 Polychrome ( multicoloured ) silk embroidery became fashionable in the reign of Elizabeth , and from c . 1590 to 1620 a uniquely English fashion arose for embroidered linen jackets worn informally or as part of <unk> costume . These jackets usually featured scrolling floral patterns worked in a multiplicity of stitches . Similar patterns worked in 2 @-@ ply worsted wool called crewel on heavy linen for furnishings are characteristic of Jacobean embroidery . 
