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Sewing machine turns out craft embroidery
By Wu Huixin |
November 13, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A Hangzhou woman has developed a very different kind of embroidery using a home sewing machine and producing elaborate double-sided works. Wu Huixin threads the needle.
The sewing machine was invented in England during the first Industrial Revolution and later models were developed for one person to use at home in the 1800s. A Hangzhou woman uses her old-fashioned home sewing machine to turn out elaborate, multicolored, double-faced embroidery.
Wang Wenying, born in 1944, is believed to be the only person in China dedicated to this kind of embroidery using a 50-year-old sewing machine. The pattern can be the same, or different, on the reverse side.
Wang has won numerous national awards, and her works have been displayed in international exhibitions and given as gifts to Hangzhou's sister cities. Wang was named a Chinese National Craft Master in 1996.
When a UNESCO representative visited Hangzhou in May this year, she visited Wang's studio in the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum and was attracted by the work "Past and Present of Leifeng Pagoda." The work, which required two years to complete, depicts the contemporary pagoda with lush vegetation around it and blue skies; the reverse showed a bleak depiction of the dilapidated pagoda before restoration.
"People cannot sew this kind of embroidery, even if I tell them exactly how to make it because it takes decades of experience as well as good skills. No one can achieve this in a short time."
Wang has accumulated expertise over 50 years to produce her colorful, double-sided embroidery with various patterns. She started with embroidery featuring the same designs on both sides. Then she advanced.
In 1964, she began to learn sewing-machine embroidery from masters Chen Jingfen and Wang Qinwen. At that time, double-sided embroidery with identical designs was not uncommon in China. Most were made in ordinary stitching method, which could only produce daily necessities, not crafts items.
In the early 1970s, Wang began to develop her own embroidery style.
First, she imitated the stitching of hand-made embroidery for crafts. She was eventually able to vary the stitching in density, thickness and distribution.
"The foundation of this kind of embroidery is manipulating the household sewing machine skillfully," says Wang.
Multicolored
Today, Wang can apply hundred of different kinds of stitches to various patterns. She also uses double-warp silk thread to make the embroidery much smoother and more refined.
In 1977, she made her debut with multicolored double-sided embroidery with a single pattern on both sides, "Maple and Silver Bird." One bird was golden and one was silver.
Five years later, she made her breakthrough with different patterns on each side in "A Uygur Boy and a Uygur Girl." One one side, the boy held a puppy and on the reverse side, the girl hugged a lamb. Their clothing and expressions were different, though the outlines were the same. It was purchased for 30,000 yuan (US$4,810) in the mid-1990s by a Japanese man.
Wang's husband, Ye Fangda, a graduate of the Zhejiang Academy of Art, designed patterns for her. They were considered "the embroidery couple." He died four years ago. "The Past and Present of Leifeng Pagoda" was one of his designs.
In 1986, Wang was invited to Germany to demonstrate her skills. She stayed there for eight months and sold all her works.
"While I was sewing, Germans crowded around me to watch my performance. One day, I picked up a postcard of a German shepherd dog and turned it into double-faced embroidery with varied colors and the same patterns. It soon sold out," Wang recalls.
However, like many other traditional crafts, sewing machine embroidery is also dying out.
"My embroidery is made with a household sewing machine, but these old machines have been replaced by industrial ones that cannot produce boutique works," Wang says. "What's worse, people think embroidery is rustic and tacky and so they discard it."
Wang has tried to pass her skills along to others. Only one apprentice, Wu Minhua, remains; all the others have changed jobs, since making embroidery is time-consuming and difficult. Wang is trying to recruit other young people.
"I hope my apprentices can surpass me and I expect that they will not only learn from me but also innovate by themselves," Wang says.
Wang's studio
Address: 336 Xiaohe Rd
Tel: (0571) 8819-7511
The sewing machine was invented in England during the first Industrial Revolution and later models were developed for one person to use at home in the 1800s. A Hangzhou woman uses her old-fashioned home sewing machine to turn out elaborate, multicolored, double-faced embroidery.
Wang Wenying, born in 1944, is believed to be the only person in China dedicated to this kind of embroidery using a 50-year-old sewing machine. The pattern can be the same, or different, on the reverse side.
Wang has won numerous national awards, and her works have been displayed in international exhibitions and given as gifts to Hangzhou's sister cities. Wang was named a Chinese National Craft Master in 1996.
When a UNESCO representative visited Hangzhou in May this year, she visited Wang's studio in the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum and was attracted by the work "Past and Present of Leifeng Pagoda." The work, which required two years to complete, depicts the contemporary pagoda with lush vegetation around it and blue skies; the reverse showed a bleak depiction of the dilapidated pagoda before restoration.
"People cannot sew this kind of embroidery, even if I tell them exactly how to make it because it takes decades of experience as well as good skills. No one can achieve this in a short time."
Wang has accumulated expertise over 50 years to produce her colorful, double-sided embroidery with various patterns. She started with embroidery featuring the same designs on both sides. Then she advanced.
In 1964, she began to learn sewing-machine embroidery from masters Chen Jingfen and Wang Qinwen. At that time, double-sided embroidery with identical designs was not uncommon in China. Most were made in ordinary stitching method, which could only produce daily necessities, not crafts items.
In the early 1970s, Wang began to develop her own embroidery style.
First, she imitated the stitching of hand-made embroidery for crafts. She was eventually able to vary the stitching in density, thickness and distribution.
"The foundation of this kind of embroidery is manipulating the household sewing machine skillfully," says Wang.
Multicolored
Today, Wang can apply hundred of different kinds of stitches to various patterns. She also uses double-warp silk thread to make the embroidery much smoother and more refined.
In 1977, she made her debut with multicolored double-sided embroidery with a single pattern on both sides, "Maple and Silver Bird." One bird was golden and one was silver.
Five years later, she made her breakthrough with different patterns on each side in "A Uygur Boy and a Uygur Girl." One one side, the boy held a puppy and on the reverse side, the girl hugged a lamb. Their clothing and expressions were different, though the outlines were the same. It was purchased for 30,000 yuan (US$4,810) in the mid-1990s by a Japanese man.
Wang's husband, Ye Fangda, a graduate of the Zhejiang Academy of Art, designed patterns for her. They were considered "the embroidery couple." He died four years ago. "The Past and Present of Leifeng Pagoda" was one of his designs.
In 1986, Wang was invited to Germany to demonstrate her skills. She stayed there for eight months and sold all her works.
"While I was sewing, Germans crowded around me to watch my performance. One day, I picked up a postcard of a German shepherd dog and turned it into double-faced embroidery with varied colors and the same patterns. It soon sold out," Wang recalls.
However, like many other traditional crafts, sewing machine embroidery is also dying out.
"My embroidery is made with a household sewing machine, but these old machines have been replaced by industrial ones that cannot produce boutique works," Wang says. "What's worse, people think embroidery is rustic and tacky and so they discard it."
Wang has tried to pass her skills along to others. Only one apprentice, Wu Minhua, remains; all the others have changed jobs, since making embroidery is time-consuming and difficult. Wang is trying to recruit other young people.
"I hope my apprentices can surpass me and I expect that they will not only learn from me but also innovate by themselves," Wang says.
Wang's studio
Address: 336 Xiaohe Rd
Tel: (0571) 8819-7511
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