Reticello Handkerchief

Reticello is another one of my fascinations... I really like the chiaroscuro of the filled and unfilled areas. I'm always drawn to it and have many books on the subject. My own attempts have been relatively successful though no where near the perfection of true Italian masters.

Handkerchiefs are a nice way to collect samples of different techniques, if you can find them reasonably priced in antiques markets. I am stunned by the amount of work that has gone into artifacts which are so small. You need really fine thread to work these, good eyesight and lots of patience!

In October of 1987 the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence published a catalogue of some of its collection of laces and embroideries which had been donated by various Italian collectors. In this catalogue is a section on the collection of mostly handkerchiefs donated to the museum in 1986 by the Duchess Franca di Grazzano Visconti di Modrone (1905 - 2003).

This one is still on display in a drawer while many of the others are stored away:


The catalogue information says that it is made of Batiste and embroidered in Reticello and Rodi Stitch (inside the bigger leaves), Padded Satin Stitch, Tailor's Buttonhole Stitch and "Cordonetto" (I don't know what that is referring to) finished around the edge with needle lace. It measures 37 x 37 cm and all the corners are rounded and in one, above the motif, sits the coat of arms of the Viviani della Robbia family, the Duchess's maiden name, topped with a marquis crown. It is an excellent example of Drawn-thread work and Cutwork and is dated the first quarter of the 20th century.


The square Reticello motifs are worked into the fabric, not inserted - can you even think about working Cutwork and Drawn-Thread work on this fine of fabric?! I'm sorry my photos are a bit blurry, I was leaning overtop of the open drawer which was at shin-level.

Though all the catalogue photos are black and white, there are many, many fine examples of embroidered and lace-worked handkerchiefs with their relative information (in Italian). The section on the Duchess's handkerchiefs is one of three; the others are Lace and Embroideries from the 18th and 19th centuries and Lace and Embroidered Baptismal and Newborn artifacts which includes an exquisite collection of bonnets. The catalogue can be found in used bookstores online, it is called: Eleganza e civetterie: merletti e ricami a Palazzo Davanzati, 1987, Marina Carmignani.

If you are looking for a book on handkerchiefs with a more Italian flavour, The Handkerchief by Paolo Peri, 1992, is in English and has mostly Italian examples with particular attention to the 20th century. It has lots of good historical information, there are many colour photos and examples of handkerchiefs in art.

In the "History" section of Tuttoricamo's website there is an excellent article called: Handkerchief, a protagonist in decline. There are also two great how-to articles on Reticello in the "How its done" section.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part One

Sardinian Traditional Costumes

Sardinia has a long and interesting history. It is a place that fascinated me as a child. The rocky terrain and the incredible colour of the sea surrounding it enchanted my imagination and whenever my friends and I played "Prince Valiant", I was always a princess from the Kingdom of Sardinia dressed in native traditional costume. Don't ask me where I got these ideas or why they sparked my interest, all I know is, it has always been a place I have wanted to visit. So far I have never been able to organize a trip, but I am determined to get there eventually.

On Sardinia there are many religious festivals which involve traditional costumes. Needlework plays a big part in these costumes: silk embroidery on shawls...


...white embroidery on the netting of veils...


...gold embroidery on bodices, skirt flounces, sleeves, whitework on shirts and blouses - its everywhere!


You can see some traditional costumes here during a parade in Sant'Antioco, Sardinia in 2007. A feast is held 15 days after Easter and people arrive from all over the island. It is a great chance to see many traditional costumes which vary from place to place.

You can download a book on Sardinia's traditional costumes at the Sardinian Digital Library website. While the text is in Italian, it is loaded with photos and art depicting the costumes of the island.

For more information and lots of pictures, go to Tuttoricamo and look under the "Techniques" heading and the "Travels" heading.

Thanks to Renata for the pictures!

Hand Towels - Drawn-Thread Work

One of the biggest differences between Italian needlework and that which we do at least here in North America is that lots of Italians still decorate household linens and use them daily. I don't know about where you are, but around here if any needlework gets done or is on display, its usually in a frame for placing on the wall.

