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Patchwork is a form of needlework whereby two or more pieces of cloth are sewn together to create a larger, usually flat piece, which may or may not be decorative. This technique is found throughout the world and has been used for hundreds of years. It probably originated from the need to re-use (expensive) textiles. It should not be confused with the technique of quilting, which sews together, in layers, two or more pieces of cloth.

Elisabetta Catanea Parasole was a female Italian lace and embroidery designer who lived in Rome. She was married to Leonardo Norsini, a wood engraver (who adopted his wife's surname after marriage).

In the nineteenth century, a paillette was a simple piece of coloured foil or bright metal used to ornament textiles. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the term paillette was used for a much wider range of shapes and materials, with one or more holes to attach the shape to the textile. The term is often incorrectly used for a sequin (UK), which is a small disc with a single hole in the centre.

Matio (Matteo) Pagano (1515-1588) was a Venetian who published various books with lace and embroidery designs. His book titles were deliberately chosen to promote needlework as an acceptable activity for virtuous women.

Opus Araneum is the medieval Latin term for darned netting. GVE

See shaded threads or cloth.

A mellor is a blunt tool about 6-12 cm in length, which is paddle-shaped at one end and pointed at the other. It is a piece of equipment used for goldwork embroidery. The blunt end can be used as a laying tool, to help place the gold thread in position and, if necessary, to make the accompanying silk thread, used for sewing down the gold thread, lie flat.

Mother-of-pearl is a composite material produced by some forms of molluscs as an inner shell layer. The molluscs are notably mussels and oysters. The material is strong, resilient and iridescent. Mother-of-pearl has long been used in various parts of the world for making decorative buttons for garments.

Mosaic canvas is a nineteenth century term for a very fine canvas of cotton, flax, hemp or silk.

Many embroidery designs in North Africa and the Middle East are passed down from one generation to another by copying older pieces of embroidery. However, it was not uncommon for girls and women in Morocco to decorate cloth with various forms of designs and stitches, and at first glance these pieces of decorated cloth seem comparable to European samplers.