Sunday Read: The Atlas of World Embroidery by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood

Embroidery is one of the most widely shared forms of human expression, yet it remains endlessly diverse. Found wherever cloth exists, it has long adorned ceremonial dress, domestic textiles, religious objects and everyday clothing. The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles, by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, brings this extraordinary breadth into a single, richly illustrated volume that reads as both visual feast and cultural map.

The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles, by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood

Organised geographically, the atlas leads readers on a global journey through needlework traditions, from the quillwork and birch-bark embroidery of Indigenous North America to the exuberant floral motifs of Hungarian Matyó dress; from India’s opulent zardozi to the refined satin stitches of Han Dynasty China. Across more than 300 full-colour images, embroidery emerges as both surface decoration, and as a language of identity, belief and exchange, shaped by environment, materials and cultural values...

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Further Information:

The Atlas of World Embroidery will be published by Princeton University Press on 17 February 2026. Pre-order your copy now on the Selvedge website.

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Image Credits:

Lead: Bai Baby Hat, 20th century China. Cotton, silk, hair, wool, sequins, beads. Image: Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

All further images as credited in photo captions.