Stitching with Hair: A Victorian Embroidery Tradition You Probably Didn’t Know About
Quote: "Did you know? In Japan, embroidery was once considered so precious that beautifully stitched kimonos were handed down like family jewels." – Anonymous
Stitching with Hair: A Victorian Embroidery Tradition You Probably Didn’t Know About
When we think of embroidery, most of us picture colourful threads, delicate fabrics, and perhaps a treasured sampler passed down through generations. But in the Victorian era, embroidery sometimes used a very unexpected material: human hair.
Yes, really. Hair was carefully woven, braided, or even stitched into designs to create keepsakes, memorials, and sentimental pieces of art.
Why Hair?
For the Victorians, hair was more than just a physical feature; it was a symbol of memory, love, and connection. Unlike flowers that faded or ink that smudged, hair was durable and lasting. A lock of hair could serve as a permanent reminder of someone dear, whether they were far away, a beloved suitor, or someone who had passed on.
Using hair in embroidery was a way to quite literally keep loved ones close. For mourners, it offered comfort, a tangible piece of someone they could hold, display, or wear. For lovers and families, it was a token of affection, a small part of someone carried with you always.
What Did They Make with Hair?
Victorian hair embroidery could take many forms, including:
Jewellery: Brooches, lockets, and rings often featured tiny woven hair designs. Some were purely decorative; others contained the hair of a deceased loved one as mourning jewellery.
Framed Pictures: Hair was stitched or arranged into elaborate floral patterns, landscapes, or even portraits, mounted in frames and displayed in the home.
Mourning Wreaths: Families sometimes created large, intricate wreaths made entirely of hair to honour and remember their relatives.
Samplers and Keepsakes: Just like thread samplers, hair could be used to form letters, initials, or small motifs on fabric.
These creations were often works of incredible skill and detail, requiring both patience and a steady hand.
A Touch of the Macabre… or Sentimental Beauty?
To modern eyes, hair embroidery can feel a little unsettling, even morbid. But to the Victorians, it was deeply sentimental. Mourning and memory were woven into daily life, and these objects reflected a culture that valued visible, lasting ways to honour love and loss.
In fact, museums today preserve stunning examples of hair embroidery. When you look closely, they’re not grim curiosities but delicate, intricate works of art, just made with a material we wouldn’t expect.
From Hair to Thread
Thankfully for us modern stitchers, embroidery has moved back to the world of colourful threads, silks, and fibres. Yet the heart of embroidery hasn’t changed: it remains a way to stitch meaning, memory, and beauty into fabric.
The next time you pick up your needle and thread, think of those Victorians, finding comfort, creativity, and connection in a strand of hair.
Would you ever try stitching with hair? Or are you happy to stick to thread?
Happy Stitching!
