Drawn thread work is a form of counted-thread embroidery

Counted-thread embroidery

Counted-thread embroidery is any embroidery in which the fabric threads are counted by the embroiderer before inserting the needle into the fabric...

 based on removing threads from the warp

Warp (weaving)

In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...

 and/or the weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 of a piece of even-weave

Even-weave

Even-weave fabric or canvas is any woven textile where the warp and weft threads are of the same size.Even-weave fabrics are typically required as foundations for counted-thread embroidery styles such as cross-stitch, needlepoint, and blackwork so that a stitch of the same "count" will be the same...

 fabric.
The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns. The more elaborate styles of drawn thread work use in fact a variety of other stitches and techniques, but the drawn thread parts are their most distinctive element. It is also grouped as whitework embroidery

Whitework embroidery

Whitework embroidery refers to any embroidery technique in which the stitching is the same color as the foundation fabric ....

 because it was traditionally done in white thread on white fabric and is often combined with other whitework techniques.

Styles

Basic Hemstitching

The most basic kind of drawn thread work is hemstitch

Hemstitch

Hemstitch or hem-stitch is a decorative drawn thread work or openwork hand-sewing technique for embellishing the hem of clothing or household linens...

ing. Drawn thread work is often used to decorate the trimmings

Trim (sewing)

Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as gimp, passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament....

 of clothes

Clothing

Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...

 or household linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

s. The border between hemstitching gone fancy and more elaborate styles of drawn thread work isn't always clear.

Needle-weaving

This relatively easy type of drawn thread work is created by weaving (or darning

Darning

Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine...

) the embroidering thread into the barelaid warp or weft threads to create patterns of light-colored threads and dark openings in the drawn-thread cloth. Needleweaving is most often used for decorative borders. It is nearly always used in combination with other types of embroidery stitches. Together they create a complete design and, historically, in ethnic embroidery, distinctive embroidery 'styles'.

Also known as "needle-darning".

Poltava-style drawnwork

In Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

 and some other Slavic languages

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

, merezhka is the general term for "drawn-thread" work. "Merezhka", pronounced meˈreʃka, includes all types of drawn-thread work including those mentioned in the paragraphs above.

In recent years (199(?)-2005), the term "myreschka", a variant of "merezhka", began to be used in some circles for a specific Ukrainian drawn-thread technique that is traditionally used in the central lands of Ukraine, esp. in the regions of Poltava and Kyiv, and areas along the Dniepro (Dnieper) River, and some have come to call it "Poltava-style" merezhka. The technique has its own descriptive name in the Ukrainian language, which might be translated into English as "layerings".

The technique for doing Poltava-style 'layerings'-merezhka basically involves withdrawing sets of parallel threads of weft while leaving others in place, then using the antique hem-stitch (called "prutyk") and this special "layerings" technique to create both the openwork 'net' and the design of embroidering threads upon the "withdrawn" part of cloth. The designs which can be created in this way can be simple and narrow, or as complex and wide (high) as any one-colored embroidery design.

"Prutyk" (may also be spelled "prutik") is the bunch (switch or stick) that is created when you pull together each bunch of three threads together using hem-stitch.
In Ukrainian, "prutyk" is simply another name for 'simple hemstitch' (i.e.: "merezhka-prutyk"), or it can mean each tiny 'bunch' in the hemstitching.

Other drawn-thread

A form of double-drawnwork, where both warp and weft are removed at regular intervals, consists of wrapping the remaining threads into "bundles", using embroidery thread to secure them, thus creating something similar to a net. Then embroidery threads are woven in patterns into that net using needle weaving or needle darning. The result is a pattern of the design in white (or colored, depending on ethnic region) embroidery on the "openwork" background of netted cloth.

Hardanger

Hardanger embroidery

Hardanger embroidery

Hardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery.-History:...

 is a style of drawn thread work that is most popular today. It originally comes from Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, and there from the traditional district

Districts of Norway

The country Norway is historically divided into a number of districts. Many districts have deep historical roots, and only partially coincide with today's administrative units of counties and municipalities. The districts are defined by geographical features, often valleys, mountain ranges, fjords,...

 of Hardanger

Hardanger

Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland....

. The backbone of Hardanger designs consists of satin stitch

Satin stitch

In sewing and embroidery, a satin stitch or damask stitch is a series of flat stitches that are used to completely cover a section of the background fabric...

es, in geometrical areas both warp and weft threads are removed and the remaining mesh is secured with simple weaving or warping, or with a limited number of simple filling patterns. The designs tend to be geometric, if they include flowers or such they are very stylized due to the nature of the technique. Hardanger never includes Buttonhole stitch

Buttonhole stitch

Buttonhole stitch and the related blanket stitch are hand-sewing stitches used in tailoring, embroidery, and needle lace-making.Holy Buttons stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric and needle is returned to the back of the fabric at a right angle to the original start of...

es, except for securing the edges of a piece of fabric. It is usually executed using rather coarse fabric and thread.

Ukrainian cutwork

Much like Hardanger, Ukrainian cutwork belongs to the category of 'cut-and-drawn' work, since, unlike 'merezhka' (drawn-work), threads of the ground cloth are cut both vertically and horizontally, and thus create specifically larger cut-work openings in the body of the fabric, when compared with drawn-work.
The Ukrainian word for cutwork embroidery is vyrizuvannya .
There are several styles of Ukrainian cutwork, one of which closely resembles Hardanger cutwork.

Needlelace and Drawn-thread work

Reticella

Reticella

Reticella is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century....

 lace is a form of embroidery in which typical techniques of needlelace are used to embellish drawn thread work. It was first used in 16th century Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Needlelace evolved from this when the lacemakers realized that they can do the same things without any supporting fabric. High quality reticella is done with thread almost as thin as sewing silk. Ruskin lace is in fact a near-modern form of it. Warp and weft threads are removed, and the remaining threads are overcast with buttonhole stitch

Buttonhole stitch

Buttonhole stitch and the related blanket stitch are hand-sewing stitches used in tailoring, embroidery, and needle lace-making.Holy Buttons stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric and needle is returned to the back of the fabric at a right angle to the original start of...

es, as in needlelace.

Another embroidery style that combines drawn thread work with needlelace techniques is Hedebo from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, which originates from the area around Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 and Roskilde

Roskilde

Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....

. It uses techniques that are clearly distinct from reticella and traditional Italian neddlelace on the one hand and Hardanger on the other. It does make extensive use of buttonhole stitches, but they are done slightly differently than in Italian embroidery.

Make safe and Dying Rewoven Threads
Techniques of re-weaving drawn threads diverge from book to book.
By Patricia Bage, the writer reveals the every-other-thread technique. But in neither book do they go into fact about how to make safe your threads after re-weaving. They on the whole declare that “trim the threads on the back”

External links

• Thérèse de Dillmont's
• http://www.needlearts.com/articles/article_8/article_8.html basic reticella how-to
• http://www.needlearts.com/articles/article_11/article_11.htm basic hedebo how-to
• http://www.ruskinlace.org.uk history of ruskin lace
• http://www.vettycreations.com.au/merezhka.html information on merezhka embroidery
• http://www.thetextileicon.com Rewoven Threads Techniques and Availability of white-fabric – printed fabric and dyed fabric