What is Redwork?

Redwork is an old form of embroidery that can be traced back to Eastern Europe in the early 19th Century.

Thread was dyed red and was the first coloured cotton thread used in embroidery , before that coloured thread was made of silk and only the wealthy could afford to use it.

This type of embroidery was popular because the embroidery required less thread to create a design. It was also much quicker to produce a design . These factors plus the lower price meant that Redwork embroidery quickly spread to other parts of the world.

Traditional looking Redwork , modern machine embroidery

People still love the unique qualities of traditional Redwork and these can be now be achieved with modern machine embroidery.

Redwork using ‘In the Hoop” machine embroidery

We use the ‘In the Hoop’ technique in all of our machine embroidery designs. This means that our Redwork has batting sewn into the block . This gives the piece more depth and increases the ways in which it can be used.

These blocks can be made into functional items such as this cushion/pillow

or into tote bags

or something completely new …..the Redwork Colouring In Designs

some of the wide range of Sweet Pea Redwork designs as sewn by our customers…..

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Redwork  In the Hoop designs    http://swpea.com/collections/redwork-in-the-hoop

Redwork In the Hoop Colouring In designs   http://swpea.com/search?q=colouring

In the Hoop Machine Embroidery designs     http://swpea.com/