I really love what I call 'guest towels' (probably because at my house when I was little, they were only put out if we had house guests- which was rare!) or decorative hand towels are still relatively common.

Often in Italy hand towels are done on extremely high count linen, with lots of hemstitching or whitework on them, but I've seen lots of coloured embroidery too.

A popular fabric for hand towels is a linen fabric called Crespo. It has a certain shine to it and the weaving is very compact, making a solid surface for embroidery. I bought some to do some Gigliuccio hemstitching on. When setting out to withdraw the ground threads I got worried that it would be difficult as the weave seems to criss-cross quite a bit. It turned out to be quite easy to do however and I didn't have any difficulty:


I did all the hemming on two hand towels using Ritorto Fiorentino pearl cotton no. 12 and now I search for just the right monogram to stitch on them for my daughter's trousseaux.

While in Ferrara last year I saw some beautiful drawn-thread work done on terry-cloth towels. Elisabetta Holzer Spinelli was kind enough to show me some of her beautiful and intricate work:


These towels had bands intended for embroidery on them from which she withdrew threads and embroidered over:


These are colour photographs though it might not seem so. Elisabetta's incredible sense of colour matching shows in these elegant towels.

I have many books on hemstitching as I'm a drawn-thread junkie. Mani di Fata has five booklets with easy-to-follow diagrams on hemstitching called Punti a Giorno in Italian, of varying degrees of difficulty. Though the scant instructions are in Italian, the diagrams say it all.

Maria Pia Gaiart has several books on drawn-thread work, these are well diagrammed, some in English and Italian, some only in Italian. You can get these books from Tombolo Disegni. (click on 'Books', then 'Sfilati ed Assia' - you must send an email request to order.

Liliana Babbi Cappelletti has a great new book out on intricate drawn-thread work called Sfilature Legate [Tied Drawn-Thread Work], though the text is in Italian, plans are in the works for an English edition. Her diagrams are excellent and step-by-step, you should be able to figure out the patterns with the Italian version if you can't wait for the English, email Elena at Italian Needlecrafts.

There are several tutorials on Tuttoricamo's website under the "How its Done" section.

To really test myself, one day I'll do some scalloped edging on a hand towel...

Castello di Verrazzano

I told you in a previous post about Deruta Pulled Thread work and in that post I also told you that Deruta Drawn Thread work was something different. I will show you the difference here.

Last year on my tour with Vima deMarchi Micheli we visited the little town of Greve in Chianti in the Tuscany region of Italy where I bought a great woven tea towel with the Chianti region depicted on it from a little shop that sold household linens along the main street of the historic centre. We went on to visit the Castello di Verrazzano in the hills outside of town.


We enjoyed a guided tour of the grounds which were breathtakingly beautiful and looked down onto a wild boar reserve. After a tour of the wine cellars we went up to the loggia to admire the view and listen to some of the history of the company and the area. While listening to our guide I glanced over to some windows across from the loggia and started to examine the curtains which were really interesting...

This is my photo from outside, sorry it's not more clear but you get the complete design:


To my delight we went into the room where they were. All along the one wall in sets of two were windows, each with the same curtain in this intriguing embroidery.

This photo is much better, taken from inside:


There were six small tassels along the bottom hem which hung down, made of the same linen fibres as the curtains - I wondered if they were made out of the withdrawn threads.

I found out later after translating an article for Tuttoricamo on Deruta Drawn Thread work that that was indeed the technique that these curtains were embroidered in.

In fact, there was embroidery throughout the Castello... when we entered the dining room to have lunch we noticed that all the curtains there were embroidered in Punto Antico. We said to each other that we'd get photos after lunch but of course after many wine tastings we completely forgot!

A few days before, we had dined at the Cantinetta di Verrazzano restaurant in Via dei Tavolini no. 18 in Florence - enjoying the Verrazzano Chianti with Focaccia samplers for lunch. They have Verrazzano wine labels available for those who collect them. I picked up these two because they had photos of needlework on them!



