Embroidery techniques

The embroidery handicraft

He who has an opportunity to once watch the embroiderers work in our flag embroidery will realize that he is witness to an ancient handicraft. It doesn't only take fine motor skills and intuition to produce a flag or a flag banner - moreover, it takes a certain artistic streak, an eye for coloring and shades. In innumerable little labor steps, a club flags is being developed into an overall unique piece of art.

Contents

Hand embroidery
Machine embroidery
Computer embroidery
 
 

Hand embroidery

The writings that are drawn onto the flag fabric according to a graphic designer's artwork are put on by a hand embroiderer in finest and most detailed work. She prepares the necessary materials at first:

  • golden, silver or antique golden laces for gold high relief embroidery
  • smooth or curly frisée for outside stitches, outlines or ornaments in gold, silver or with antique patina
  • various thick yarns or cords for shades or outlines
  • Cantille (metal spirals that are hollow on the inside) in gold, silver or with antique patina
  • strong sewing filaments
These items belong to the tools of a flag embroiderer
  • Needles and pins in various lengths and thicknesses
  • Scissors
  • Awls/prickers

 

Gold high embroidery

The abt. 3 mm wide, flexible lace is laid into a zig-zag pattern and invisibly sewn onto the velvet, the flag rep or the silk with a strong thread. The art herein consists in lending a suitable shape to the letter or the number by laying the lace strips to and fro in the correct distance.

 

Cantille embroidery

Basically, cantille is a hollow metal spirale. The experienced embroiderers in our flag embroidery know exactly how many millimeters and pieces of the real gilded material the have to cut off with their sharp pairs of scissors in order to reach the desired width of a letter. The pick up these small parts with a fine needle and tread and sew them obliquely parallel side by side until the whole letter is ready according to the copied-on artwork. This takes years of experience, great skills and a good eye-measure.

 

Basketry embroidery

The most important thing with the basketry embroidery is the foundation. The single letters and the parts of the motives are underlaid by wool tufts and the golden ropes sewn on with visible, alternately placed golden ropes in such a way that the view ressembles a braided web. This wavy structure has a special precious effect as it reflect the light in various ways.

 
 

Machine embroidery

For this kind of embroidery, our company uses machines that partly date back to the 19th century, among them some made by the well-known company Cornely. They look like sewing machines but allow a free moving of the fabric beneath the needle. The reason why one calls the creation of the embroidery design "needle painting" can be easily explained when having a look over the embroiderer's shoulder.



From the artwork to the ready picture

For each club flag, our designers at first make a colorful artwork of the center picture resp. the motives of the flag banner. This artwork is laid out by the embroiderer, and she at first start by

 

Choosing the materials

Innumerable embroidery threads in multitudinous shadings are available by producers of brands such as Madeira and Gunold. After three and a half years of apprenticeship and a much longer period of time as a ready specialist, the embroiderer knows which colors in how many nuances whe needs in order to transfer the colorful artwork into an embroidered picture true to the original colors. As quick as a lightning, she changes from lighter to darker shades and takes care that the transitions are not recognizable. A reflection on the water, a round edge on the dull firebrigade helmet, a fold on the apron of a traditional costume - they all seem to be authentic when they are made in the so-called flat satin stitch embroidery in life-like colors on the flag.



Writings

Smaller texts or embroideries of names such as, e.g. on the backside of a flag banner for festivity ladies are made by machine in new gold embroidery. The metallic threads have a precious shine and allow fine writing types such as manual script.



Embroidery techniques

  • Satin stitch embroidery
  • Winch / Chain stitch embroidery

 
 

Computer embroidery

The embroidery computer is used in our flag embroidery when a digital program can be made for an embroidery motive. Each single stitch is being created according to a graphic file and stored in a way that the computer can read it. This procedure, the "punching", is very time-consuming, but once the program is ready, it can be used over and over again. We use the embroidery computer for badges, direct embroidery on clothing and repeated motives on flag banners.

 
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