Lady Puncetto and the Valle Vogna

This article appears in this month's Giuliana Ricama in Italy so if you'd like to read it in Italian, you can find it there. 

Towards the end of the 19th century an educated and cultured Irish lady from a good and rather important family passed her summers, perhaps for health reasons, in the Alps. She travelled all the way to the Val Vogna, a small Piedmontese valley and fell in love with the place. She particularly admired it's hardworking women who, left alone for many months of the year while their men were working in France, looked after their families in great poverty. A fire destroyed one of the small hamlets and the lady had a generous idea which, for the valley, turned out to be a brilliant one. She gave the hamlet the money to reconstruct the few houses and animal stalls and as repayment she asked for pieces and lengths of the local Puncetto needle lace. Returning home to Ireland she was able to sell all the lace to her friends and many acquaintances. She arrived the next time in Piedmont with orders for more items and started up the Valvognian Industry with it's base of operations in Ca' Verno (Riva Valdobbia). She worked with the help of Agata Maria Teresa (Marietta) Frascotti Favro (1841-1899), an elementary school teacher, who had taught the working of Puncetto in the surrounding area, and who was the wife of the owner of Casa Janzo (Riva Valdobbia), the hotel where the Irish lady stayed during the summer. Clorinda Barile Favro (1877-1962), a pupil of Marietta, managed the business activity of the Valvognian Industry. In this way the women of the valley started to earn with the Puncetto that they made. 

A few lacemakers from the Valvognian Industry including Aurelia Barile,
Teresa, Carolina and Maria Andoli and Clorinda Favro.

The Irish lady, a great traveller, used her numerous connections to sell the lace. The business grew and came to include the working of other types of lace and embroidery on Irish linen. In this way they helped to relieve some Irish poverty as well. Through a barrage of articles in newspapers and women's magazines in England, Europe and also in the U.S. and through orders taken during national and international expositions, the women of the Val Vogna experienced a period of very productive business and unexpected comfort.

Eliza Matilda Johnson Lynch 1846-1917. Catholic World, 1897, vol. 66, n. 391, p. 137.

Over the last century there has been much misinformation about the Irish lady. Legend and myth became fact and when facts were not known, unfortunately for history, they were invented. She signed herself E. M. Lynch, and this has created much confusion. Through the advent of periodicals online and great genealogy websites, today we can finally get a few clearer ideas. The most important one is her name. She was called Eliza Matilda Johnson. Born in 1846 in Ireland, she then married Captain Edward Aloysius Lynch in 1866. Eliza was a suffragette and was active in England, making speeches and participating in campaigns for women's rights. She wrote articles for many magazines and newspapers on social problems, travelling and the uses and folk costumes of the countries she visited. She even wrote a bit of fiction. In Davos, Switzerland in 1901 she published a small volume called “Valle Vogna and its lace industry” collecting images and many articles which had appeared in newspapers and magazines about her business in Val Vogna. A second edition (1905) of this little book can be found among the book collection of the Italian scholar Elisa Ricci. The collection is now held by the Civic Central Library in Turin, Italy. Another copy of the second edition, with a dedication written by Mrs. Lynch can be found in the Thomas J. Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. An Italian version was translated and printed by the Walser Gmai of Alagna Valsesia in Piedmont in 1992. After the death of her husband in 1899, Eliza continued to travel to Italy and other parts of Europe. In her later years, she settled in Sanremo in Liguria. She died in Triora (Liguria) on the 8th of September 1917. There is still much to learn about this Irish lady and her activities. This is the beauty of research in the world of Italian embroidery and lace: I never stop investigating, discovering and learning.

Rare Needle Lace Patterns

I'm so excited to tell you about a booklet that has just come out. It is a facsimile reprint of a rare 16th century needle lace pattern book currently held in the public library of Forlì, Italy.

Besides 44 plates of needle lace patterns, there is also the story describing the rediscovery of this particular copy and its significance as well as detailed information on the very few other surviving copies. There is some controversy as to the true author of the patterns and the editor of this reprint, Bianca Rosa Bellomo, lays out all the known facts and hypotheses - it is a fascinating read. There are few words about the structure of the designs and then some highlights as to the subject matter of the patterns themselves with respect to the heraldry and symbolism represented. All text is accompanied by precise footnotes and there is a valuable and detailed bibliography for further study.

The first plate is a design incorporating the coats of arms of the Gonzaga and Este families as the original pattern book was dedicated to Margherita Gonzaga d'Este (1564-1618) the Duchess of Ferrara at the time.

Margherita Gonzaga d'Este. Photo from Wikipedia.

The imperial eagles belong to the Este coat of arms; the siren is an antique symbol to exalt the gifts of song or to indicate an important woman; at the top there is an Este eagle and at the sides, lions rampant are resting on the Gonzaga crown.

The booklet is 60 pages and the text is in Italian and English. It can be purchased direct from the publisher, check out their website, they take PayPal. As Lacis in Berkeley, California is their North American distributor, you can contact them to request a copy. Remember that the book was just released in Italy so it may be a little while before it is available on this side of the ocean.

