The Victorians loved lavish decorations. So, designs became ever more elaborate. Crafters, from knitters to embroiderers, worked to develop their skills in order to create the ornate new look. A lady's skill at needlework had always been considered one of her most important accomplishments. With beautiful handmade items at the height of fashion, accomplishments in needlework took on an even greater importance. A lady was expected to furnish her home with everything from quilts to doilies. Lovely handmade knickknacks, such as letter holders and pen wipers, were scattered everywhere in well-appointed Victorian home.
Some Victorian crafts are no longer familiar to us. Of these, a few were never truly practical. Take straw embroidery, for instance. According to S.F.A. Caulfield's "Dictionary of Needlework," published in 1887, straw embroidery was "used for ball dress trimmings or to ornament an entire net dress." "Leaves, flowers, corn, butterflies, etc., that are stamped out of straw" were sewn onto black or yellow silk netting material. These motifs were then connected with yellow cording.
Straw embroidery never really did catch on, probably because the material was difficult to work with and must have frayed after a few wearings. Some other forgotten Victorian crafts, though, were both practical and charming. Brocade embroidery was a quick, easy way to create lovely home décor items. Crafters would choose a piece of brocade with a appealing floral pattern and outline the flowers with embroidery thread in a contrasting color. They could also fill in the flowers with ornamental designs. The same kind of embroidery could be done with embossed, patterned velvet. In this case, the craft was called velvet work.
Renaissance braid lace was another charming Victorian craft. It was a form of point lace in which fairly heavy fabric strips or braiding were sewn together using decorative stitches. This stitching formed a highly ornamental, yet quite durable lace.
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