Näversöm Embroidery
This is an intricate piece of Näversöm embroidery. Originating in Sweden as early as the 17th century, Näversöm embroidery gets its name from a piece of birch bark that was used as a frame – “Näver” means Birch Bark and “söm” means seam/stitch.
A shepherdess could do her Näversöm embroidery while tending to her animals since the birch bark frame could be easily rolled up and carried to protect her work,
The Näversöm embroidery technique is unusual because it is entirely stitched from the back. The birch bark protected the front of the piece, and the final design was not revealed until the folk art was completely finished.
This technique of embroidery would have become extinct had it not been for a Swedish woman, who owned a needlework shop in Hudiksvall, Sweden. She studied the Näversöm stitchery and taught this specialized embroidery in the late-1800s.
Näversöm had a revival in the 1960s and 1970s in Sweden when several instructional articles were published.
