Cosmic Comics. "Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" Rainbow Oracle of Mandala City. 1972.
双面三异绣 shuāng miàn sān yì xiù is a new genre of suzhou double-sided embroidery. It is done on both sides, but the patterns, stitches and colors are different, hence the name 双面三异绣( literally double-sided triple difference embroidery). It enables the viewer to appreciate the image of traditional chinese embroidery art with different patterns, stitches and colors on one embroidery.
cr 花锦城手工


Embroidery is a high art form
Okay… but how does the fiber change colors? I’ve been doing needlework fo decades. I’ve never met any sort of embroidery floss that was a different color on the back than it was on the front. (Don’t throw variegated at me. You can see this shirt ain’t variegated.)
The stitches are smaller on one side! Ive done something similar by couching one thread with a different colored in a satin stitch worked in one direction. With silk threads being so thin, you could make long satin stitches with one color on side a, but you wouldn’t be able to see the very tiny stitches made on side b. Then you do the same thing vice versa with side b, giving you two different colors on each side
It could be more complicated, idk, I couldn’t really find tutorials for it, but that’s how I do my double sided embroideries. it doesn’t look as good but here’s how the couching method looks when it’s done!

Picture by @amiguruineapig
image descriptions: [A video of two people stitching on silk gauze in a trestle stand. On one side of the fabric, the person is stitching a detailed image of a monkey, using many thread colors and shading. on the other side, the person is stitching a dog wearing a bow. They take turns passing the needle back and forth through the fabric.
A photograph of the monkey side of of the embroidery piece, showcasing the texture of the monkeys fur.
A photograph of the dog side of the embroidery piece, which is incredibly detailed and uses an entirely different color scheme than the monkey.
Photos from the link show a double sided embroidery piece of a cat that uses a different technique and less colors.
Screenshot of a disney villan edited to say “Stitchcraft”.]
Sonata WIP stitched and designed by Jessica Strub
“It’s taken some experimentation, but I’ve finally figured out how to stitch some convincing sheet music. This will be a gift for my piano teacher/mentor. If you are wondering I am stitching directly from the music itself, public domain, and it is a piano sonata by Haydn. I have learned I do not enjoy juggling 6 needles, but there’s no other way!
I set where the lines of the staff would lie, but didn’t anchor them down. Then I cross stitch each note head 2x2 with two strands, and then anchor staff lines in the notes to hide interruptions. Then with the same thread I used to cross stitch the note head, I backstitch overtop of it to give the more rounded appearance, and then add the note stems from there.”
image description: [An in progress cross stitch project depicting sheet music. A combination of backstitching and cross stitch is used on white evenweave fabric in a hoop.]






![heracliteanfire:
“‘Perfume sprinkler, blown glass, Venice, 1600-1700. […] The flow from the spout could be regulated by placing the thumb over the blue-rimmed hole in the side.’ (via the V&A)
Even by the standards of antique Venetian glass, this is a...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/65bf7061b5f11189976ed04522e82a94/f529c4fbb2d42ad9-cc/s1280x1920/5ecc93acba00461c464b6f867e1d348ad6179df3.jpg)