Ferragamo and the needle lace of Tavarnelle

From a private collection in Florence, since donated to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

The following is an English version of my latest column in the Italian needlework magazine Giuliana Ricama issue no. 6. A couple of things to note: the Salvatore Ferragamo Museo in Florence gave me photos to include in the publication but I did not ask for permission to publish them here, so I do not include them with this translation. If you want to see them, obviously if you are in Italy you can get the magazine or go to the museum but you can also check out their website or you can explore the 20th century archives of the Ministry of Goods and Cultural Activities website.

From a private collection in Florence, since donated to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.

“There is no limit to beauty, no saturation point in design, no end to the materials a shoemaker may use to decorate his creations so that every woman may be shod like a princess and a princess may be shod like a fairy queen.” -- Shoemaker of Dreams. The Autobiography of Salvatore Ferragamo, London 1957, Italian edition 1971, edited by S. Ricci.

At the end of the 1920s Salvatore Ferragamo (1898-1960), known Italian fashion designer and founder of the fashion house of the same name, decided he wanted to use needle lace on a few models of his shoes. The nearby small towns of Tavarnelle, Mercatale and Greve, located between Florence and Siena, were centres of lace production in those days. Several models were created using the work done by local embroiderers in their own homes. Tavarnelle lace was used by Ferragamo again in the 1930s and 1950s and his big innovation was the use of colour in the needle lace. Some shoe models were called the Anna, Carina, Iride, Merletto and Sofia.

Ferragamo shoe model from 1930-1932.

Thanks to Mr. Ferragamo, the lacemakers of Tavarnelle embroidered for the most famous women of the day like Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elisabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and many more.

In the archives of the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Via Tornabuoni, Florence are models of shoes and sandals decorated with the lace of Tavarnelle but unfortunately nothing is displayed in the museum's permanent exhibition. You can however write to the museum and make an appointment to study them.

In 1906 a nun named Arcangela Banchelli arrived in Greve in Chianti and, being acquainted with the technique of needle lace, taught it to the students of the embroidery school which was one of the activities cared for by the Order of the Servants of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Over time, the fame of this lace arrived in Florence and very soon it was popular with the companies who created trousseaux. The first commissions came from them but soon commissions were also arriving from private individuals. At one time every girl in the area had tablecloths, curtains and other household linen items in their trousseaux decorated with the lace of Tavarnelle. In the beginning the lace was quite complex but over time, due to the high commercial demand, it became more simplified in order to reduce production time.

Two doilies of Tavarnelle lace from my collection.

Tavarnelle lace derives from Venetian needle lace but has a technical preparation more similar to Aemilia Ars needle lace from Bologna. The design is drawn on wax paper which is placed on top of 5-6 layers of butcher paper and all layers are then basted together around the outer edge. Then support stitches are added to aid in the working of the lace. Typical motifs worked are geometric shapes, flowers and leaves, small animals, religious symbols, initials and the figures of a man and woman. After the work is finished, the support stitches are cut on the back side and the lace is removed from the support.

About five years ago a lady named Carla Cantoni from San Casciano Val di Pesa decided to recreate an old design of a Ferragamo shoe with Tavarnelle lace for her own personal use:

Created for private use by Carla Cantoni, San Casciano Val di Pesa.

These shoes were created using Ritorto Fiorentino pearl cotton no. 12 and took approximately 90-100 hours to create the lace. Aren't they lovely?

In 2002 Ebe Ciampalini Balestri published a small volume (in Italian) on this technique called: Il "Punto Tavarnelle", e dintorni... It is still available direct from the Pro Loco di Tavarnelle tel: 055 8077832.

Thank you very much to Blandina for the use of her photos of her mother's shoes which she donated to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum and to Carla for the photos of the lovely shoes that she made for herself.

Venetian Needle Lace - new book

Of all the needle laces, those from Venice and Burano are certainly the most complex, but they are also the most versatile because the limitations imposed by the design are removed.

This publication contains a how-to section of the stitches to start you off accompanied by instructions, photographs and very clear diagrams.

You can take a look at a few pages here.

Exciting news for those who wish to delve into the world of Venetian Needle Lace! Ombretta Panese and Marialuisa Severi have been hard at work creating this book. 

I have translated what Ombretta has written on her blog:

We have tried to give clear and simple instructions on some stitches, which are supported by photographs and designs, so as to introduce the manufacture of needle lace to those who have the intention to learn.

At the end we have included designs of varying degrees of difficulty so you can experiment with what you have learned.

About the authors:
Marialuisa Severi is the President of the cultural Associazione "Il Merletto Veneziano" which was formed in 2005 with the aim to keep alive, enhance and promote the ancient art of Burano needle lace and Pellestrina bobbin lace. Both techniques are traditionally rooted in the island territory of Venice. You can see some pictures of their work here.

Ombretta Panese is a lacemaker from Mestre who has been awarded the title: Expert Needle Lace Maker achieved after two courses of 300 hours each, at the Scuola Professionale della Provincia di Venezia. Together with some of her classmates from these courses, she was involved in the creation of the Associazione "Il Merletto Veneziano". She does some beautiful work, check out her blog.

