fancywork

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fan·cy·work

(făn′sē-wûrk′)

Decorative needlework, such as embroidery.

fancywork

(ˈfænsɪˌwɜːk)

(Knitting & Sewing) any ornamental needlework, such as embroidery or crochet

fan•cy•work

(ˈfæn siˌwɜrk)

n.

ornamental needlework.

[1800–10]

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Noun

fancywork - decorative needlework

embroidery

candlewick - loops of soft yarn are cut to give a tufted pattern

crewelwork - embroidery done with loosely twisted worsted yarn

cross-stitch - embroidery done with pairs of stitches that cross each other

cutwork - embroidery in which the design is outlined in a buttonhole stitch and the intervening material is cut away

drawnwork - ornamental needlework done by drawing threads to form lacelike patterns

faggoting, fagoting - embroidery in which groups of parallel threads are tied together with fagot stitches

hemstitch - embroidery similar to drawnwork

needlepoint embroidery, needlepoint - embroidery consisting of allover embroidered canvas resembling tapestry

needlecraft, needlework - a creation created or assembled by needle and thread

sampler - a piece of embroidery demonstrating skill with various stitches

smocking - embroidery consisting of ornamental needlework on a garment that is made by gathering the cloth tightly in stitches

References in classic literature ?

Often the mothers brought their fancywork and sat on the shady side of the tent during the lesson.

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He could talk about rural economy with the count, fashions with the countess and Natasha, and about albums and fancywork with Sonya.

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Woodhouse's kindness, felt his particular claim on her to leave her neat parlour, hung round with fancywork, whenever she could, and win or lose a few sixpences by his fireside.

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Mingott's sole pursuit, and she would have scorned to feign an interest in fancywork.

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I think I liked the horses and the flowers and the fancywork best.

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When I was first married, I used to long for my new clothes to wear out or get torn, so that i might have the pleasure of mending them, for I got heartily sick of doing fancywork and tending my pocket handkerchief.

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If nobody but a genteel woman of her era could have done such fancywork, it is also true that only a woman this skilled could have had the expertise necessary to create an art form so brilliantly mimetic of plant matter.

"Botanical Figura"

Like all fine art forms, the fancywork of gems and rings participates in the glorification of the state, perpetuating power by ennobling it.

Waging loving war: Lucretius and the poetry of Remy Belleau

This article focuses on the Victorian taste for nature crafts, a genre of fancywork consisting of decorative objects composed from natural materials, in particular works in which the natural materials--shells, bark, fish scale flowers, leaves, etc.

Nineteenth-century nature crafts

The more daring Joyce's subjects become, the more he tends to swathe them about with the fancywork of his literary virtuosity.

James Joyce

A practical-minded farm wife born in 1860, she progressed from fancywork embroidery to become a much-beloved memory painter and American icon.

American folk art paintings

She enjoyed tatting and fancywork, cooking, her family, flower gardening and baking.