Qing-dynasty Fan Pouch with Seed-stitch Crane Medallions Front

When applying seed stitches, as one of the traditional technique of the Su Embroidery, the crafters usually make a loop around the needle tip after beginning a stitch and then pull the loop all the way down to the fabric by pulling the needle to the opposite direction and then fix the loop onto the fabric by passing the needle across the fabric, creating seed-like dots on the foundation fabric, hence the name. Seen as an evolvement of the ancient chain stitches, seed stitches show evidence of earliest use on the embroidery unearthed from the Eastern Han tombs in Noyon uul of Mongolia, and are still applied as the main embroidery technique by ethnic minority groups such as Miao, Dong, Shui, etc., living in the southwest of China. And a new category named “linen-yarn or horsetail-hair outlined seed stitch embroidery” was even developed based on the combination of seed stitches with the linen-yarn and horsetail-hair embroidery techniques in these areas.