My copy is in the mail somewhere between here and Italy but I couldn't wait for it to get here before telling you about this book which you can get directly from the publisher: NuovaS1 (send them an email and tell them you'd like to use PayPal for those outside of Europe). Lacis distributes some NuovaS1 books in the US, if you want to see this one brought in, you may have to write to them and request it.

Let me know what you think in the comments below if you do get this book which I understand may be the first in a series.

I'm fine, just busy

I have received many, many messages and emails asking if I'm okay so please excuse the expediency of posting here instead of answering you all individually. I am fine! Everything is okay, I'm working on several projects for Italian embroiderers which I will be able to tell you about relatively soon. They are taking up all of my free time at the moment and when I say all of my free time, I mean all of it! After I get home from work, I sit at my computer until it's time for bed. I eat at the computer. Seriously.

I have neglected my blog, my emails, my Facebook messages. I know it, I feel badly about it. I'm sorry!

Many of you have asked for help with research or information about things and I will get around to answering you all but if you're in a hurry, I'm sorry that I can't be there for you during this period of time.

I will be back! The things I'm working on will be interesting to you.

Thank you so much everyone for your concern! I love hearing from you so please don't stop writing, whenever I get a second, I race through the messages even if I can't take the time to respond. It's often when I first wake up at 3:30 am! I lay in bed waking up with my iPad and read my messages. I do.

I'm incredibly happy to see that so many of you are curious and enthusiastic about Italian needlework, it makes all the work I've done and am currently doing worth every minute it takes to do it.

A presto!

Check out this series of three videos on YouTube on Burano needlelace in the meantime! Video One, Video Two, Video Three.

The instruction DVD videos (I believe there are three on this technique) can be purchased directly from Il Giardino dei Punti. The videos are pricey but they look like they are worth it, they are on my list of things to investigate (which is pages long!) Remember to ask the DVD format they are made in before you buy! Different countries use different formats for viewing using DVD players with your TV.

Liberty Style, Aemilia Ars Needle Lace and Forlì

In Italy Art Nouveau style is called Liberty after the British company Liberty of London. Art Nouveau style was influencing all forms of creativity during the time that Aemilia Ars needle lace was born which is apparent in early pieces of this beautiful needlework.

From February 1st until June 15th, 2014 there is a Liberty exhibition held at the San Domenico Museums in Piazza Guido da Montefeltro in Forlì, Italy.

Among the many things to see will be an Aemilia Ars needle lace exhibit and classes (I've outlined the information on the classes in red on the brochure pictured above). Here is a translation of what it says:

Workshops
Aemilia Ars lace earring
Creation of needle lace
From February 15th to May 24th every Saturday (except the 19th and 26th of April and the 3rd of May)
Mornings from 10am to 12:30pm and afternoons from 3pm to 5:30pm
Other dates available on request
€30,00 (euros) per person
Cost includes a pair of gold earring mounts and entrance ticket to the Liberty exhibits
The workshop is available for individual visitors or groups with a maximum number of 25
A reservation is compulsory
For information and bookings:
Francesca Bencivenni
(contact info via telephone and email which I won't put here so that webcrawling spammers can't target them - check the brochure by clicking on the photo above)

(Francesca Bencivenni is the lacemaker behind the exquisite creations found on this website.)

Also featured in the Liberty exhibit at Forlì will be the Aemilia Ars needle lace altar cloth masterpiece created by the lacemakers and embroiderers of the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bologna in the early years of the 20th century. I wrote an article for Piecework magazine about this altar cloth which I had the extreme privilege to view while on display at Easter at the Sacred Heart in Bologna in 2011. There are some photos of it here. 

In this post here, I told you about two table cloths created by the Aemilia Ars Society in the early part of the 20th century. I have as yet been unable to discover if either of these incredible pieces have survived to present day. Inspired by the beauty of these designs Francesca Bencivenni of Bologna has created her own masterpiece which will be on display as well at the Liberty exhibit in Forlì.

click on the photo for a closer look!

Francesca's peacock Aemilia Ars needle lace measures 89 centimetres long and 21 centimetres high and took more than 1100 hours for her to complete. It will be for sale at the end of the show - best offer will take it home - interested parties should contact her directly at her contact info on the brochure pictured above. I am in no way involved with, nor will I benefit from, the sale of the lace. If I could buy it myself I would have already made an offer!

If you find yourself in Italy this spring, make the effort to get to this show. I know I always say this but I really do wish I were able to get to this exhibit! If you go, please let me know how it was!

Interesting Embroidery Exhibit in Ferrara

Click on the image for a closer look.

Starting on November 23rd (this Saturday!) and running until December 1st there will be a very interesting exhibition at the Casa di Stella Dell'Assassino in Via Cammello no. 15 in Ferrara.

Embroidery and the sciences in the hands is a literal translation of the title of this show which will consist of embroidery and lace exhibits, lectures and workshops. The aim of this show is to break down the common stereotypical thinking that embroidery is strictly a woman's activity and, more specifically, that it is only for housewives and homemakers.

