Venice and Fortuny

If you're planning to be in Venice before the 18th of July this year, there is an exhibition on now at the Palazzo Fortuny called La Seta e il Velluto [Silk and Velvet]. There are a number of early 20th century clothing pieces on display including a series of rare Delphos (pleated silk satin dresses) owned by American collectors.

The Palazzo Fortuny is located in the historic centre of Venice near the Rialto bridge at: San Marco 3780, Boat Stop A, S. Angelo, Route 1. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm but is closed on Tuesdays.

Mariano Fortuny was a Spanish artist who became famous in Venice in the early 20th century. Fabrics of his design are still manufactured and sold today, you can see a number of them here.

The Venice showroom is now reopened and you can go for a look (and buy fabric!) Monday to Friday, between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm and then between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm on the Giudecca canal at no. 805.


A great book (if you can find it and afford it) is Fortuny by Anne-Marie Deschodt and Doretta Davanzo Poli. (text in English)

Hand-stamped fabrics

The tradition of hand-stamped fabrics goes back far into Italian history, at least to the 1400s if not farther. Some fabrics were stamped to embroider over and some were made just to be used as-is. Embroidery took a long time to produce therefore it was expensive, hand-stamping brought similar results at a lower cost.

Hand-stamped fabrics were used for table linens, upholstery, household furnishings, animal trappings and even clothing.

Traditionally the stamps were hand-carved into pear wood. Dye colours included rust, indigo blue, green and very rarely gold-yellow and brown.

Artisan hand-stamped fabrics are still produced today in Italy.

This is the corner of a small table cloth I purchased from Bertozzi:


This is a pear wood hand-carved stamp from the first part of the 20th century, part of a collection owned by Arnaldo Caprai.


Many more can be found in the book: In viaggio con Penelope. A catalogue of many embroideries, laces and textile-related articles owned by Arnaldo Caprai.

The area around Gambettola, Italy was especially productive in this art. Watch the video here that shows how the production is carried out, some patterns and also some modern designs.

This company specializes in Renaissance patterns and has some interesting slide-shows with English text.

To learn more of the history of hand-stamped fabrics in the Romagna region, go to Tuttoricamo and under the 'History' heading, you'll find a fascinating article called 'Hand printed fabric'.

There is an online museum of a collection of stamps from all over Europe here. You can visit this museum which is in Via Ugo Foscolo no. 4, Milan, entrance is free. I have not been there but it's on my list of things to do!

Bizantina Ars

Parts of what we know today as Italy were ruled by the Byzantines for a number of centuries. This influence is evident in some architecture, mosaics, marble carvings, frescos and... needlework.

Bizantina Ars or Byzantine Embroidery (the name Bizantina Ars [Byzantine Art] is actually trademarked) refers to embroidery made to resemble 4th and 5th century mosaics from the Basilicas of Ravenna.

This is a small piece of Bizantina Ars on a little rock salt sack that I purchased in Italy. It was made by the trademarked association which guarantees authentic designs and embroidery:


You can see the progression of the design from marble carving to stitched piece here.

Usually the designs are done as voided work, ie. the backgrounds are filled and the motifs left empty. Outlines are done in Stem Stitch, usually in a brown thread (DMC 801) and the filled areas are done in single coloured Punto Stuoia. The Anchor Manual of Needlework translates this stitch as Rush Stitch as that is the basic idea of it, it is meant to resemble the pattern of the rushes that covered European floors in ancient times. Single colour fillings are most commonly green, gold, red or blue. A high-count 100% Linen fabric is recommended in an ivory colour.

This example of Rush Stitch was sent to me by an Italian lady who does Byzantine Embroidery:


Here is what the back looks like:


(Note: these are examples of Rush Stitch, not Byzantine Embroidery.)

Rush Stitch is similar to Roumanian Couching though it is not meant to be evenly done but rather to have a randomness to it.

If you ever find yourself in Ravenna, all the Byzantine mosaics are worth going out of your way for. The churches of San Vitale and San Apollinare in Classe in particular.

