Embroidered gifts, housewares, linens, and apparel have long provided a sense of elevated distinction for both daily life and dressy occasions. Artifacts and artwork dating back thousands of centuries depict an extensive application of embroidery as a way to add flair to functional pieces, as well as infuse the mundane with masterful decoration. Ancient Egyptian and Chinese societies incorporated embroidery into everything from tents to garments, in addition to other decorative elements. Centuries later, embroidery became a primary means of portrayal of religious motifs. In Europe, the church became a top patron of embroidered goods, rivaled only by the nobility, who commissioned fashionable embroidered pieces for display and dress.
While trends in embroidery patterns and materials have varied over time and across cultures and geographies, the art form’s popularity has hardly waned. Purposeful patterns, decadent designs, and scenes of both resplendent and pastoral nature continue to embellish household goods, religious raiments, and custom clothing. In addition to upholding a rich heritage associated with an age-old art, today’s embroidered goods offer the added bonus of chic, sometimes cheeky, designs, complemented by what local embroiderer Shelly Jones refers to as “saucy” sayings.
Like the linens that bear a family’s embroidered monogram, crest, or other emblem, embroidery is often a skill that is passed down generationally. “I remember I was always embroidering,” Shelly says. “I learned as a young child with my mom and her mother because that was their pastime. They embroidered and crocheted.” She recalls many instances in which her mother would draw a design on fabric, then pass along the needle, hoop, and thread to allow Shelly to stitch the design atop. Alternatively, she says, “Magazines, like Women’s Day and Redbook, had a page you could tear out that had an iron-on design.” Novice embroiderers could buy premade pillow cases, doilies, and the like; iron them onto the item of choice; then stitch the two together for a personalized product sure to outshine anything off the shelf.
Shelly credits her maternal elders with teaching her the basics of embroidery from which she propelled her craft. While hundreds of types of stitches exist, she says less than 10 account for the primary tools of an embroiderer’s trade. “Everything else is a variation; you build from there,” she says, adding as an assurance to beginning embroiderers, “You never have to go past that point if you don’t want to. Your stitching will be beautiful; you’ll have a variety of things.”
However, embroiderers who choose to expand their mastery beyond the basics enter into a vast realm of opportunity for creative exploration and expression. “One of the things that I’ve loved is that you can apply embroidery stitches to a lot of different things, a lot of different mediums.” These mediums commonly consist of housewares, baby clothing, and linens but can also include more niche knickknacks like Christmas ornaments and canvas tote bags.
At any given time, Shelly has several projects in the works. Her portfolio-in-progress reflects both new and old interests — from half completed baby outfits to needlepoint tray inserts. Needlepointing, she says, is a more recent addition to her repertoire. A type of embroidery, along with smocking and cross-stitching, needlepoint is characterized by a certain, basic, type of flat stitch that Shelly says is more artistic, creating a totally different look.
Still Shelly admits that although her two children are now grown, her favorite accessory to embroider has long been baby clothes, christening gowns in particular. She has an affinity for detailed projects like these and is well prepared for the day when grandchildren enter into her family’s picture. Until then, she plans to spend the majority of her downtime with a hoop and needle in hand.
Many of her contemporaries choose to leave this step to a machine. Columbia residents Caroline Matthews and Evans Kish employ the use of at home embroidery machines to create tasteful, thoughtful, and timeless designs in a fraction of the time it takes to produce a hand embroidered equivalent.
In fact, much of the labor involved in machine embroidery begins long before the needle ever strikes its intended target. Caroline, the seamstress behind Duke and Duchess Monograms, describes the preliminary design selection as extremely personal. “A lot of steps are involved in finding the right monogram.” A seemingly infinite color wheel, accompanied by a myriad of design options, often put clients’ decision-making powers in a perilous position. “We have to pick the font — and I have lots to choose from. Part of the consideration is that every letter in every font is not pretty; it depends on what initials you want. Some people want something really sleek and plain; some want something really ornate.”
Many clients choose to rely heavily on Caroline’s acute taste and well-trained eye for perfectly paired fonts, colors, and embellishments. While she carries a small collection of ready-to-embroider goods — namely hand towels, kitchen towels, napkins, placemats, afghans, and baby clothing — she also allows clients to bring their own pieces. “People do bring heirloom things in addition to new. To me, that’s really fun, keeping all those old things.”
Projects of this nature illustrate the cultural significance of embroidery that ties generations together. She recalls one project that involved three generations of women. “I had two girls who were going off to boarding school, and it was really important to have their bedding look great. It was not only important to them but also to their mother and grandmother.”
While much of her linen embroidery work has a classic feel — hearkening back to dinner parties, cocktail hours, and christening ceremonies of yore — she also invites charming new approaches to traditional housewares. She recalls one project that showcased a variety of monogram styles within a set of napkins. Caroline and her client chose to keep the colorway consistent throughout but varied the fonts for each napkin. The end result was an eclectic table at which every dinner guest enjoyed a uniquely designed linen.
After the hefty design selection is complete, Evans says the magic begins. Designs for machine embroidery are purchased online and uploaded into a computer friendly embroidery software, where they can then be manipulated to the customer’s content. In this phase, elements are added and removed, colors are tweaked, and any other subtle design changes are implemented prior to the first stitch.
Once the final design is approved, fabric and stabilizer are introduced to the mix. After the pair are enmeshed and hooped to the embroidery machine, the embroiderer sends the design from the computer to the machine, examines the alignment and thread colors, and, quite literally with the press of a button, sets the machine to work.
When the needle is set into motion, it can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour to finish the job, depending on the level of difficulty. Best practice, Caroline explains, is to stay close by while the machine makes its way through the design. “It’s really smart to stay right there with it,” she says, warning, “Sometimes it shifts if you’re doing a big item, and it might get caught.”
“People are often surprised at how much the machine can do,” says Evans. “It has 10 different needles on it, which means you can have 10 different thread colors at once.” Embroidery machines are a far cry from the traditional tabletop sewing machine that people generally envision. “Friends come over, and their eyes get very big!” she says.
In the summer of 2022, after tinkering with her newly purchased machine for several months, Evans launched The Daou Company, which she touts as offering “elegant embroidery for any occasion” and reflects her affinity for combining traditional monograms with fun designs that add a stylish, sophisticated touch. Though her business is still in its infancy, the concept has long been something she desired to pursue. “I’ve always really loved fine linens, and I’ve always loved a monogram,” she says. However, as a practicing attorney, she lacked the luxury of spare time to explore this artistic avenue.
Her circumstances changed in June of 2021, when she welcomed her first child into the world and transitioned into the role of full-time mom. She credits the birth of her child as the impetus for The Daou Company’s inception. “I didn’t really know what I was doing or how it was going to go.” Fortunately, an arsenal of tutorial videos combined with countless trial and error attempts on old towels and napkins proved successful in teaching her the essentials of machine embroidery. She describes machine embroidery as a form of artistic expression for “Type A” people due to its ability to marry an eye for design with a penchant for precision.
Despite the semi-automated nature of machine embroidery as compared to hand embroidery, the overarching commitment to the craft exhibited by Shelly, Caroline, and Evans illustrates a shared interest in preserving a centuries-old art form. Caroline emphasizes the inherent value of embroidery as a creative outlet, adding, “I love helping people figure out what they really want and making something special and unique just to them.”