I'm translating a bit from the pamphlet that I received:

The events of this show will be all about embroidery: it's anthropological, historical, political and cultural significance across the centuries. Originally this ancient art was exclusively done by men before passing into the hands of women to whom it owes its evolution of styles, techniques, approaches and meanings. Embroidery is intertwined with architecture, painting, sculpture, the human sciences but also geometry, algebra, mathematics, spaces and numbers. These aspects are always neglected and only unconsciously intuitive but they are the basis for embroidery and its perfection. 

This will be an important exhibition of ancient and contemporary embroidery with alternating technical demonstrations by the participating embroidery schools and a series of lectures in support of knowledge relating to the world of embroidery. It is an invitation to schools, citizens, experts, scholars and the curious.

I think it sounds fascinating! I really wish I could be there.

Below is an image of the program schedule in Italian but I'm translating a bit of it just so my English-speaking readers can understand the depth that this show is undertaking. I've never heard of an event like this one. If you go, I'd love to hear from you!

Sat. 23 Nov.:

- Inauguration of the event.
- Lecture: Can the art of embroidery create innovation and work?
- Lecture: The origins of Estense Embroidery.
- Lecture: Aemilia Ars needle lace and the designer with Ferrarese origins: Parisina Schincaglia. The numbers, the geometry, the embroidery.
- The participating embroidery schools present the objects exhibited.

Sun. 24 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop and presentation of the materials exhibited.

Mon. 25 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.
- Lecture: The embroidery book bibliography of the Bassani Library. The research for the books and the catalogue.

Tue. 26 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.
- Lecture: The art of painting and that of embroidery. Together.

Wed. 27 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.

Thu. 28 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.
- Lecture: Memories of the embroidery school of Sacro Cuore in Via Borgo di Sotto [Ferrara].

Fri. 29 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.
- Lecture: The Estense tapestry weaving mill.

- Burraco Tournament

Sat. 30 Nov.:

- Embroidery workshop.

- Screening of a short film: "Lovers with no luck"(1949) directed by Florestano Vancini and Adolfo Baruffi.
- Lecture: Stories of Lovers: Nicolò III d'Este & Stella Dell'Assassino and Ugo & Parisina.

Sun. 1 Dec.:

- Embroidery workshop and presentation of the materials exhibited.

Click on the image for a closer look.

Aemilia Ars Needle Lace DVDs

DVD no. 1

Four days before I left for Italy in September, I received an email from Bianca Rosa Bellomo of the Associazione Culturale "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" in Bologna. She was putting the finishing touches on a couple of Aemilia Ars needle lace DVD instructional videos that the Associazione had made in collaboration with the Nuova S1 publishing house and there was provision for subtitles in English - could I check over her translations?

Back of the DVD

We worked right up until the day before I left on English subtitles for both DVDs. The first one covers the basics of Aemilia Ars needle lace and includes the printed patterns for a lavette cloth with a border and a rose motif (48 minutes long). The second covers the same basics of Aemilia Ars needle lace and includes a printed carnation motif design (35 minutes long).

You can check out the DVD trailer on YouTube, be sure to change the settings to 1080pHD for high definition quality:

When we met in Bologna a week later Bianca Rosa told me all about how the Associazione's idea came to fruition and the incredible work involved in making the DVDs. She described all the things you never think about like the music selection, typography and the best camera angles. They were hoping to have the DVDs ready for the (then) upcoming handmade creativity exhibition Abilmente in Vicenza the weekend of October 17, 2013. Unfortunately I was unable to get to the exhibition but Bianca Rosa performed acrobatics in order to get me my copies of the DVDs before I left Italy for home.

I was going to Ferrara to visit some friends and I emailed Bianca Rosa to tell her that I had to change trains in Bologna and that I would be thinking of her as I passed by her city. She responded that she'd meet me on the platform. Now, the Bologna central rail station has recently undergone massive improvements and it's huge! There are many entrances and exits to the platforms and great confusion can happen. The morning I left Florence for Ferrara there was a freak rainstorm and flash flooding which resulted in many of the local trains being cancelled due to damage along the tracks and huge delays with the trains that were running. Suddenly the half hour I had to change trains in Bologna became 5 minutes. I hit the ground running from my arrival platform in search of my (by now almost deserted) departure platform and upon arrival at the top of the stairs I didn't see Bianca Rosa anywhere. My train rang the bell that it was departing and I had to jump on immediately. When I arrived in Ferrara I contacted Bianca Rosa to apologize for leaving her hanging around the station for an hour wondering what had happened to me and we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not see each other again before I left Italy at the end of the week.

Bianca Rosa however is a very determined lady for which I am profoundly grateful. She called my friend in Ferrara later in the day to say that she'd looked up my return train to Florence on the internet and even though this time I didn't have to change in Bologna, the train would still stop to pick up passengers there. She asked what carriage my seat was in and said she'd be waiting on the platform right where my carriage would stop and that I should jump down for a second and get the package she had for me.

It all seemed so simple.

