Stumpwork

Stumpwork is the technique of creating raised embroidery with padding and/or wire, where the stitched figures are raised from the surface of the work to form a 3-dimensional effect. Stitches can be worked around pieces of wire to create individual forms such as leaves, insect wings or flower petals. This form is then applied to the main body of work by piercing the background fabric with the wires and securing tightly.

Stumpwork embroidery traces its roots back to the highly padded ecclesiastic work of the fifteenth century, but gradually the three-dimensional stitching and unique subject matter became popular with the more affluent families of Stuart England.