Chimseonjang (Needlework)

Chimseon refers to the technique of making clothes and accessories through sewing, and a person who has mastered this technique is called a chimseonjang. It is said that people began sewing even before recorded history. Metal needles from the Silla period, similar to those used today, have been discovered, and murals in Goguryeo tombs and the Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms) show that needlework had already reached a considerable level of development by the Three Kingdoms period. Needlework continued to develop through the Goryeo and Joseon periods and has been passed down to the present day. The tools needed for needlework include cloth, needles, thread, thread spools, thimbles, scissors, rulers, indu (a small heated iron for pressing seams), an indu board, a pressing iron, an ironing board and awls. Silk, cotton, ramie and hemp are mainly used as fabrics, and cotton thread is the most common, its choice varying with the material, colour and thickness of the cloth. Sewing methods include basic overcasting, running stitch, backstitch, top-stitching, whipstitching, cross-stitching and blind stitching, with the technique chosen according to the part of the garment. According to the season, garments are sewn as unlined single layers with fine seams in summer, as double layers in spring and autumn, and padded with cotton wadding to make warm clothing in winter. In the past, every woman was expected to know how to sew, so sewing methods were learned within the family and skills were passed down from generation to generation, keeping the tradition of needlework alive; the technique was also transmitted through the chimbang, the royal court's own sewing chamber.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Location not stated, Seoul

Designation

National Intangible Heritage · 국가무형유산