My train left Ferrara on schedule and the rain had stopped. Five minutes outside of Bologna I got up and went to the doorway of the carriage to get ready to jump down at the station. All the lights in the train went out and we came to a dead stop. We sat there on the tracks for 20 minutes. Early evening in late October in the countryside of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy means no lights in the darkness. I had returned my borrowed cell phone and therefore had no way of communicating with Bianca Rosa. I will admit that I thought about Harry Potter and the Dementors while we sat there on the tracks in the darkness. Luckily Bianca Rosa waited and when we finally arrived at the Bologna station, I jumped down, thanked her profusely and jumped back on the train instantly. I was afraid that it would leave right away as we were now behind schedule. I ran back to my seat with my parcel and looked for her out the window but she was gone. The train sat in the station for another 15 minutes. I thought about the little mini-visit that we could have had instead of that last panicked hug. Well, enough about my adventures, you're thinking: tell us about the DVDs!

DVD no. 2

Of course I couldn't watch them until I got home to Canada but I can tell you that they are worth all the acrobatics done to get them! They are priced very reasonably for the amount of instruction there is and if you're like me and have been fumbling around with Aemilia Ars needle lace on your own at home, just watching the execution of the lace and observing the way the piece is held, the usage of the thumb and the movements involved will be a great help to you.

Been struggling with those picots? Now you can see exactly how they are done. I really like the graphics and the way they illustrate which parts of the lace you are watching. Even with the sound off and no subtitles, it was very easy to see what was happening. The assembly of the support system is shown as are the various steps to changing threads when you run out in a wide variety of positions (eg. during filling stitches, during structure construction, while executing support stitches, while executing a petal, an arch and other motifs), detaching the lace from the support system, attaching the lace to fabric, attaching the fabric to the support system and many other interesting and valuable tips and tricks.

The Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs are in PAL2 format which means that they won't work on your DVD/TV combination at home in North America but I watched mine without a hitch on my Macintosh computer - I can't tell you if a PC can do the same but I know that there are programs which allow you to view European formatted DVDs, best to inform yourself first if you have any doubts.

At the moment, the Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs are only available directly from the publisher Nuova S1. I have talked to them and they are looking into shipping costs to North America and the possibility of accepting PayPal as a form of payment, I will update you when they get back to me. Lacis in California distributes their books but doesn't have the DVDs - you could try contacting them to see if they can bring the Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs in for you. Please let me know if you are successful, so I can spread the news to others!

Ordering update can be found here.

Needle lace lady - Punto Maglie New Book

Two of the most characteristic motifs in Punto Maglie needle lace are the delightful human figures. The male figure is called the Pupo and the female, Pupa.

For their first book, the Associazione Punto Maglie has chosen to introduce us to the Pupa – a lovely little needle lace lady in a dress with a decorated hemline and three little buttons made of bullion knots down the bodice.

This slim, hardcover volume has 30 or so pages which are packed with step-by-step photos - each area of the design is broken down and gone over. Who would have thought that you'd build your Pupa upside-down?

Instructions include the materials needed, where to place your support stitches which help you to execute the needle lace, the various needle lace stitches used, the order of the work and pages and pages of photos.

Text is in Italian but if you have a little experience with needle lace you should do fine. The finished project is a 1.75 inch by 1.75 inch insert.

I look forward to those long summer days filled with sunshine to try my hand at this lovely little lady!

The book can be purchased directly from the Associazione Punto Maglie.

Puncetto News and a new book!

Second Volume,  2009

There is some good news for those of you who have been waiting for the reprinting of the second volume on Puncetto needle lace – copies are now available!

This is really the book you need if you want to get started with Puncetto needle lace. It has a how-to section which gradually instructs you on more and more complicated patterns as well as many patterns for complete pieces. The second printing has been held up for quite a long time and I'm glad to see that everything got worked out and that it is once again available.

The first volume is more advanced and provides patterns and instructions for using multiple colours in designs which are used in the local traditional costumes of this region found in the north of Italy near the Liechtenstein border.

First Volume,  2006

And now there is a third volume by the ladies of the Scuola di Puncetto Valsesiano which is very advanced featuring many different designs (I counted 70!). You can see some of the pages here. There are even some instructions on how to make the buttons found on traditional costume blouse cuffs!

Third Volume,  2013

I'm thrilled to see the inclusion of the pattern for the blue gentian flower that was part of the display at the 2011 Italia Invita Forum. There are other flowers and plants as well and rounded edges and motifs like this one from the back cover of the book:

I have been privileged to attend a few workshops with these talented ladies and I dream one day to take a "Puncetto Vacation" which the school offers for a week in August.

Tombolo Disegni tells me that they now have all of these volumes in stock.

Aemilia Ars Rose Needle Lace Insert in Piecework

As I hinted a few posts ago, there is an Aemilia Ars needle lace insert in the May/June 2013 issue of Piecework magazine by the Associazione "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli".

The project includes step by step photos which had to be rather small in the magazine due to space constrictions but if you have a magnifying glass handy, they are valuable source of reference when executing the lace.

I had a reader write to ask me if the lace was indeed stitched to the size of the pattern in the magazine and the answer is yes! It is an exquisitely delicate little piece:

I had another reader write to ask me for more details on how to execute the "gruppetti" picots which are placed at the intersection of two overcast bars. As I am only a beginner when it comes to executing this lace, I can't pretend that my "gruppetti" are anything to show off but the ladies of the Associazione "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" assure me that practise, much practise improves them. I know that's not a magic answer but it's all I have for you. These ladies have been doing this lace for many, many years to achieve the high level of expertise in their lace, don't be too hard on yourself if yours doesn't look the same, but don't give up either!

