No one really knows how embroidery started. When cave men discovered that animal skins could keep out the cold, they probably cut slits in the skins with a stone awl and joined them together by inserting animal sinew or soft creeper through the slits.

In earliest times, women probably spent most of their days looking after their children and cooking for the tribe. It was the men who had spare time to make implements, sew skins, knot and weave.

Then men learnt to spin, weave and plait the wool from sheep, goats and camels. Later they realised they could make a plain woven background decorative by adding stitches with a needle. The discovery of vegetable dyes provided even more interesting embellishments.

As life became a little easier at the end of the Dark Ages, arts and crafts, including embroidery, developed.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry was made at this time. This is not a tapestry at all, but an embroidery in wool on linen cloth telling the story of the Norman invasion of England in 1066.

Kings, knights and the church in particular demanded much elaborate decoration. Embroidery was considered too important to be left to amateurs. So workshops of professional embroiderers were established throughout Europe .

It was to supply the church that embroidery called Opus Anglicanum (English work) was produced, mainly in London in the 13th and 14th centuries. It used silk, silver and gold metal threads, seed pearls and precious stones with the finest stitching techniques to portray scenes from the Bible and the lives of the saints.

A rigorous apprenticeship of seven years was needed to achieve proficiency. Working in poor light was not allowed and any professional producing work of poor quality could be heavily fined and jailed.

There is evidence that the rich merchants of London considered the financing of such work to be a sound investment.

Embroiderers and painters often joined in a guild. Groups of embroiderers, men and women often worked with an artist in his studio. He would draw the design on linen and direct the work. This continued until the end of the 17th century.

With the Renaissance emphasis shifted from the church embroidery to a status symbol for princes and nobles. Court costumes for both men and women were richly encrusted with stitchery in silk, gold and silver threads, often studded with pearls and precious stones. The weight of the embroidery added to that of fabrics like velvet made some costumes so heavy that the wearers could scarcely move.

From the Renaissance onwards, embroidery became more and more popular as a pastime, a social relaxation enjoyed during long winter evenings or when bad weather kept people indoors.

In many Tudor homes, the lady of the house, helped by relatives and servants, worked furnishings, drapes and coverlets.

Embroidery in the 16th and 17th centuries was almost always on functional articles such as clothing and furnishings. An exception was the sampler, worked by a young girl as part of her education.

All girls were expected to be skilled in needlework, at least in plain sewing. Among leisured families, little girls worked hard to perfect intricate embroidery stitches. Samplers were kept as a handy reference for working one's trousseau.

By the 18th century the sampler had changed into something more like a picture: a flowery border around a collection of biblical texts and pious poetry.

By the 20th century, the sewing machine began to take over decorative stitchery formerly done by hand. But as the emphasis was on quantity rather than quality, design tended to deteriorate.

Today, embroidery, like other crafts, is enjoying a revival. With more leisure time and increased stress at work, people are finding new joy and relaxation in working with a needle and thread.

By Valerie Cavill