Ricamo Italiano - Digital Magazine

I used to subscribe to one of the Italian needlework magazines called Ricamo Italiano which started up in the fall of 2004. The subscription for overseas was about double the European price but at the time I could afford it and anyway, I usually figure on paying about double the cover price for any publication from Italy because the shipping is so much.

In 2010 they decided to raise the overseas price for a subscription so much that I had to give them up.

Silvia from Turin emailed me to say that she had discovered that they now have a digital edition which you can purchase and download instantly.

I decided to purchase an issue and take you along with me for the ride. Before we get started, let me say that I'm not recommending/soliciting this magazine and I don't earn anything by this post. This is just an adventure in Italian Needlework.

I took screenshots along the way and then added some arrows in with Photoshop. My monitor is a 27 inch iMac so I'm sorry, there is a lot of white space but I didn't want to cut anything off that might help you if you were going to try this.

Now, I didn't find anything indicating that this was even available on the Ricamo Italiano website, but there might be something there that I just didn't see, or they may have updated it since this post if you're reading this sometime in the future.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Arriving at the EZPRess website, which thanks to Silvia, we know exists, use the pull down menu at the top for English or which ever language you like, it uses Google Translate which does an okay job for what we need here.

On the left is a "search by category" heading with directly below it another pull down menu. For reasons probably to do with translation, the list does not appear in English alphabetical order, so you'll find "embroidery" under "boys". Don't ask, just select "embroidery" and let's move on. ;-)

There are only two choices for "embroidery" and they are both Ricamo Italiano, so you can take your pick between September 2012 (issue 95) or October 2012 (issue 96) or you can sign up for a subscription. I chose issue 96 and clicked on "acquista ora" - the buttons don't translate.

When you click the button a little pop up menu tells you that what you've selected has been added to your cart and you have the option to continue shopping or going on to the cart and paying which is the option I chose.

Now you must click on "cash", you'll notice my "x" shows that you must pay the value added tax or VAT. Many international websites are set up so that the program knows if you're overseas and that you are not required to pay the VAT. This is not one of them. I also understand that in Italy there is a difference in business license, if you anticipate mainly Italian clients, you choose one license, if you anticipate international clients, you choose the other (more expensive) license. These people are anticipating Italian clients and I'm not going to argue over €0,50 which is like, $0.65USD.

Now we must register with EZPress. Click accordingly and you will land at the page which gives you some advice about google.mail clients. I forgot to take a screenshot of this page until after I'd finished, so you may notice in the next photo that my cart is empty on the left. Yours however should still have your magazine in it.

Click "register" and we go on to the cart where you have your choice of payment methods. I chose PayPal and then "check out" at the bottom.

Now, I wasn't quick enough to get the next screenshot but a big green check mark flashed on the screen and some text telling me that I'd entered my order correctly and that I was now being re-routed to PayPal's website, which I was.

After completing my PayPal payment, I chose to return to the EZPress website and landed at this page. I clicked where I indicate with the red arrow, but if you chose a subscription you must click where I've put the 'x".

This brings you to your order summary and you must remember to download both the magazine and the "foglione" which has some patterns on it. It looks like you can do this 100 times each.

What they don't tell you is that the magazine file is 74.1MB so that takes a few minutes to load. The 'foglione' is only 135 KB (for issue 96). The magazine is 86 pages.

If you choose the subscription, you get the same price that Italians get for a printed subscription and you'll get "12 months". Just a word to the wise, this magazine does not always print issues in consecutive months so "12 months" usually takes you into the following year. This can be confusing but at least this way, you'll know it didn't get lost in the mail!

Colourful Puncetto

I have long been an admirer of Puncetto needle lace from the Piedmont region of Italy.

Every once in a while, I take out my needle and thread and try to practice what I learned in two short hours of lessons at the 2009 Italia Invita Forum in Parma.

In May of this year there is even a 12 hour workshop available at the next biannual Italia Invita event to tempt me. While I wrestle with the decision of whether or not I can attend this workshop, I want to tell you about some special ladies who create beautiful coloured Puncetto which I first saw in a RAKAM magazine in March of 2008.

Last year there was another article about them in the April issue of Ricamo Italiano magazine.

Anna Rita Capone keeps a blog which I recently discovered with lots of pictures of her adventures with her maestra Ilaria Corradini.