If you're fortunate enough to be going to the Italia Invita Forum in Parma in May this year, stop by and see the ladies at their booth, you can catch their latest book or better yet, take their mini-courses!

I hope you enjoy the article in Piecework, somehow the photos never do justice to what is the most amazing piece of needle lace I've ever been close to. 

Aemilia Ars Needle Lace - thread used for support stitches

Many times when we are interested in learning a new needlework technique, we go about gathering the "right" supplies. I know for me, when I want to start something, I get a lot of the enjoyment from the hunt for materials.

I have only dabbled in Aemilia Ars needle lace, a quick 3-hour class back in 2007 and some experiments on my own at home. Nothing I want to show anyone! From reading Italian books on how to execute this beautiful form of needle lace, I saw that they used something called "Refe" no. 40 for the support stitches. That is, the stitches which are placed on the cardboard support to hook on to when building a piece of lace.

I have never been successful in obtaining a spool of this mysterious "Refe" no. 40 so I've always just used cotton sewing machine thread. It is quite annoying as the sharp needle used to execute the actual lace always pierces the support stitches making it quite the task to separate the lace from the cardstock support. There are always endless little fibres from the support stitches to be extracted from the lace.

Here is what I mean by support stitches, I can't show you the whole design as it is about to be published in the May/June Lace Issue of Piecework.

I learned that the "Refe" no. 40 is not terribly easy to find in Italy either as it has been discontinued. The ladies are now using a new thread called Coats Glace no. 40. I immediately set about finding myself a spool (in the interests of research, you understand). I couldn't find it anywhere around here (North America) so I wrote to the Coats UK website asking where I might get some locally. While we wait on their reply, you can see what it looks like and read about its particular qualities at the Coats UK website. Keep in mind, we are talking about the Ticket no. 40 thread weight.

Meanwhile, I found Coats Glace for sale at TomboloDisegni in Italy (look under: Negozio, Filati, Cotone, Filati Vari), so I ordered a spool (among other things) and when it arrived I used it for the support stitches in the photo shown above. I always test my translations to see if my English makes any sense, so after I had translated the instructions for this piece, I started to see if I could execute the lace.

What I noticed right away was that I no longer split the support stitches with my needle when executing the lace stitches. Fantastic! If I ever finish the lace, it will be easily removed from the cardstock and support stitches.

Conclusion: the Coats Glace no. 40 thread is worth the investment as it will save lots of time and frustration in the long run.

Now, because I am who I am, I still wanted to see the "Refe" no. 40 thread and some kind ladies in Bologna send me a partial spool of it. The first thing I noticed is that the label doesn't have "Refe" on it anywhere! No wonder I couldn't ever source a place online to buy it! No matter! It was called "Lettera Lucido" and put out by Coats Cucirini which is the Italian division of Coats.

Comparing the two threads, the Glace is ever-so-slightly thicker and has 100 metres more thread on the spool but otherwise has the same stiffness to it, which is because of the way it is made. I can't get the price tag off the Glace thread without removing the paper below so I've left it there so you can see through it (underneath it says: Coats Glace, made in Turkey).

If I ever hear back from Coats about a North American source, I'll let you know!

Lace Collection - Genoa

Jewels of Thread is the English translation for the title of the catalogue for the laces in the Genoese public collections.

This catalogue of the first of a planned series of exhibitions of almost the entire lace collections of the Civiche Collezioni Tessili [Civic Textile Collections] and the Collezione Tessile della Soprintendenza al Patrimonio Storico Artistico della Liguria [Textile Collection of the Department of Historic Artistic Heritage of Liguria].

Written in Italian, it has a wealth of information regarding the laces in the collections (which number about 300 pieces dating between the 16th and 20th centuries) but also the history of lace in Genoa, mechanical laces, commercial production in Genoa, a glossary and of course a rich bibliography to investigate if you want more information on Genoa and lace.

In this volume, Maria Daniela Lunghi and Loredana Pessa have shared some of the wealth of their knowledge on these subjects and have offered detailed particulars on the lace pieces in the collections. This is a valuable resource also for the names and dates of contributors and collectors, if you have been trying to access information relative to this area of study, this catalogue is a gold mine of information.

Needle lace pieces include borders and inserts, tablecloths, collars, sleeves, scarves, frills, handkerchiefs, doilies, furniture coverings, bonnets, baby shoes, some religious articles and a bolero.

Bobbin lace pieces include borders and inserts, cuffs, collars, shawls, ties, sleeves, head coverings, furniture coverings, handkerchiefs, bibs, veils, fans, doilies, parasol covers, a sleeveless jacket and a bed spread.

There is a large assortment of items of a wide variety of mechanical laces (including whole dresses!) and also quite a lot of Macramè, crochet lace and metallic bobbin laces.

