ON MIAO EMBROIDERY SKILLS
2 min readAppreciating Miao embroidery is not possible without knowing the techniques and skills utilized. There are more than one hundred sub-tribes- of the Miao people and no one knows for sure the exact numbers and no books ever give a clue to this question.
What we know for sure is the difference between the sub-tribes of Miao, is almost all determined by the characteristics shown on the embroidery costumes.The form, style and techniques and skills vary with each different sub-tribes and its living environment. Acquaintance of the techniques is the first step. Different techniques utilized affect the prices at collectors’market. For example, the split-silk techniques for costumes made in Shidong area, Taijiang county are traded at highest price level amongst all the Miao costumes because they are extremely time consuming and material intensive. “Duixiu” works noted for its extreme complexity, are also trades at higher prices than the works of the same level. Rarity also is an important pricing factor, as is the case with “Bansi” works. I learned to embroider as a child from my maternal grandma.
I still remember the tool kit: needles, silk threads and a round tambour, double tiers put together made of bamboo, for stretching the cloth on which to embroider. But for Miao people embroidering, this tambour is not necessary though they still need a hard cloth to work on. So their alternative to the tambour is usually starch the reverse side of the cloth and add one layer or more of hard paper or strong cloth, so as to stitch on a stable cover.
