Savignano Braid Embroidery

Savignano sul Rubicone (until 1933 called Savignano della Romagna) is located near the north-eastern coastline of Italy, between Ravenna and Rimini. Savignano Braid Embroidery, which originates from this area, was once used to decorate cattle and oxen in local country expositions and fairs - kind of like county fairs as we know them.

Image from Peasant Art in Italy, The Studio Magazine, 1913:


Kind of like the fairs we know, but of course different. The cattle and oxen were paraded along the main routes of the town so the people could admire and appreciate them better. Animals for sale were also dressed to impress. The country folk made covers for their beasts' parade and decorated them with simple yet effective motifs on homespun cloth using cotton, linen, hemp or woolen threads.

In the early years of the 20th century when all over Italy school-workshops were springing up to offer women education and means to support themselves through needlework, Savignano was not excluded. Countess Maria Luisa Rasponi of Ravenna was responsible for the School of Savignano di Romagna where she revived this ancient technique and where reproductions of antique motifs (from antique covers that she was able to recover) were reproduced on tablecloths, bed covers, curtains and other household items.

Savignano Braid Embroidery entails applied braids and chains which form rustic patterns in traditional colours of blue, red and off-white. Simple or knotted fringes border the pieces or tassels adorn the corners. Suitable fabrics are hemp or linen.

As part of the Italian Feminine Industries exhibit at the 1906 World's Fair in Milan, Savignano Braid Embroidery was exhibited in a veranda suite (image taken from Elisa Ricci's article in Emporium, July 1907):


Elisa Ricci included this picture of an oxen cover made by the School of Savignano di Romagna in her article about the Italian Feminine Industries organization written for the magazine Emporium in July 1907:


...and this one in 1913 for her chapter on Women's Crafts in Peasant Art in Italy for The Studio magazine:


Savignano Braid Embroidery won several awards at various fairs and exhibitions of the period and enjoyed success until the death of the Countess Rasponi in 1919. It is occasionally mentioned in various magazines and exhibition reviews until the early 1940s.

In 2007, acting on information written in the early 20th century, a small group of Italian women went to visit the Romagna Ethnographic Museum of Forlì in the hopes of finding one of the antique oxen covers that the Countess Rasponi had recovered. The tale of their discovery and the history of Savignano Braid Embroidery along with the basic stitches and patterns can be found in the book: Ricami a Treccia di Savignano, 2007 by Bianca Rosa Bellomo, Cristina Notore and Paola Paglierani (text in Italian).

The TALEA Officina Tessile teaches Savignano Braid Embroidery, and as mentioned here previously, offers kits (though not yet for sale overseas). If you go through the Gallerie Foto on their website you will see many works of Savignano Braid Embroidery.

There is a short article (in Italian) with a picture here.

You can download a pdf file of Peasant Art in Italy here (Holme, Charles, The Studio, 1913).

New Punto Antico book!

Nothing cheers me up more than a package from Italy. When I arrived home after a long shift yesterday, my spirits were immediately uplifted by seeing an envelope sticking out of the mailbox with Italian postage stamps on it.

It was the latest book on Punto Antico by Bruna Gubbini! It is called: Ciclamino, oggetti a punto antico and has designs done in mauve tones. The introductory page says that this is the first in a new series of smaller projects in Punto Antico embroidery which "...can be made in a weekend, to pass a rainy day, to make an unusual gift..."

This is the sixth book on Punto Antico that features Bruna Gubbini's interpretations of this type of Italian needlework. While previous books were full of breathtaking but larger projects, this one has smaller things like napkin rings, scissor fobs, a box top, buttons, tassels, needlebooks, coasters, pincushions, a handkerchief carrier, a needlework roll and small bags for bomboniere. (A needlework roll is a cylinder covered in fabric for you to roll your projects up in for storage or when traveling.)

There are 60 pages and at the beginning are the stitch instructions for the stitches used in the projects found in the book, the text is in both Italian and English and there are lots of close up photos. There is very little cutwork, only a few designs call for it, so if that's what has been stopping you from trying Punto Antico, here's your chance to try it out without stressing too much over cutting the fabric.


You can purchase this book directly from the Associazione Il Punto Antico. Many patterns call for Graziano 28 ct Riviera linen. Thread listed is Retors d'Alsace or Alsatian Twist by DMC which is not available in North America, you can use Pearl Cotton as an acceptable substitute. If you're like me and like to hunt down what is called for in designs, Tombolo Disegni sells it, (Click on: "Negozio", then "Retour d'Alsace" - send an email request to order) colour numbers correspond with other DMC threads.

TALÈA Officina Tessile

Whenever I want to investigate something that someone tells me about, I leave their email in my inbox until I can get to it. Sometimes this takes a long time.

Last November, I received an email announcing the 6th Annual Hemp Fair in Gambettola, Italy which was sponsored by the hand-stamped fabric manufacterers Bertozzi and Pascucci. At this exhibition lessons in Savignano Braid Embroidery were offered and in the email was a photo of a cushion done in Savignano Braid Embroidery which was auctioned off with proceeds going to charity.

This is the cushion:


Now, I already knew about Savignano Braid Embroidery, but I was interested in the school that was teaching it as the instructors listed where women that I had met: Cristina Notore and Paola Paglierani of Italia Invita. These two delightful women are co-authors with another woman, Bianca Rosa Bellomo in a book on Savignano Braid Embroidery, and Cristina Notore wrote a beautiful instructional book on Macramé borders called: Macramé in Toscana which is already in it's second printing.