These collections are held at the Palazzo Bianco by the DVJ (Damask, Velvet, Jeans - Textile Fashion Museum) in Genoa.

Thanks to M. Daniela Lunghi for sharing this with us!

Aemilia Ars Flower Freebie

As a New Year's gift, the Association "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" of Bologna has made an Aemilia Ars needle lace instruction booklet available for free download on their website.

This is such a treat! Both beginners and those of you with previous needle lace experience will be delighted to find that the location of support stitches and the order of working are clearly indicated. While the text is in Italian only, the diagrams and photos are clear - you can always use Google Translator if you need to.

The freebie is an exquisite flower proposed in DMC tatting thread no. 80 which opens up your options for coloured thread. You will no doubt become very skilled at executing the picots by the time you're done, there are definitely a lot of them!

On the last page of the freebie Aemilia Ars instruction booklet you will find a photo of the finished project which is followed by another photo which serves as inspiration for doing different flowers. That last photo was taken by myself and is used with my permission.

Some of you might recognize it from the post I wrote about the Association's book on Aemilia Ars borders (available for purchase from Lacis in the US). That particular flower (photo above) was given to me as a gift by the Association "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" when I was in Italy in 2011. I am delighted that they could use my photo so others could appreciate their work and perhaps use it as a source of inspiration for their own creations of Aemilia Ars needle lace.

If you're interested, the Association "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" also published a book on Aemilia Ars flowers, the book is called Fiori and is available in the US from Lacis.

Excellent Puncetto Needle Lace Tutorial Online

Way back in April of 2012, Carmen wrote to tell me about Brona who had posted a tutorial on her blog for Puncetto needle lace. Now when you send me emails, I always save them in my in-basket until I can answer them or investigate the information that you send. However, often I am unable to do it right away. Please don't think I have brushed you off or ignored you - unfortunately my blog is my hobby, not my career and it gets the very last of any free time I have which means that sometimes it takes months for me to investigate information I receive.

Brona has done an outstanding tutorial on Puncetto needle lace in a series of seven posts which she has gathered together in one page on her blog.

Her diagrams are clear and easy to understand and there is a google translator button at the top right of the homepage to help you decipher what she has written as Brona's blog is written in Czech.

She has covered the basics and then tackled the more difficult motifs and even given tips on using more than one colour of thread!

I enjoyed Brona's Reticello project in the May/June 2012 issue of Piecework magazine and hope that she will treat us to a Puncetto needle lace project in the future!

Italian Finalists - A Mirror to my Art Contest

You have seen several posts here regarding the Needleprint blog's A Mirror to my Art Contest. I was personally very taken with the concept and enthusiastic to invite some of Italy's needleworkers to join.

I'm proud to say that several Italian stitchers stepped up and 4 of them became finalists with the 3rd place prize being shared between two works, one of which was the stunning gold and silk embroidery by Francesca from Rome. Check out Francesca's blog where she describes (in English!) the creative process of her design. Don't miss this post about Francesca's mirror art at the Needleprint blog either.

Silvia from Turin was a finalist with her needle lace/trapunto combination inspired by an amazing tablecloth in Aemilia Ars work held by the Palazzo Davanzati Museum in Florence. She has written about her creative process in this post on her blog as well as being the subject of a spotlight post here on the Needleprint blog.

Elisabetta from Ferrara was named a finalist with her beautiful Estense Embroidery mirror. Attention to detail going right down to the beads on the cording closure which match the thread colours of the embroidery!

Rosella from Milan was a finalist with 2 designs (see them here and here) of the 5 embroideries that she submitted! Rosella has kindly allowed me to show you her other works which were submitted to the contest.

Rosella told me that she was inspired for one of her entries by an old collection of patterns given to her by a 91-year-old friend. These old patterns had belonged to the friend's mother, some of them dating back to the late 1800s. Rosella's friend was pleased that the patterns had inspired one of Rosella's entries for the contest and she was sure that her mother would have been pleased as well.

Thank you Rosella for sharing your photos!

Punto Maglie - prizewinner

Back in September I told you about the Hand Embroidery and Weaving Exhibition in Valtopina and how some Veronese Crochet Lace split the prize for the lace category with some Punto Maglie needle lace. I'm happy to tell you that I can now show you what the Punto Maglie entry looked like:

Napkin with corner insert of Punto Maglie needle lace. Image copyright Assn. Punto Maglie.

Central insert of Punto Maglie needle lace for the tablecloth. Image copyright Assn. Punto Maglie.

Following the theme of the exhibition: Green Monuments of Umbria - the trees, we can identify the leaves and the fruit of the Olive tree in the Punto Maglie pieces pictured above. Besides occupying an important role in mythology and symbology, the olive is also predominantly present in the two regions of Umbria (where the exhibition was held) and Apuglia (where Punto Maglie comes from) thus, this entry creates a bond between the two areas. Exhibition participants were required to demonstrate the development of their ideas for their patterns on paper and produce pieces of their chosen lace or embroidery for a six setting tablecloth (140 cm x 160 cm) with matching napkins (40 cm x 40 cm). The central insert of Punto Maglie needle lace pictured above measures 30 cm x 21 cm.

