Hardangersom (The Norwegian word "som" means embroidery, therefore "hardangersom" means Hardanger embroider.) art came to western Norway about the end of the 17th century possibly via Holland from Italy. The Italians may have adopted it from the East during the Renaissance. It is remarkable how examples of handcraft reached all parts of the world at a time when communication was so primitive! As styles traveled the globe they left many variations along the way. This form of embroidery takes its name from the coastal town in southwest Norway where it developed a distinct style and is still used as decoration on the apron of the folk costume, or bunad, of that region. It is also used for decorating tablecloths, napkins, towels, bedspreads, pillows and curtains

The hardanger bunad has become so well loved in Norway, that it has been adopted as the national costume. This bunad consists of a red, woolen, sleeveless bodice embellished with multi-colored cross stitch or beading worn over a white, long-sleeved blouse with high collar, a full-length black woolen skirt and a mid-calf apron made of one width of white linen or cotton fabric. Hardangersom bands are embroidered around the cuffs and collar of the blouse and also horizontally across the bottom of the apron. The bands of embroidery on the apron can be as much as 12" wide. All bunads are made according to precise qualifications, i.e., the skirt must be a certain number of hand-widths from the ankle.

Hardangar embroidery combines drawn and counted thread work, along with satin stitch. It is done on an even-weave fabric, traditionally linen, with pearl cotton or linen thread, again traditionally natural color white on white or cream on cream. Hardangersom contains needle weaving techniques such as woven, double-woven and wrapped bars filled with dove's eyes, picots, added spokes, added woven spokes and occasionally a woven wheel. True hardangersom does not contain "elaborate" filling stitches. The beauty of this needle art is in its simplicity. Pulled thread techniques such as cable stitch, ribbon stitch (a form of cable stitch which is comprised of three diagonal rows of stitches worked in much the same theory as the cable stitch), eyelets and the four-sided stitch are frequently used. Most antique pieces were hemmed with either the hemstitching technique, plain hemming or fringed. Very few pieces were finished with a buttonhole edging. That technique would use up far too much thread which was so precious and would be considered a waste of thread for simply hemming a finished piece!

Traditionally, hardangersom is worked with white linen or cotton thread on a matching ground of even weave linen or cotton fabric 22 to 50 threads per inch.

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