To learn more about the history of Deruta Drawn Thread work, look under the 'Techniques' section for an article and more photos on the Tuttoricamo website.

There are some close up photos here.

Thanks to Armida for the photo of the curtain.

Arnaldo Caprai

There are some websites that I like to get lost in... where I continually find things I haven't seen before, where I see things that make me want to investigate them further and about which I want to learn more.

The various websites of Arnaldo Caprai keep me interested in going back again and again.

I first discovered the immense textile-related collection of Arnaldo Caprai when I purchased a book many years ago online called: In Viaggio con Penelope. [Travelling with Penelope] This book is actually a catalogue of an exhibition held in Perugia in 1989 of some artifacts from Arnaldo Caprai's collection of over 24,000 pieces of textile-related materials.

Bridal outfit 1940s, possibly made on Burano, found at an antiques market in Florence, image from In Viaggio con Penelope:


The text is in Italian and there are many historical and informational articles on the pieces shown but there are also many, many photos. There are photos of paintings depicting lace and embroidery, embroidery materials like sewing boxes and their contents, frames, lace pillows, old pattern books and catalogues;

L'Arte del Taglio, an Italian monthly fashion publication, May 1, 1915, image from In Viaggio con Penelope:

...sewing tools like clothing irons and machines, fabric stamps and pretty much any tool related to the textile arts.

Venetian needle lace pillow, late 1940s early 1950s, image from In Viaggio con Penelope:


There are photos of embroideries and laces: samplers, table and personal linens, household furnishings, articles for clothing like collars, cuffs, bonnets, trims, etc. Most of the artifacts are Italian but the collection includes pieces from around the world.

The Arnaldo Caprai collection has been called "probably the most important private textile collection in the world." The various websites are showcases for not only pictures of some of this collection but also a great source of little bits of information. Pieces range in age from the 8th century up to 1940.

The Virtual Museum website has so many pages that even though my Macintosh computer will not permit me to view the virtual rooms, (and anyway I can still read the text even if I can't access the virtual room pictures) I still haven't looked at all the other pages and the website has been online now since 2007.

The Study and Research Centre page has a listing of all books and catalogues published from 1980 to 2005. You can find some of these items for sale at used bookstores online. Be aware that they are made of heavy gloss paper and shipping costs can be quite high!

The Techniques pages have instructional videos for a "taste" of how the techniques are executed and photos plus lists of other books (not put out by Arnaldo Caprai) for further reading and study of related topics.

The Collection pages are broken down further into categories which display photos (you can zoom in really close to see details) and information on many things. Use the search engine on the left to get lost for hours! Not everything is translated into English and some of the slideshows are slow to load but be patient - it's worth it!

The Curiosity pages have several mini-articles on things from trousseaux to furnishings to clothing.

The Caprai Group pages show you all the other sectors Arnaldo Caprai is involved in like household linens, clothing and even wine. This site in turn takes you to all kinds of other things like along the bottom of the pages: News takes you to more recent events and exhibitions, the Textile Production Process is packed full of each step that textile products go through before being sold. And of course if you want to know more about the man, his businesses, his activities, etc – click on his smiling face!


In 2004 Poste Italiane (the Italian Postal service) together with Arnaldo Caprai produced a letter stamp to honour lace. It is a sticky-back fabric stamp worked with machine-embroidery.

From the 28th of May until the 20th of June, 2010 there will be an Arnaldo Caprai exhibition in the Costume and Textile Museum at the Palazzo Rosati Spada in Spoleto on "Wedding Traditions and Love" featuring 100 items which relate to the symbolism of wedding gifts covering the period between the 17th century and 20th centuries. This exhibition will be preceded by a press conference featuring Arnaldo Caprai himself on May 28th at noon at the Hotel Clitunno in Spoleto. Just in case you happen to be in the area...

Bandera Embroidery

I have a love-hate relationship with Baroque/Rococo ornament. While some things can be (in my opinion) over-decorated with scrolls and fruit and putti, I find I am always attracted to needlework of this period. I think a lot of it has to do with my love of texture.

