Embroidery: Portugal’s beautiful tradition from the north of the country

Things change

At one point embroidery along with crochet became out of fashion and many thought it was tacky.  But it’s back. Thanks to all the DIY lovely makers. And, I’m so happy because it’s a beautiful art.

My mother and grandmother both had beautiful white hand embroidered table cloths and table mats. They were so delicate and the table always looked welcoming and festive.

Embroidery

Embroidery takes me to the past. I love hand-embroidered cloth but some of the machine embroidery is also beautiful. 

Embroidered dresses are gorgeous and I like the kaftans worn at the beach. They look so breezy and elegant.

Western embroidery is smoother than the gorgeous Indian embroidery. Some look and feel three-dimensional.

Portuguese embroidery

The Portuguese from the north of the country make a gorgeous embroidered letter on scarves that was created by fishermen’s wives. 

They embroidered a short message and added little designs such as hearts and flowers.  Some of them were love letters and others were about friendship and family.

You can still find them and some are still made by hand. 

There are many machine-made so you will need to be attentive when you look for one.

It took me a long time to buy one.  I thought that it was such a touristy thing at first and then one day I went into a store and the right music was playing and the part about the harbor and the boat. I thought about my days at the beach and bought a small square embroidered letter.

I love the Indian clothes with embroidery. Lost in India in Portugal have the most beautiful dinner jackets and dresses with intricate designs.

Some designs are wild while other clothes just have a few designs here and there to enhance the fabric.

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Updated July 2025