The Forgotten History of Redwork

Redwork is one of those crafts you don’t hear a lot about these days. Unlike silk tapestries or elaborate crazy quilts, redwork was a much simpler type of decoration meant for everyday items. Perhaps this is why you don’t see these pieces for sale often in antique shops. But, if you love old style crafts then you probably enjoy the look of these two-color designs. Here’s a little bit of history on the forgotten art of redwork.

Red embroidery on a white background was popular in the 16th century in Europe. Back then elaborate lace collars, delicate beadwork, and costly embroidery were ways that the nobility showed their wealth and power. We need only to look at portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and the aristocracy of Europe to see how detailed and expensive-looking their clothes were.

But, back then the highly pigmented red dyes were not colorfast, making this type of embroidery extremely tricky to care for. This was something only the wealthy could even entertain.

In the 19th century a process to create vibrant, stable red colors came to Europe. Although the technique originated in India and the Levant regions in the 1700s, because it came from the the East it came to be known as Turkey red. The process used a plant from the Rubiaceae family, the same family that coffee comes from. The plant is called rubia, but is more commonly known as madder. Before this process was industrialized in Europe in the 1800s reds were not reliable. Pre-madder reds not only would not stand up to washing, but they were also faded by sunlight and even just normal wear and tear. This new type of red was the first one that could maintain its bright hue throughout the life of the garment – a colorfast shade of true red.

For that reason Turkey red fabrics were considered a godsend, a gift of cheerful color in a world of muddy whites and earth tones derived from natural dyes. They were so popular some fabric companies made Turkey red their bread and butter, such as the United Turkey Red Co. Ltd. of Scotland.

This dyeing process was also applied to embroidery threads, meaning that even if you didn’t have the money for yards of Turkey red fabric, you could probably afford some Turkey red threads and make your own colorfast embroidery at home. This is known as redwork, but was also called Turkey work, named for the color.

This cost-effective style of embroidery was done on plain white or unbleached fabrics and so saved money. But, it also provided a light background on which the rich red colors could really shine. This style of embroidery work was quite popular from the middle of the 1800s and into the 1930s in Europe, the UK, and North America. Samplers were also made in this same redwork style. Easy-to-follow patterns to embroider everyday fabric household items ere sold cheaply, adding to the accessibly nature of this art. Penny squares were patterns for embroidery that called for the simple stitches in redwork and were sold for a penny, adding to the affordable nature of this craft.

Some examples of redwork embroidered on everyday items were:

• linens for kids and babies
• Sunbonnet Sue motifs
• His and Hers items
• Pillow covers
• Quilts
• Tablecloths
• Dresser scarves
• Dishtowels

These were more utilitarian objects that often got more wear and tear so that could be why the craft has been so under-appreciated for the past 100 years. As other colorfast thread colors became readily available this single-color work became less popular. But, if you collect redwork embroidery the you already know the simplicity of two colors and the plain stitching make these pieces incredibly charming.