MEDIEVAL EGYPTIAN COUNTED-THREAD EMBROIDERY
INTRODUCTION: Long before blackwork embroidery was being done in Europe,a similar style using double-running stitch was being done in Egypt. During the Mamluk period (1250-1517), this style and the closely related pattern darning became common as cheap methods of decoration for those who couldn't afford the silk brocades being made at the time.
MATERIALS: The ground fabric was usually linen, although silk could be used. It was normally even-weave, ranging from 28 to 60 threads per inch. Linen and wool thread were sometimes used, but silk floss was the most common. Indigo blue and black were used most frequently, but many other colors were used as well: green, yellow, red, turquoise, dark brown, grey.
METHOD: Both types of embroidery are based on running stitch, the simplest of all. Double-running stitch was called Spanish stitch in 16th-century Europe, and is often called Holbein stitch by modern embroiderers. Each stitch is made over or under the same number of threads, usually two, and then a second row of running stitches fills in the initial row, creating a solid line, which is identical on both sides of the ground fabric. A variant of this is sometimes called box-stitch and, as the name implies, is just a series of squares with one stitch to a side, arranged to form the design. Both these variants are well-adapted for the inscriptions which are an essential element of all Arabic decorative arts.
Designs can be formed just with the double-running stitch, but there are examples where it outlines a shape which is then filled in with either a solid color,with drawn- and cutwork, or with pattern darning.
In pattern darning, the stitch length is varied, most commonly going over or under 1, 3, or 5 threads. In the second row, and in each succeeding row, some stitches change in length, and the rest shift. Although the technique is so simple, it produces an incredible variety of geometric patterns.
At least two fragments are large enough to be recognized as tunics/shirts, with embroidery around the neck opening and another two bands going down the front. The hems of skirts and sleeves were probably embroidered, as were the various long strips of cloth used as scarves, sashes and turban wraps. There is one surviving example of embroidered scraps being reused to make a doll's robe. Embroidery may also have been used on household linens.
There are at least five surviving samplers, mostly of pattern darning. These were clearly not decorative wall hangings, but intended as a way of recording the patterns, possibly to allow the customers of professional embroiderers to choose the desired pattern or combination of patterns.