Madeira embroidered table linen, possibly one of the few items that you can actually design yourself and have made to your own specification. Would you like to match your table linen with your dinnerware, match your room design, include your company name or your personal monogram. Yes all these things are very possible and this luxury table linen is hand embroidered on the small island of Madeira by individual artisans in there own homes.
One of the industries best kept secrets Madeira luxury table linen is enjoyed by European and Hollywood royalty alike.
History The embroidery of Madeira owes its origin to the monasteries of Portugal whose nuns produced items for the Portuguese churches in the middle ages. The English who have had a long cultural and business affiliation with Madeira started to import it into England in the 1850s and soon every bride desired the lace lingerie and cut work bed linen. Only about 20 firms remain on the island today, who market, design and sell this hand embroidered table linen.
The embroidery is carried out on contract by a small workforce of individual skilled embroiderers working from home and paid by the stitch.
How is it made
A designer creates the pattern on tracing paper.
The number of stitches is calculated using a stitch counter.
The lines of the pattern are perforated and ink dripped through onto the fabric.
Instructions are then assembled re colors, stitch type, the actual fabric and embroidery threads and passed to the individual embroiderer. The finished piece is return to the factory for pressing, washing and edging.
Each piece is independently inspected and attached with a seal of approval. As you have probably guessed this hand embroidered luxury table linen [http://www.elegance2003.com/tablelinen/default.htm] does not come cheap but it is one of the few remaining examples of an ancient craft available in its original form today and one which can be used for today's entertaining.