Bandera Embroidery from the Piedmont region of Italy has the same effect on me. Sometimes there is absolutely too much ornament but mostly, if it is tastefully done, I love to look at it.

This embroidery style takes its name from the fabric it is stitched on, legend tells that it was first produced in Chieri a small town near Turin at the end of the 16th century. Recent studies however have led scholars to believe the cloth to have Turkish origins and to have already been well-known in the Piedmont region in the latter 15th century.

Today's Bandera fabric is 100% cotton and looks like this:


Long before Elena had Italian Needlecrafts in Milan, she hunted down some Bandera fabric and sent it to me. I could not find anything like it around where I live. A lady at a local fabric shop told me to look for Piquet but I never found any of that either, so I can't tell you how similar it is. I believe Elena found it for me at the Canetta store in Milan.

The idea to embroider on this fabric seems to date to the late 17th century, reaching its full height of popularity during the 18th century. Usually done in wool, the embroidery employs the Chain Stitch, Satin Stitch and Padded Satin Stitch, Long and Short Stitch, French Knots and Stem Stitch. Originally executed in one colour of either Savoy Blue or Wine Red, it evolved to include gold-yellow, greens and shades of pink. Wools used recently were DMC Medici Wools but I don't know what they are using now after DMC has discontinued this line.

In later centuries the tradition of this embroidery continued, various workshops were opened and products were made such as slip covers for armchairs and sofas, headboard covers for beds, cushions, bedspreads, tablecloths, footstool covers and curtains taking gold medals for excellence in the various World's Fairs of the day and carrying out commissions for the Italian Royal Family. In recent years it has known a revival, many embroidery schools in Italy, particularly in the Piedmont region teach courses and participate in exhibitions. There are often pictures in the Italian embroidery magazines of Bandera Embroidery.

Anna Ghigo in her booth at the Italia Invita Forum 2007 with all her Bandera Embroidery behind her:


There are some photos of Bandera Embroidery at this website, click on "English Version" and then "Bandera Embroidery" (top right corner).

Tuttoricamo has more information about Bandera Embroidery under the "Techniques" heading; under the "Prominent Characters" section you can read about Anna Ghigo, President of the Association Amici del Ricamo Bandera of Chieri - check out her beautiful work!

I have three books on this needlework:

La pittura ad ago in Piemonte - Il "Bandera" by Margherita Goglino, 2002. The text is in Italian though at the back of the book are three pages in English, French and Spanish with a bit of a summary. Lots of pictures of embroideries from private and museum collections, some patterns and stitch diagrams as well as historical info.

Il Mio Bandera by Gisella Tamagno Gazzola, 2007. (click on her name to go to her website and see some of her amazing work) This book is in Italian and English. It has historical info, stitch diagrams, colour photos of embroideries, designs and instructions on how to carry out some elements.

Il Ricamo Bandera, L'arte della pittura ad ago by the Associazione Amici del Ricamo Bandera, 2009. (click on the link to go to their website for some photos and info (some of it in English) This is a small book with lots of colour photos. Most of the text is in Italian but some of the picture captions are in English as well.

The Associazione Tradizioni Piemontesi sells kits for cushions, though you'd have to write to them for prices and forms of payment. The teacher Piera Girardi always has beautiful works displayed at the Italia Invita Forums.

Mani di Fata sells a book of iron-on patterns for Bandera Embroidery with stitch diagrams and ideas for application.

Thanks to Giovanna for the photo!

Italia Invita Forum - Part Four - 2009

As I am trying to figure out how I can afford to go to the next Italia Invita International Lace and Embroidery Forum in 2011 (they have news on their website about events), I have been writing a series of recaps of the previous Forums in 2003, 2005, 2007 and now 2009.

My digital camera decided not to work the first night so I have no photos of my own. For this Forum I was able to attend as part of Vima deMarchi Micheli's Italia Mia tour. We arrived in Parma the new location of the Forum the night before the event and I saw many familiar faces on the streets of Parma as we did a little sight-seeing.

