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how to judge Suzhou embroidery

How to judge Suzhou Embroidery?

Suzhou embroidery is a traditional art which has a high requirement on hand skills. A piece of good Suzhou Embroidery is a perfect combination of techniques and art, the quality of effect in the artwork becomes a criteria in judging Suzhou Embroidery. Normally we can tell from the following criteria.

1. To judge the concept of the whole picture, in present market, most of the concepts of pictures are similar, so we can tell creative embroidery form ordinary ones.

2. The fineness of the needlework: it plays the most important role in a picture. It should be very clear where the thread should be thick and where it should be thin, and they should hide the thread head and knot as well.

In order to make very fine embroidery, the thread must be divided into thinner ones. Splitting the silk thread is one of the traditional techniques of Suzhou embroidery, that means to divide the thread into several strands. Like half or a quarter of the original thickness, or even thinner. If you want to embroider the tail of golden fish, you should use very thin silk strands to express a sense of lightness and transparency. The silk strand used for the body of a fish should be thicker, giving people a sense of weight. If you want to embroider a stone, or a tree trunk, you must use thick thread, and a more random pattern. And for the stitching of a cat, a color change must be used for its fur, then the finished fur of the cat will be as vivid as real cat fur. The last key point is that the needlework should be dense. The low quality embroidery is just printing the base picture, then matching it with several threads with similar color, and it will give people the impression of embroidery if you stand far away from the picture. But if you look at it carefully, you will find the pattern in the back.( Since the picture is printed, and after a period of time, the color of the ink will fade, it doesn't last long.) This kind of embroidery is fake.

An embroidery with high art value also has the base picture, but no matter how you check the picture, you will never find it on the base. The base picture has been covered by silk thread.( Good embroidery is usually made by hand. The procedure of Mechanical Graphing and manual graphing is different . Mechanical Graphing Computer jets the picture, then fixes it in the supporting frame. And because silk is quite flexible, it is easy to be deformed when fixed into the frame. But manual embroidery is different, it is fixed into a drawing frame first, then they embroider it. So it’s impossible to deform. The high value embroidery does not only need the embroidering technique, but also they need the craftsmen knowledge of painting. Because there is no base picture , only a profile of the picture, for color they need the talent of the craftsman. So a good piece of Suzhou embroidery is not only imitation, but also includes the talent of the craftsman.

The disordered stitching embroidery has a special requirements on the thickness of thread, but also thread angle is critical. To use the color of the thread to show the bright and dark sides of the picture, they need the crafts man to have a deep understanding of the application of color.

3. The process of the artwork's color and art effect. That means the brightness and color should match well, and transition naturally. Such as an embroidered cat, the most difficult part is the pair of eyes. The craftsman needs more than twenty different colors to transition from one color to another, making the eyes alive and vivid. An embroidery with high value should have a beautiful pattern, fine needlework, elegant colors, and deep meaning.

The Chinese Art of Painting with Silk Threads
Clever photographer, Nancy Fox, recently returned from a tour of mainland China. A visit to an embroidery factory in Suzhou was high on her list of places to see. She was not disappointed. When she arrived, the artists were hard at work producing these paintings. They readily consented to let Nancy photograph them while they worked.

They work indoors using indirect light sources to illuminate their canvases, which are mounted on frames, much like the ones quilters might use. For inspiration and information they use photographs, print illustrations, or even other paintings in developing their works of art.

The embroidery pieces are considered great works of art and many take a year to a year and a half to complete. They sell for thousands of dollars. Small pieces are available that sell for less but the big, intricate ones are very expensive, as they should be, considering the time involved in completing them. Nancy wished she could ask the artist how much time it took for her to produce this spectacular landscape. The silken threads she used were so fine and the stitches were so small -- it appears to be an incredibly time-consuming process.

An interesting note: there are some artists in the factory that do two-sided embroidery pieces that are different on each side. An example is one piece that had a portrait of Princess Diana on one side and Prince Charles on the other. The likeness of Diane and Charles was amazing. It was done on a single piece of fabric and both sides were completed at the same time! The guide explained that the technique will remain a secret. Imagine putting your needle through the fabric and creating two entirely different pictures at the same time.

A note on Suzhou as a tourist destination: Suzhou, a historic city in China, is considered the pearl of the Yangtze Delta. It is what they call a small city with a population of about a million and a half people. Many wealthy retired mandarins of the Ming and Qing dynasties spent their last years in Suzhou because it is such a beautiful area.

Have Great Fun Teaching Your Child How To Cross Stitch
Cross stitching is a great hobby for children. It can help to develop hand to eye coordination, shape and colour recognition, as well as encourage cooperative behavior, patience and creativity. Most of all, it can be good fun for you and your child — an interest to share together, and become a hobby that your child can enjoy without an adult being present, and a passion for life!

The first experience of cross stitching is important. You’ll want this to be a happy experience for both of you. If it isn’t, the child may be reluctant to start again. Children usually want to see fast results, and especially to finish their first sessions on a positive and successful note.

Let your child choose a simple design, perhaps a favourite animal or character that contains only two or three colours, and in whole stitches only. As for fabric, tiny hands may have difficulty with aida or evenweave, so you may want to consider using plastic canvas or 6-count Binca. As your child becomes more experienced, 11- and 14- count fabrics will be the next step.

You’ll also need to provide appropriately sized needles. A size 22 tapestry needle will do the job very well. An easier option is to choose a kit designed and manufactured for children (see below). Choosing a kit together can create a lot of pleasure and anticipation for the project ahead.

Gentle supervision will be necessary during the child’s first attempts. Make sure the child washes hands carefully before stitching begins. In the early days eating must be discouraged, as anyone who has tried to remove melted chocolate from fabric will testify.

Arrange things so that all items are within easy reach. The child must also appreciate the need to keep track of the needle and scissors, as these are potentially dangerous items to lose. You can stress the importance of returning the scissors to its special place, perhaps in the middle of the table.

Sessions should be short enough to keep the child’s attention and enthusiasm, but long enough to achieve some sort of noticeable progress. Starting the first stitches can be the most difficult part of the project, and it’s advisable to help your child by starting off the stitching yourself, anchoring the thread carefully at the back. It’s probably unnecessary to give too much information at first, but there are certain tips that can help your child enjoy stitching.

You may decide to let your child practise the basic cross-stitch on a piece of scrap material before attempting the real thing. You’ll need to explain and demonstrate that the square in the fabric matches the square in the design. You can also demonstrate allowing the needle to dangle and spin around, at regular intervals so that the thread untwists itself.

You may also encourage making each stitch in the same way, so that the top legs of the stitches go in the same direction. It’s also a good idea for children to complete each stitch before attempting the next one. The child can then see the picture growing in a satisfying way.

As with all new tasks, children learn best by having their efforts praised at regular intervals (don’t we all?). Stitching must be fun rather than being a test, a chore or a battle of wits. It’s rewarding for the child to finish the piece, rather than have you take over, even if this means that you may do some of the more difficult parts of the design and leave the last, easier stitches for the child to complete.

The finished article should be commented on in positive terms by all the family, and you could consider ironing the piece and then placing it in a frame and displaying it so that everyone can be reminded of the achievement. As well as giving the child added confidence, this can also mean that the next project will be eagerly anticipated.