I wrote to Liliana Ciriolo of the Associazione Punto Maglie to ask her some details about this prizewinning lace which she made together with Anna Borgia, Mina Saponaro and Renata Skovran from a design by Alessandra M. Chiurazzi inspired by a 16th century model. It took them a month to make the pieces using white DMC no. 80 thread. Stitches employed were the buttonhole stitch, the cording stitch, picots and the net.

Congratulations to the women of the Associazione Punto Maglie and thank you for sharing these pieces with us!

On November 4th, the town of Maglie was featured on an Italian TV program "Ti ci porto io" [I'll take you there]. Around the 8:25 mark of the video below, you can see how they execute Punto Maglie needle lace and see some of the Associazione Punto Maglie's work which includes a bridal gown which took four women more than 5 months to make.
The interviewer says: Four people took five months to make it? Why do you do it?
Anna Borgia answers: For love.
The interviewer then asks how much it might cost and she asks for a ballpark figure.
Anna Borgia: Around six thousand euros.

Punto Maglie

Photo copyright Associazione Punto Maglie.

The town of Maglie is located in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. The heel of the boot if your Italian geography is a little vague.

Punto Maglie or Maglie Embroidery is a type of needle lace which takes its origins from Burano, the famous lace-making island in the Venetian Lagoon.

Photo copyright Associazione Punto Maglie.

Characteristics particular to Punto Maglie are the human figures (pupo or pupa, masculine or feminine) often found among the geometric motifs, the most important of which are the star motifs.

Inserts are built upon a support of fabric with the pattern attached on top and are then cut away from the support and inserted into fabrics. Whole pieces can be constructed in this manner or by withdrawing some threads of the ground fabric and building on top of it in a similar method to traditional Reticello.

In 1905, as an experiment, evening embroidery and lace classes were added to the curriculum of an Applied Arts school instigated by Egidio Lanoce, advocate and pioneer of technical schools for the working classes. It was here that Punto Maglie was born.

Photo copyright Associazione Punto Maglie.

Around the same time a local noblewoman, Lady Carolina De Viti De Marco in Starace started a group of embroiderers, some who had trained at the Applied Arts school, to produce embroidered items to sell in order to supplement their household incomes. Lady Carolina and her descendants would go on to become very important to the textile arts of the area, but let's leave that for another post.

Photo copyright Associazione Punto Maglie.

Embroideries and laces from Maglie were exported to America and other European countries and participated and were recognized in the various International Fairs of the period.

Magie enjoyed much success with these endeavours until the years of the First World War.

Today the tradition of Punto Maglie is continued by the embroidery school Associazione Punto Maglie located at no. 60 via Luigi Puzzovio in Maglie. You can contact them by email at: punto maglie @ virgilio . it (remove all the spaces between the characters).

Many thanks to Liliana for the photos!

Lace Exhibit at the Met Museum in New York

 

If you find yourself anywhere near the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York before January 13, 2013, check out their Gems of European Lace exhibit at the Antonio Ratti Textile Centre!

Taken from the press release:

Included in the installation are examples of the two major lacemaking techniques: needle lace (built up from a single thread that is worked in a variety of looping, or buttonhole, stitches) and bobbin lace (woven—or braided—together from multiple threads organized on individual bobbins). Beyond the two basic technical categories, lace is also often described with the name of the town or region where a particular style was first made. The exhibition will include outstanding examples of Venetian (needle) lace, Brussels (bobbin) lace, and Devon (bobbin) lace. Of particular interest is a 19th-century handkerchief associated with King Leopold II and Queen Marie-Henriette of Belgium. The queen was a patron of the local lace industry.

There is also a lovely filet lace dress which belonged to the early 20th century American socialite Rita de Acosta Lydig an avid collector whose pieces formed the basis for the Costume Institute at the Met.

Two Italian examples in the exhibit are from the Nuttall Collection, donated by Magdalena Nuttall in 1908. You can read more about this collection by downloading the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1908.

A special thank you to Sarah for the info about this event!

Openwork Embroidery - New Book!

Surprises in the mail are always welcomed and this time I want to tell you about Anna Castagnetti's latest book on her Ricami a Fili Tesi or Openwork Embroidery.

Progetti Moderni per Ricami a Fili Tesi [Modern Projects for Openwork Embroidery] is packed with fun, colourful projects for you to try your hand at this intriguing style of needlework. I especially like the cover photo which shows a table runner with a fun flowered vine broken up by some lovely hemstitching.

Anna likes to combine traditional techniques like Hedebo, Reticello, Drawn-Thread work and traditional embroidery and simplifying the more complex procedures, she always comes up with attractive designs. In this volume she has added other textile techniques to her projects like quilting!

While this time the text is only in Italian, the photos are clear and concise and you should have little trouble following them:

There are many little motifs to try and this is nice, in case you just want a little taste of something different to add to something you already have on the go.

There are 13 exquisite little flowers, 3 Christmas panels, the table runner from the front cover and 2 purses to keep you going. Stitch diagrams and patterns for assembly of the projects are all included.

This book is a lovely follow-up to her first volume. You can purchase it from Tombolo Disegni, send them an email to order.