Embroidery, art of decorating material, primarily textile fabric, by means of a needle and thread (and sometimes fine wire). The basic techniques include crewel work, needlepoint, cross-stitch embroidery, and quilting, as well as quillwork and featherwork. 

Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings show that clothes, couch covers, hangings, and tents were so decorated. Quilting was known to the ancient Persians and, at the time of the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE), quilted garments were worn as armour; Greek vase paintings show these quilted suits covered with embroidery. Greeks depicted on vases from the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and later are dressed in embroidered garments.