Books about Byzantine Embroidery:
Il ricamo bizantino by Carla Scarpellini (text in Italian and difficult to find but worth it for the designs)
Bello come un sogno d’Oriente - Irma Scudellari Melandri, 2006 (text in Italian and also difficult to find but lots of colour photos of embroideries)
Treasury of Byzantine Ornament by Dover Publications is a good pattern book to use for this type of needlework.

To learn about the history behind Bizantina Ars, go to Tuttoricamo and look under the 'Techniques' heading.

For more pictures, check out the Gallery at the Bizantina Ars website.

Needle lace

I'm back from a glorious weekend immersed in needlework. I have wanted to take a class with Diane Clements for a long time. She does some beautiful needle lace!

As we were toiling away at our less-than-perfect samples I kept thinking about the beautiful laces that I've seen in Italy. My neck and back were aching after only one day - how must those lace makers feel? And in the days of old without ergonomic chairs and good lighting? It really gives you an appreciation for something when you sit in someone else's position.

Last year while in Italy I went to visit a master needle lace maker on the island of Burano, near Venice. Lucia Costantini invited us into her home and showed us her art. Oh, and it was definitely art.

The exquisite beauty of her pieces made the tears run down my cheeks and I couldn't speak. The work! Countless hours of creation, tiny little masterpieces, large colourful laces, scenes, marine life, symbology... I could have stayed there all day.

Lucia shows us how to make a couple of stitches working on her needle lace pillow:


This is a flower brooch made by Lucia:


My stitches will never be this beautiful but it is very nice to have a piece of this art to look at up close and admire!

Here you can watch Lucia go through the Museum of Lace on Burano. Even if you cannot understand the history of lace that she recounts, there are lace makers at work to watch and samples of different laces shown.

More of Lucia Costantini's lace art can be seen on the Tuttoricamo website, look under "Prominent Characters".

A Venetian Lacemaker is a small book about Lucia, Burano and needle lace by Vima deMarchi Micheli who brought Lucia to the U.S. to teach in the 1990s.

Here is the legend of Burano lace. On this page is also a link to the lace museum and how you can visit it.

If you go to Venice, you can catch a boat to Burano but beware! Chinese imitation lace is everywhere and will be cheap. If it's authentic, it will be expensive – though even expensive prices do not begin to cover the time, expertise and talent that goes into this amazing art.

I'm away for a couple of days

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I will be out of town for a few days...

I'm taking a class with Diane Clements on needle lace. There is a picture of the project we will be working here.

I'll post when I return, have a great weekend!

Punto Avorio - Puncetto needle lace

Puncetto as it is commonly known today, has many other names, Punto Avorio being one of them. This needle lace is very attractive and though more commonly done in geometric designs, it can be used by the more advanced lacemaker to make curves. It is done in monochrome or even in bright multi-colours as on the traditional costumes of the Valsesia area in Italy.

If you've got access to Thérèse de Dillmont's Needlework Encyclopedia (also known as DMC's Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework), look under 'Needlemade laces' and check out the part on 'Knot Stitch Laces'. Look for Punto Avorio.

The best way to begin is to use the edge of a piece of fabric to attach to. Later you can try starting the way this lady does in her video.

There are a few books on this lace though all the ones I know of are in Italian and are difficult to find. Check out my library listing for titles relating to Puncetto. I have to admit to collecting everyone I have found so there are quite a few... to get you started I would say either the Manuale del puncetto valsesiano or the A scuola di Puncetto Valsesiano but if you are itching to give it a try right away, the Dillmont instructions are good or there are even some instructions in the Anchor Manual of Needlework under "Puncetto Work".

This is the corner of a fine linen handkerchief with Puncetto work that I purchased in Italy:


For free download of an Italian book from the early 20th century, go to Tuttoricamo, under the 'Books' section, then 'downloadable antique books', then under Amelia Brizzi Ramazzotti, click on the word 'Puncetto'.

UPDATE: Unfortunately the Tuttoricamo website is no longer active. You may search ebay for this book, it's called: Il Puncetto, insegnamento pratico illustrato.

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!