 Although the majority of surviving English embroidery from the medieval period was intended for church use , this demand decreased radically with the Protestant Reformation . In contrast , the bulk of the surviving embroidery of the Tudor , Elizabethan , and Jacobean eras is for domestic use , whether for clothing or household decoration . The stable society that existed between the accession of Elizabeth in 1558 and the English Civil War encouraged the building and furnishing of new houses , in which rich textiles played a part . Some embroidery was imported in this period , including the canvas work bed valances once thought to be English but now attributed to France , but the majority of work was made in England — and increasingly , by skilled amateurs , mostly women , working domestically , to designs by professional men and women , and later to published pattern books . 