The work is exquisite and the blog worth going through and looking at all her posts for each and every delightful and imaginative design and project.

Anna's latest Puncetto pieces have been single colour and she seems to be doing the work on commission so she doesn't have a choice in the colours but even the tone on tone pieces are beautiful!

What I wouldn't give to be able to execute the work these ladies do!

Quickie Punto Antico Ornaments

I've been asked about some quickie Italian needlework Ornaments. For those who are still playing beat the clock before the Holidays to get some ornaments done, here is a great suggestion from Barbara in Modena.

Barbara has taken some simple Punto Antico designs from Bruna Gubbini's Punto Antico books and changed the colours to represent the Holidays. Then she's covered styrofoam balls with the stitching and trimmed them with decorative ribbon, passementerie, etc.



You can check out the tutorial she has written for Tuttoricamo. (Click on the British flag for the English pages then on the left side of the homepage, click on "Arts", then "Christmas Decorations".

To find some free Punto Antico designs online, go to the Italian needlework magazine Ricamo Italiano's website and check out the files in these issues: 

No. 5 Marzo 2005
No. 7 Maggio 2005
No. 8 Giugno 2005
No. 9 Luglio 2005
No. 13 Novembre 2005
No. 14 Dicembre 2005
No. 16 Febbraio 2006
No. 22-23 Agosto-Settembre 2006
No. 29 Marzo 2007
No. 37 Novembre 2007

Openwork Embroidery - Italian Style

It's here! It's here! I can finally talk to you about the latest book that I helped with!

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery by Anna Castagnetti of Verona, Italy:


Late this past spring Anna contacted me and asked if I would do her the favour of correcting her English on a book she was writing. Of course I agreed! I have had the great fortune to see Anna's needlework many times in the Italian needlework magazines RAKAM and Ricamo Italiano and also at her house in Verona.

Anna likes to fill voided spaces in her embroidery with needle laces stitches from techniques like Hedebo, Reticello, Teneriffe, Aemilia Ars and other needle lace techniques.

This book is filled with a great many step-by-step instructional photos and Anna includes little tips and tricks for achieving better results along the way. There are four different projects, each with a variety of different filling stitches all explained in great detail. Included also are photos of some of Anna's embroideries executed in this technique. There is something here for everyone, from elegant designs to cute ones like the Tortoise on the cover. Text is in both Italian and English.

You can read more about Anna and her needlework activities here and here.

For an extensive book review, go here.

The book is available from Elena at Italian Needlecrafts.

Punto Perugino - Perugian Embroidery

Recently the School-Workshop Punti d'Arte in Città della Pieve, near Perugia, Italy has done some extensive research into this technique. In talking with a Sister of the local Convent of the Poor Clares, some of the history of Perugian Embroidery was discovered and a few ancient examples preserved by the sisters, were viewed.

At least as old as the end of the 18th century, motifs such as stylized animals and fantasy creatures, flowers and volutes, figures and geometrical patterns are worked in Satin Stitches on robust evenweave fabric in single colours such as rust, light brown, red, blue or the particularly characteristic saffron yellow, obtained from crocus flowers grown in the area, fibres are dyed using ancient local recipes.

Perugian Embroidery is a Counted Thread technique and one must decide first how many Satin Stitches to execute for each square of a design, ie. the graphed patterns resemble those prepared in Cross Stitch or Filet Lace and then each square is represented by a group of 4, 5 or 6 Satin Stitches. The Satin Stitches can go over 3, 4 or 5 ground threads. There are also accompanying openwork areas such as Cutwork and Eyelets as well as Bullion Knots and Curl Stitches.


Image from Manuale del Cucito e del Ricamo, Cucirini, Cantoni, Coats, II Edition undated.

I bought a couple of designs from the Punti d'Arte stand at the Italia Invita 2007 Forum. The girls at the stand were very helpful and told me to use Perle cotton no. 8 for the Satin Stitches and no. 12 for any Cutwork. I did one of the more simple designs on a table runner:



There are some free pattern downloads from the Italian needlework magazine Ricamo Italiano here and here.

RAKAM Magazine

RAKAM is an Italian needlework magazine which started up in 1930. In the year when it should be celebrating it's 80th birthday, it has had quite a shakeup.


