Umbrian Embroidery Revisited - Part One

Way back in this post, I promised to let you know how my experiments with Umbrian Embroidery went. Recently I finally had some time to dedicate to some more experiments. As usual with my experiments, I learned more about what I shouldn't do than what I should, but I show them to you in the spirit of learning.

Instead of using an evenweave fabric, I wanted a more rustic look and chose some lightweight undyed hemp fabric. I made sure to finish the edges on the serger before washing it, and after ironing the whole yard, I discovered that it had not been cut very evenly so I spent quite a bit of time withdrawing threads on the two sides that did not have a selvedge and then serging those two sides again for a more true idea of how much fabric I had (which was a yard in the end). I really like the look and feel of the hemp fabric.

Ok, so now having squared-off my fabric I had some scraps to experiment on. I already knew that I wanted to use the varigated Anchor pearl cotton, 1355 which is a green/blue/yellow combination. But which weight? No. 5 or No. 8?

While I really like the raised texture of the no. 5, it is clearly too heavy to use on this fabric, so no. 8 it is. This little motif uses the Satin stitch, Stem stitch and the Ricciolino stitch which characterizes Umbrian Embroidery.

Off we go! I chose a motif from Giuseppa Federici's lovely book: Punto Umbro o Punto Sorbello which I got last year at the Italia Invita Forum in Parma. I have been dying to try some of the beautiful things in this book.

Giusy has written several books on different Italian needlework techniques and she really knows how to lay out a technical manual. The photos are clear and close-up and there are lots and lots of interesting and attractive patterns to try, all with photos of the items stitched up so you know what the end result will be.

I chose one of the simpler Umbrian Embroidery motifs, transfered the pattern onto the hemp fabric and went to work. It stitches up quickly and while I love tone-on-tone, this thread produces an interesting effect too.

This is one corner of the design which repeats in all four corners of a square:

Now, here's where I took a wrong turn... I am much more comfortable with counted thread embroidery and have a very hard time ignoring the weave of the fabric when doing free-style embroidery. Of course non-evenweave fabrics do not behave like evenweave fabrics and I should have calculated better before beginning my edging.

I really like the edging I experimented with before in this post. I thought I had it all figured out with regard to joining the insertion stitches when connecting two pieces of fabric, and so, when I stitched along my first side of the square of fabric, I assumed that if my stitches were done the same on all four sides, the results would be the same. I tried to execute the edging stitches every three ground fabric threads, thinking (erroneously) that everything would work out.

But warp and weft of this fabric are not the same. Can you see my difficulties? This piece will never match up with another one evenly and I even have five motifs on one side instead of four like the rest! All four sides are different.

Giusy says in her book that you need to set the pattern for the edging with your first piece so that you can easily join the others together. This makes sense, of course but how to go about it? Even if I fold my square over so that the two sides with four motifs are aligned, the motifs are not positioned correctly to be matched up.

This obviously cannot be done by counting ground threads (which I should have known) but rather with a ruler. If you have other ideas, please post them below! Now I will unpick the three edges which I don't like and attempt to make the new ones match the one edge that I do like which, ironically is the first edge I stitched. I should have paid more attention!!

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully it won't take me so long to get back to you this time!

For those who will want to know:

• the Anchor thread came from http://sewandso.co.uk/
• the hemp fabric came from http://hempbasics.com/
• you can purchase Giusy's book directly from her (click on the link to send her an email) 

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part One

In 1878 Romeyne Robert was born in New Jersey to American parents who traveled quite a bit and during a visit to Rome met her future husband the marquis Ruggero Ranieri di Sorbello.

Soon after their marriage in 1902, the couple settled in to live at the 17th century Palazzo Sorbello in Perugia. This breathtaking palazzo is worth a visit as it houses important collections of paintings, prints, pottery, embroideries and one of Italy's most important libraries of rare texts.

Marquess Romeyne felt a strong desire to help the country folk on her family's estates and set up a Montessori school (which, at the time, was a brand new teaching method) for children where she also initiated sewing and embroidery lessons for women.

The success of these classes brought about the establishment in 1904 of an embroidery workshop called "Scuola Ricami Ranieri di Sorbello" [Ranieri di Sorbello Embroidery School] which she based on one of the Ranieri family estates called the Villa Pischiello near Lake Trasimeno in the province of Perugia.

Starting with 8 employees, the workshop counted near to 150 employees at its peak of popularity and enjoyed success until 1934. A co-operative named "Arti Decorativi Italiane" [Decorative Italian Arts] was started and opened a shop in the city of Perugia to sell the products of textile, lace and embroidery workshops from the surrounding area and even from a little farther away in the other regions of Italy.

Together with Carolina Amari an extraordinarily talented needlewoman from Florence, the Marquess Romeyne developed the technique of Punto Umbro [Umbrian Embroidery], also known as Sorbello Embroidery and Pischiello Embroidery, from antique pieces in the personal collection of the Countess Edith Bronson Rucellai of Florence.

The cover of an undated brochure on the technique reads as follows:
"The Punto Umbro is the revival of an ancient and forgotten Arab stitch used in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese embroideries. It was discovered among some of the rare needlework in the fine collection of Countess Edith Rucellai. The stitch was deciphered, copied, and applied to renaissance Italian designs, through the ability of Signorina Carolina Amari of Florence, and has become the specialty of the school of embroidery founded, organized and directed at Pischiello, Passignano, by the Marquess Ranieri di Sorbello for the benefit of the women on her husband's estate and neighboring towns bordering the historic Lake Trasimeno, Umbria."

An excellent book on the history relating to this technique and it's founders is Ricami della Bell'Epoca published by the Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation with articles by noted textile scholars Maria Luciana Buseghin and Iolanda Silvestri. Most of the text is in Italian but there are some bits in English and also some summaries of the essays in English at the end. There are lots of photos of Italian embroideries, laces and textiles. The cover art gives you an idea of the embroidery technique Punto Umbro:


Next time we will go into detail on the technique of Punto Umbro and talk about what is happening today to continue the tradition of this fascinating needlework and one of the particularly talented associations called P.Es.Co. For now, whet your appetite by checking out their photo galleries.

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Two

Romeyne Robert and Umbrian Embroidery - Part Three