It has taken me 8 months to investigate, but better late than never! The school is called: TALÈA Officina Tessile and is currently holding courses in three different locations: Rimini, Riccione and Bellaria – all on the north-eastern coast of Italy. Cristina and Paola have participated in numerous exhibitions and have won many awards for their work.

If you visit the TALÈA Officina Tessile website, you can check out many photos and watch a video which shows a little of what you might expect to learn in their Macramé courses. Clicking here will show you some of the techniques of needlework that they teach and there are even kits available for the techniques of Macramé and Savignano Braid Embroidery. When I asked if these kits where available for overseas customers, Cristina told me that they are not set up for online sales at the moment but are looking into it. She promised to get back to me with details after summer holidays.

We will talk about Savignano Braid Embroidery next post...

Punt'a Brodu - Sardinian Needlework

I have a fascination with Sardinian Artwork, especially traditional motifs which are heavily used in the different Sardinian textile arts.

Let's look at some Sardinian Whitework embroidery called Punt'a Brodu.

Punt'a Brodu can be done on any kind of compact fabric and is made up of delicate ornamental motifs which form arabesque designs. Motifs are based on animal, vegetal, religious and domestic forms. Traditionally it is used to ornament shirts and blouses for both men and women. Shirts and blouses are usually ornamented with Punt'a Brodu on the collar, cuffs and chest area. The embroidery is completed separately and is later applied to the clothing item. All decorated parts are then finished with edgings of Crochet lace.

Punt'a Brodu border taken from the Italia Invita 2005 Forum book:


Punt'a Brodu is usually combined and complimented with two other kinds of Sardinian needlework, Punt'e Nuu and Puntu Vanu. Punt'e Nuu is a knotted Counted thread technique and Puntu Vanu is similar to smocking. Both of these embroidery types will be presented in separate posts at a later date.

Finished Punt'a Brodu needlework is very textured and often the individual motifs are difficult for the untrained eye to recognize. This work is traditionally executed in white thread on white fabric, the only exception is the motif:"su caboniscu" [a cockerel] which is embroidered on the purple velvet of the male corset with silk threads in the five traditional colors: green, orange, blue, yellow and purple.

There is an excellent series of videos online to watch about this needlework. Make sure to view them in order and set the window to display 420p for higher resolution!
The first video (8 mins 17 sec).
The second video (7 mins 14 sec).
The third video (6 mins 11 sec).
If you haven't had enough there is a slide show of still pictures to watch (5 mins 8 sec).

Fine Italian Whitework II

The following handkerchief is in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan. I made the photo in black and white so you could see more details. The handkerchief is in fact, white with white thread work.

This is one half:


This is a corner motif detail:


This is a Whitework detail:


The ground fabric is a very fine linen and the threads used in the needle lace and Whitework are also very fine. There are a lot of Curl Stitches and Bullion Knots. It's hard to see, but the leaves are filled with French Knots. There are so many picots! Even the border is needle lace. Can you imagine how much time this must have taken to make? This would really be a handkerchief you'd want to carry around and show people!

The style of this handkerchief reminds me of the one we looked at in Florence at the Palazzo Davanzati Museum. I wonder if they were made around the same time?

Thanks to Stefania for the photos!

RAKAM Magazine

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Raffia Embroidery

My grandmother's knitting bag was made of straw with flowers embroidered on one side in Raffia. She always brought it with her when she came to visit and it was always beside "her" armchair in her living room when we went to visit her. Recently my mother has been cleaning out her sewing room and she decided that grandma's old knitting bag should be thrown away as it is somewhat chewed up on one side and the centre of the embroidered flower has become undone.


The bag is hand-sewn and lined with a canvas-type fabric. The flowers are quite raised, while the leaves are flat:


I couldn't let it go without taking some pictures, my grandma was a great needlewoman and did many forms of needlework though I don't know for sure if she made this bag.

The May 2010 issue of Ricamo Italiano, an Italian needlework magazine has an article on the tradition of Raffia embroidery in the Mugello region of Tuscany. In particular they talk of the embroidery of Maria Margheri Manetti of the Embroidery School of Borgo S. Lorenzo, a town about 30kms away from Florence. The article says that this embroidery dates back to the 1950s when the works of local women were exported through the town of Signa to the rest of the world.

In Signa is the Museum of Straw and Plaiting [Museo della Paglia e dell'Intreccio] "Domenico Michelacci" where they also teach courses (click on the far right hand part of the photo to get a close up of a woman embroidering in Raffia). The Museum has published several books, a couple of which I will endeavor to get my hands on!


I found reference to Raffia embroidery in the Dizionario Enciclopedico di Lavori Femminili by Lucia Petrali Castaldi which is dated 1941.

Raffia embroidery is traditionally stitched on straw or hemp cloth. Today many different colours of Raffia are available, I found some here. Stitches used are those of classic embroidery like Straight Stitch, Feather Stitch, Running Stitch, Chain Stitch and Buttonhole Stitch.

I poked around a bit in the Italian high fashion world and found that many famous designers used Raffia embroidery in their fashion lines of clothing and accessories. Check out this Fendi purse embroidered with Raffia and silk ribbon from their Spring 2010 line:
On this Italian woman's blog she did some Raffia embroidery on a bag and shows you her great-grandmother's embroidered Raffia bag as well.