Many non-Italian speaking readers who either can purchase it at a local newsstand or have a subscription might be wondering what has happened to it.


Instead of being a celebratory year for RAKAM this year has been dogged with much rumour and speculation so I will try to only state facts that I personally know to be true.


The April 2010 issue was the last RAKAM issue under the publishing company Edizioni Mimosa which was in liquidation. The new publisher, Guido Veneziani Editore, took over the name RAKAM only. This means all subscription records are not available to them and so they have no way of contacting subscribers to the previous publisher. If you stopped receiving your magazines that is why.


As you can well imagine this has upset many faithful subscribers to RAKAM and undoubtedly the other magazines that Edizioni Mimosa published. If you tried to contact them through their website in the last few months your web browser probably warned you that the site was infected with a virus.


Last year I visited the offices where production of RAKAM was executed in Milan. I know that the women I talked to then are no longer with the company. This includes the brilliant illustrator who drew those comprehensive stitch and pattern diagrams.


My own subscription to RAKAM coincidentally was due for renewal in May of this year and I had already chosen not to renew it due to increasing costs for overseas subscriptions. I have held a subscription since 2001 and am very sorry to not be getting it anymore as it has always been full of eye-candy and inspiration for me.


I am told the May 2010 issue of RAKAM was a bit of recycled articles but that the June 2010 issue showed promise although photo quality was not the best. I have not seen them.

The July 2010 issue however carries a letter to readers which a kind Italian lady typed out for me and which I have translated for you here:

Dearest Readers,
The publisher Guido Veneziani Editore has purchased only the name RAKAM from Edizioni Mimosa in liquidation. They have not, therefore, assumed commitment for any previous contracts with Edizioni Mimosa. This also holds true for subscriptions which GVE has no possibility of dispatching, not being in possession of the subscription files.
However to us at GVE it does not seem right to disappoint the readers of a magazine with so much history and so many loyal customers. Therefore we have decided to send, free of charge, the number of issues owed for the previous subscriptions with the other publisher. To this end, we invite you to contact our Subscriptions office at 02 58205207 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 3 pm to 4 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
We take this opportunity to remind you that every week you can find Guido Veneziani Editore’s weekly news magazines on the newsstands: Vero, Top, Stop and Vera as well as the monthly Vero Cucina and Vero Salute.
With fondest regards,
Guido Veneziani, Publisher
Elio Michelotti, Director

Interesting to note here that the new Director of RAKAM and the Director of Ricamo Italiano, another Italian needlework magazine are now the same person.

Here is an email address which might be of use to you, it is for the subscription office: abbonamenti@gveditore.com

I couldn't find any cover art for any 1940s editions which is why there are only 7 photos!

Trapunto

Guess what arrived in the mail today?


The catalogue from the Guicciardini Trapunto Quilt exhibit at the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence! A very kind friend picked one up for me when she went to the exhibit. It is soft-cover and about 135 pages, the text is in Italian.

Every detail of the restoration of this amazing piece has been documented. The catalogue includes some history of the quilt, the story that is depicted on it and the difficulties encountered in making a copy of it and it's other part which is preserved at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. There is much more contained in this one volume than I've been able to piece together over a decade!

A detail of the quilt before the restoration...


...and after!


I have been unable to determine if a book was released after the copy of the London part was finished in 2007 by the House of Boutis. If you know of anything, please leave me a comment below!

These two quilts have inspired many embroiderers over time.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Club del Punto in Croce sponsored the International Exhibition of Textile Art inspired by the Guicciardini Quilt in Florence in October of 2006.

When I attended the 2007 Italia Invita Lace and Embroidery Forum, the booth of the association Laboratorio Tessile di Alice had an all Trapunto display with some pieces inspired by the Guicciardini Quilts.

The Italian needlework magazine Ricamo Italiano has some free patterns for download also inspired by the designs found on the Guicciardini Quilts.


Rosalba Pepi of the association Laboratorio Tessile di Alice put out a book called: Trapunto Fiorentino in 2008. The text is in Italian but it is packed with large colour photographs of step-by-step instructions and various projects of increasing difficulty from Christmas Tree ornaments to curtains! You can get this book from Tombolo Disegni. Click on "Libri/Books", then "Ricamo Boutis e Trapunto". Send an email request to order.

