Hardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery

Embroidery

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

 traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave

Even-weave

Even-weave fabric or canvas is any woven textile where the warp and weft threads are of the same size.Even-weave fabrics are typically required as foundations for counted-thread embroidery styles such as cross-stitch, needlepoint, and blackwork so that a stitch of the same "count" will be the same...

 cloth, using counted thread

Counted-thread embroidery

Counted-thread embroidery is any embroidery in which the fabric threads are counted by the embroiderer before inserting the needle into the fabric...

 and drawn thread work

Drawn thread work

Drawn thread work is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of even-weave fabric.The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns...

 techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery

Whitework embroidery

Whitework embroidery refers to any embroidery technique in which the stitching is the same color as the foundation fabric ....

.

History

The exact origins of Hardanger embroidery are not known but it is thought to have its beginnings in ancient Persia and Asia. During the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

 this early form of embroidery spread to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 where it evolved into Italian Reticella

Reticella

Reticella is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century....

 and Venetian lacework. By 1700 variations of this type of embroidery had spread to northern Europe where it developed further into Danish and Dutch Hedebo, Scottish Ayrshire work and Ruskin lacework as well as Norwegian Drawn Work, as it was then called.

In the period between 1650-1850 Hardangersom (meaning: work from Hardanger area) flourished in Norway. Flax

Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

 was grown, carded, spun and woven into white fabric and thread which was used to make and decorate traditional Norwegian costume items called bunads

Bunad

Bunad is an umbrella term encompassing, in its broadest sense, a range of both traditional rural garments as well modern 20th century folk costumes. In its narrow sense the word Bunad does only refer to garments constructed in the early 20th century very loosely based on tradition...

 (national costumes) as well as other items of clothing and household linens such as mats, curtains and bedspreads.

Fabric

Modern Hardanger fabric is an evenweave cotton material woven with pairs of threads, typically 22 pairs per linear inch in both directions, referred to as '22-count'. The weave gives a squared appearance to the fabric (similar to Aida cloth

Aida cloth

Aida cloth is an open weave, even-weave fabric traditionally used for cross-stitch embroidery. This cotton fabric has a natural mesh that facilitates cross-stitching and enough natural stiffness that the crafter does not need to use an embroidery hoop....

), with distinct holes, making it easy to count and work on. Other evenweave fabrics are also suitable for Hardanger embroidery but do not usually have the clearly defined block appearance. These include pure linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

, cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 or mixed fibre fabrics that may also vary in count from 18-24 threads per inch to finer counts of 26 threads per inch or higher.

Threads

Traditional Hardanger embroidery is worked with a thread colour that matches the fabric, usually white or cream. Using self coloured thread enhances the sculptural nature of the stitches and enhances the details found in some of the intricate filling stitches. Many contemporary designs, however, do make use of coloured, variegated and overdyed threads to great effect.

Two weights of Pearl (perlé) cotton are generally used. On normal 22-count Hardanger fabric this is usually Pearl cotton #5, a heavier weight used for satin stitch Kloster blocks and motifs, and Pearl cotton #8, a thinner thread used for more delicate filling stitches and other surface details. On finer, higher count fabrics the combination of #8 and #12 threads is often more suitable.

Stitches and techniques

Hardanger embroidery uses satin stitch

Satin stitch

In sewing and embroidery, a satin stitch or damask stitch is a series of flat stitches that are used to completely cover a section of the background fabric...

 blocks known as Kloster blocks,
consisting of 5 parallel satin stitches, worked over a group of 4 x 4 ground threads. These blocks enclose areas of fabric where a number of warp

Warp (weaving)

In weaving cloth, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns that are held in tension on a frame or loom. The yarn that is inserted over-and-under the warp threads is called the weft, woof, or filler. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end or end. Warp means "that which is thrown...

 and weft

Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn through the warp yarns to create cloth. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn"....

 threads are cut and withdrawn, leaving a network of loose threads and large holes within the shape defined by the Kloster blocks. Various decorative filling stitches are then worked over the remaining loose threads and holes to create a lacy effect.

Some of the stitches and special techniques used are:

• Simple satin stitch surface motifs, often resembling stars, ships, crescents and crosses.
• Other decorative surface stitches such as fly stitch
  Featherstitch
  Featherstitch or feather stitch and Cretan stitch or faggoting stitch are embroidery techniques made of open, looped stitches worked alternately to the right and left of a central rib...
  
  , running stitch
  Running stitch
  The running stitch or straight stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric...
  
  , cable stitch and French knots.
• Woven bars: weaving the needle over and under four threads until they are completely covered, and wrapped bars (overcast bars) where the thread is wound around groups of four threads.
• Filling stitches resembling wheels, spider's webs and dove's eyes.
• Picot
  Picot
  A picot is a loop of thread created for functional or ornamental purposes along the edge of lace, ribbon, crocheted, knitted or tatted material. These loops vary in size, according to their intended function and to their creator's artistic intention....
  
  : twisting the thread once round the needle before inserting the needle to produce a decorative loop.
• Edging stitches such as four-sided stitch, buttonhole stitch
  Buttonhole stitch
  Buttonhole stitch and the related blanket stitch are hand-sewing stitches used in tailoring, embroidery, and needle lace-making.Holy Buttons stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric and needle is returned to the back of the fabric at a right angle to the original start of...
  
   and fancy hemstitch
  Hemstitch
  Hemstitch or hem-stitch is a decorative drawn thread work or openwork hand-sewing technique for embellishing the hem of clothing or household linens...
  
  ing techniques for finishing items.

Designs

The traditional style of Hardanger work is very geometrical in form and based on several basic shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds, hearts, zig-zags and crosses. The combination and placement of these elements allow an unlimited number of beautiful patterns of all sizes to be created.

A wide range of patterns are available today for the modern needleworker to try, in both traditional and contemporary styles. Hardanger is still used to decorate cushions, table linen and other household items as well as items for display on a wall. Several modern needlework

Needlework

Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...

 designers have incorporated elements of Hardanger cut work into their embroidery designs and samplers

Sampler (needlework)

A sampler is a piece of embroidery produced as a demonstration or test of skill in needlework. It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it and the date...

, often combining them with other needlework techniques, stitches, speciality threads and other embellishments to great effect.

New Uses for Hardanger Work Embroidery

Some Lutheran pastors of Norwegian descent in the United States have even have had stoles made for their use ornamented with Hardanger work and while altar paraments in Hardanger work have been traditional in Norwegian churches for a long time, its use in American Lutheran churches is becoming more common as an alternative to the more traditional machine embroidered damask

Damask

Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...

paraments. Even the traditional alternating cross and chalice motif of Norwegian Hardanger work altar paraments is now found in American Lutheran churches as well.

External links

• The History of Hardangersom - more detail on the history of Hardanger work with photographic examples.
• Vera Stoll Hardanger Design - more information about Hardanger work and history with downloadable pdf-files.
• NordicNeedle.net - In-depth Hardanger guides, stitch diagrams, and instructions for all skill levels.