Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Loosely twisted worsted yarn used for fancywork and embroidery.
- noun Crewelwork.
from The Century Dictionary.
- An obsolete spelling of
cruel . - noun A kind of fine worsted or thread of wool, used in embroidery and fancy work.
- noun Formerly, any ornamented woolen cord, thread, tape, or the like. See
caddis . - noun The cowslip.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Worsted yarn,, slackly twisted, used for embroidery.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Worsted
yarn , slackly twisted, used forembroidery .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The material used was through all the phases the same, viz., a twill fabric, of which the warp was of linen, the weft of cotton; the wools varied somewhat in the twist, but were always worsted, the word crewel being a diminutive of clew, "a ball of thread," and probably came into vogue with the importation of wools from Germany, the corresponding word in that language being _Knäuel_.
Jacobean Embroidery Its Forms and Fillings Including Late Tudor Ada Wentworth Fitzwilliam
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Old examples of work done entirely in crewel-stitch, as distinguished from what is called crewel work, are seldom if ever to be met with.
Art in Needlework A Book about Embroidery Mary Buckle 1877
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For work in the hand, CREWEL-STITCH is perhaps, on the whole, the easiest and most useful of stitches; whence it comes that people sometimes vaguely call all embroidery crewel work; though, as a matter of fact, the stitch properly so called was never very commonly employed, even when the work was done in "crewel," the double thread of twisted wool from which it takes its name.
Art in Needlework A Book about Embroidery Mary Buckle 1877
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Some of this "crewel" work, done in the seventeenth century, is described by M. Jourdain in "English
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Not to say that dudes don't enjoy a bit of crewel embroidery.
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I have to say, the crewel embroidery one is absolutely fantastic!
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#35 I have seen some nice old crewel work sold on etsy, but to take decent buttons & an ok bucket and make something this vile does seem evil or just too dum.
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I think I could excuse a headless dress cake if it employed the crewel decorating and made this dress:
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An intricate crewel tapestry hung on one wall, and a large, square, ornate coffee table showcased two large white stone candlesticks shaped like cherubs.
Starlit Lisa Rinna 2010
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I, too, would like to know how the crewel "stitching" was done - amazing stuff!
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