The Lacemakers of Aquila

Last year on April 6th, a terrible earthquake devastated the town of Aquila, Italy and the surrounding regions. Many stitching groups rushed to organize aid of a less urgent nature for the lacemakers of the area. There was even a depository set up at the Italia Invita Forum of Lace and Embroidery in Parma in May to take donations of needlework supplies. A fund was set up for monetary donations. Simona Iannini's house crumbled on top of her and she sustained many injuries, not to mention the loss of everything in her house. Everything she had prepared for the Italia Invita Forum (she and another woman, Rita Fattore were to exhibit pieces of Aquila Bobbin Lace) was lost. Rita Fattore was marginally more fortunate, her son insisted she leave the house after the first quake and so she was saved... but after the second quake a couple of hours later, her house and all it's contents were lost.

Over the last year I have thought often of the people of Aquila and have searched for news of their fate. It seems that the Italian government, under the public eye of the world's attention, made many promises to help at the time, but have still not delivered - over a year later. In this month's issue of Ricamo Italiano (an Italian embroidery magazine) there is a letter from Simona Iannini. She has given me permission to translate a portion of it here for you to read:


In L’Aquila
Starting over... a semi-serious article of a school that begins to work again

...we Aquilani, mountain dwellers and determined, never lost hope of meeting once again to work our beloved lace (...and more). Unfortunately, what was previously done in a day, now takes a month and there were more important priorities like putting a roof over my son’s head! Having partially resolved these kinds of problems, it was time to start over.

Fed up with unkept promises, a widespread enough trend, Sunday, March 7th we met at the home of Alessandra Tagliaferri who, by good fortune (and good construction) has her house still intact. In the yard, she and her husband, obviously at their own expense, constructed a delightful wooden cabin. From there we will start over. Via the grapevine of telephone calls we were able to meet again with enthusiasm and emotion. I found it a bit trying, but beautiful and affectionate as always.

What do the Aquilani miss? We miss contact, we are divided, split up, dispersed. We miss a place to get together. One walks in the few streets or in the shopping centres searching for familiar faces. We tell ourselves: “Enough sadness, the aftershocks continue, our houses are gone, so are our jobs, we must find ourselves something to do. Let’s start again”. Our Accademy starts over from here, to teach various courses besides lace, to share our passions, to promote new projects and it is open to all those “of good will” and good character. We want to speak positively. Ideas abound.

For the record, I would like to thank my “ladies” for having listened to me when I had to vent about the situation for those of us who were wounded. By now we are no longer “odiens” [sorry, I don't know what this means] and we are only an uncomfortable expense for society. Does it seem right that there might not be any compensation? “In the end” I was told “it was hardly a workplace accident.” I was forgetting that ending up under the rubble of a house (mine was reinforced with cement), was our fault. Of course, we could have gotten out of the way!

Let’s unite for something which will give us support, even if only moral. But let’s leave the controversies elsewhere, the password is: pragmatism. Our courses will be given with lessons of different [skill] levels, in study groups. I also had two other locations in Montesilvano (Pescara) and Francavilla (Chieti), for giving lessons on Aquila lace, I hope to organize courses on the coast as well, like we have already been able to do in Lanciano. My thanks go to those who are contributing to my moral and occupational reconstruction, more precisely, my pupils and the great help that comes from outside our region.

To Alessandra’s cabin, I will bring the materials that you all have sent me which will be available to everyone, we will work to realize artifacts, in the hope of supporting ourselves.

I would like to say something to my countrymen: it is not living angry that resolves problems, a smile should not be denied to anyone and can help us move forward. At times I fear that we have forgotten the tragedy of those who lost loved ones and one might think only of one’s material possessions, I believe I can say this in hindsight, and I continue to send a thought to the little ones who are no longer here.

I, or rather we, have decided to start over with all our hardships, our long periods of time, our fears. The cabin will be the starting point for creating with our hands, for creating with our hearts, for planning, for growing, for being together. Those who love us, follow us (and help us) otherwise... we are strong enough to get by peacefully all by ourselves.

Thank you everyone. Simona Iannini


You can see some of Simona's incredible work at her website.
Rita Fattore is the co-author of Tombolo Aquilano.

If anyone knows what "odiens" are, please post a comment!