Decoration on fabric or leather ground with needle-worked accessory stitches (thread or yarn that is not part of the textile structure that passes through a textile) made with threads, yarn or other flexible materials. Although hand embroidery is a widely practiced craft, most commercially produced embroidered textiles are made by machine.
DT, 1996
Context:
You can machine-embroider any fabric, including silks and soft wools. But producing exquisite embroidery that is well suited to the fabric, doesn’t pucker, or change the fabric’s drape, involves the interaction of all the following elements: a machine that’s well-tuned and set at the appropriate needle and bobbin tensions, a well-prepared and positioned design, the correct needle and thread for the job, and a good understanding of the fabric you’re embroidering so that it is properly hooped and stabilized.