The theme for the 2009 Forum was "Italian-Style Weddings" and all exhibitors were asked to produce a Bomboniere in their specialty technique.

This is a Sicilian Drawn Thread Work Bomboniere from the Forum 2009 book:


This is a Punto Antico Bomboniere from the Forum 2009 book:


The event was three days, although the first day was restricted to students of the workshops while the public was admitted only on May 9th and 10th. There were 11 workshops which admitted a maximum number of 14 students. Techniques included were: Parma Embroidery, Casalguidi Embroidery, Punto Antico Embroidery, Filet Lace, Aemilia Ars Needle Lace and six courses in Bobbin Laces: Ligurian, Cesena, Rosa del Salento, L'Aquila, Contemporary and Colour Coding designs. You can read more about the workshops here on the old Italia Invita website, most of the links are no longer active but there is still a lot of information on the pages that remain.

The major difference between previous Forums and this one was that the group Italia Invita had turned over the actual running of the Forum to the company Fiere di Parma. Parma is a city of exhibitions and this company specializes in running shows. As the event had become too large for the seven women of Italia Invita to manage, this move was logical. There was quite a bit of talk however among Italians about how Fiere di Parma didn't understand the clientele for this particular show. Our group of North Americans however, enjoyed it immensely.

The atelier mini-workshops were offered as before, although they had been limited to two per person in total – in 2007 you could take two per day, for a total of six. I debated heavily on signing up as I remembered being totally overwhelmed in 2007 and not retaining much. In the end I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to learn something and attended one on Puncetto and one on Sicilian Drawn Thread Work. I didn't finish either piece and I can't even find them now to scan them for you.

The Forum was situated in one corner of a massive building where an Antiques Market was being held. We had to pass through the Antiques Market to get to the Forum so of course we investigated all the antique embroideries and laces and stitching equipment that we saw along the way.

Once again the Forum was split into two sections, one for Schools and Associations and one for Merchants. There was the display of all the Bomboniere made in the various techniques of embroidery and lace; a display of several bridal bouquets make of flowers and ribbons (embroidered or made of lace); the competition for Italian residents this time was Textile Dominos which were mounted in a wall display; a stand dedicated to Elisa Ricci and the recent reprinting of a collection of antique pattern books complete with modern stitched examples using the antique patterns;


DMC's stand had stitched examples from their antique pattern books and the Encyclopedia of Needlework, they also released a new line of pearl cotton and gave away samples. The new pearl cotton is called Retors d'Alsace [Alsatian Twist] and is a revival of an old product that they used to carry in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Fratelli Graziano had an interesting display of mannequins at the dinner table all dressed in Graziano linens...


The first day was hot and crowded but everyone's enthusiasm kept us going until we collapsed into bed way past midnight and then got up to do it all over again the next day. The frenzy to see everything was contagious and groups or individuals would meet mid-aisle and grab each other, and literally drag each other off to see something marvelous. I bought without looking. Totally taken up in the conviction that it whatever it was, I needed it and I could look at it later. Even as we gathered to leave, I ran off to buy one last piece of fabric and then had to run to catch up to my group as they were exiting the building. I was sorry that this event wasn't open to the public for three days like the previous one, but then to tell the truth, I couldn't really have fit anything else in my suitcase! This time, instead of leaving clothing behind, I bought a second bag at the outdoor market in Florence which was our next stop on the tour after the Forum.

This edition of the Forum saw over 6,000 visitors. The irony? The Italia Invita Forum occupied a small corner of the building while the Antiques Market occupied the rest of what was a huge pavillion. That weekend the reported number of visitors for the two events combined was over 10,000.

As before there was a book called Merletti e Ricami Italiani Forum 2009 [Italian Laces and Embroideries]. This book has an article on the history of Bomboniere; photos and information on all 63 Bomboniere; and there are also the designs and/or charts for most of them.

Thank you Isabella for the photos of the booths!

Italia Invita - Part One - 2003

Italia Invita - Part Two - 2005

Italia Invita - Part Three - 2007

Italia Invita - Part Five - 2011