A little history
The earliest method of adding gold to fabrics was to attach thin ribbons of the metal by couching them onto the underlying fabric. As metalworking technology progressed, these metal strips became first metal wires and then fine metal strips wound spirally around a silk thread. These metal threads – known as the passing threads – are couched onto the fabric with waxed silk threads of a similar or contrasting colour, depending upon the effect that the embroiderer wished to achieve.

The art of gold thread embroidery was practised all over Europe, but reached its most advanced form in England during the 13^th-15^th centuries. As a result, the style of embroidery used for ecclesiastical vestments and heraldic garb became known as Opus Anglicanum.