This episode is all about embroidery using gold thread. Erica wears traditional Chinese dress in this episode, and begins by noting that will gold thread had been used in the Near East for millennia, the Chinese made it more practical to work with gold thread by winding the gold around a silk core. She shows off two Chinese silk robes embroidered with gold thread, both of which were made for members of the Imperial court. Since it is very difficult to sew through fabric with true gold thread, both pieces were done with a technique called ?couching,? sewing the thread directly onto the surface of the fabric. Easier to find and much less expensive than true gold thread is Lurex, a metallic-looking yarn made from gold or silver-colored, aluminum-coated synthetic fiber. Erica demonstrates the couching stitch, as well as the Pekinese stitch, using Lurex, creating a golden snail for a sampler. Once one has mastered the technique, Erica suggests decorating a handbag with couching stitches over Lurex. Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by Amanda Sikarskie.
