Two Faces of Embroidery

Suzhou Embroidery is one of the four most renowned embroidery techniques in China, dating back over 2000 years.
 
Chi Lin Embroidery, located on Tobacco Pipe Lane near the Beijing Ning Xia Hotel, holds an abundance of Suzhou Embroidery featuring delicate needlework and intricate images.
 
I was most enamored with their double-sided embroideries. Take a particular piece called “Cats on Both Sides”. When you look at one side, the cat is in green and white.
 
But turn to the other side, and the color became yellow and white. Another piece managed to stitch the image of two leopards on one side, and an image of two tigers on the other.
 
The owner of the shop is a Suzhou local, with her very own factory there. Everything in the shop comes from her factory.
 
She says the big difference among Suzhou Embroidery and embroidery in other areas is its unique stitching.
 
Sometimes 20 different silk threads are needed to make just the shadow on the face of a portrait.
 
And a piece of silk thread is divided into as many as 48 pieces until the thread is hardly visible.
The shop takes custom orders. Their artists will tackle any image you wish to see embroidered.