would take nearly 50 years for inventors to come up with a double-thread, fixed arm machine, which largely resembles the sewing machine you’re familiar with today. In fact, you’ll find the surname of its inventor, Isaac M. Singer, on many machines in your local store. The sewing machine revolutionized how quickly and cheaply clothing and other cloth goods could be made.

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