Folk Stories - Threads of Patience
Today, we will look at how meticulous Greek women were when creating their embroideries and most impressively how patient!
In the image above you are looking at a pillow cover from the Eptanese, a group of islands located at the most western part of Greece which includes islands like Zakynthos and Leukada where most examples of this type of embroidery can be found.
At first glance it is very hard to understand how much work has gone into its creation.
So let’s zoom in to see what is happening here.
If you are not familiar with embroidery, in most cases when creating a piece of embroidery the design one wants to embroider is created and filled in with thread, while the background is left blank.
In this type of embroidery the background is also embroidered in a very detailed and time consuming way.
Above you can see two close ups from these pieces.
The one on the left is incomplete and the one on the right is what it looks like when finished.
Folk Fact
In those pieces of embroidery after the main design is completed, the woman works very hard to also decorate the background.
She starts by removing some threads from the canvas to prepare it.
If you look closely in the left picture above you will notice that they have removed 2 threads and left 3, on both directions of the canvas.
That created a loose weave which was then covered using white silk thread. The technique is called fil tire embroidery.
This process must have taken them hours upon hours to complete, but the result is mesmerising and a bit mind blowing!
A little extra
Examples of this technique can also be found in the island of Anaphi in the Aegean sea, however there all the elements of the design are created in the fil tire technique, not just the background. Have a look at an example here.
Some thoughts
In our fast paced world such an investment of time may seem a bit excessive, but to them it was an investment that paid dividends since this technique strengthened the canvas and ensured the item’s longevity.
When I come across such artifacts I feel it opens a window in a very different time, a time when self-sufficiency looked very different from our understanding of it.
Now it’s your turn
Please let me know what thoughts this piece is triggering for you. I am very curious to know. To get in touch click here.
