Catherine De'Medici Embroidery Article

For those who are part of the Embroiderers' Association of Canada (EAC), the new winter 2011 edition of their magazine Embroidery Canada is being delivered right now and inside is an article I wrote on Catherine De' Medici Embroidery with a Placemat project designed by the Accademia Punto Assisi.

I wrote this article in 2009 and am sad to report that the little store I visited in Assisi that I talk about in the article has since closed its doors. However the Accademia Punto Assisi is still going stronger than ever!

This is my own attempt at Catherine De' Medici Embroidery or Punto Madama:

The patterns were taken from an excellent book called: Caterina De' Medici, La Storia, Gli Schemi by Giuseppa Federici.

The peacock pattern can also be found in the Nov/Dec 2010 Piecework magazine with my accompanying article.

Caterina De'Medici Embroidery is a counted thread technique and is usually worked on an Italian fabric known as Buratto which today is a 100% loosely woven evenweave linen about 6 threads per centimetre (15 threads per inch), either cream coloured or unbleached (read more on Buratto here).

A thick cream-coloured or white twisted 100% cotton thread called “Cotone Povero” [poor cotton] is used for the stitching (done in Double Running Stitch executed in a particular way), edging and tassels.

Edge treatments can be widely spaced Blanket Stitches or a double crochet edge with popcorn picots on a small hem. Knotted tassels in a variety of styles are almost always the finishing touch. Sometimes colourful hand-painted ceramic beads from Deruta are added.

Here is some Caterina De'Medici Embroidery done by the Accademia Punto Assisi exhibited at the EGA San Francisco National Seminar in 2010:

TuttoRicamo website rebirth

Those of you who have known and loved the Italian embroidery and lace website TuttoRicamo over the years were very sad to learn that production had stopped over a year ago. A tremendous achievement by two women in their spare time with the collaboration of friends, the website grew to enormous proportions in its five years of online life.

The website was taken down, and then by popular demand, a reduced version was put back online so that readers could still have the benefit of the tremendous amount of information and research that went into it.

This past month, the old website went off-line for good (in its original format) but it has experienced a rebirth as a blog.

There are quite a few changes and much less material as it is trimmed down to information on the different Italian embroidery and lace techniques with book reviews when possible. It is also only in Italian text with a button for the Google translator.

The ladies of Tuttoricamo are diligently and swiftly adding to the blog content, so it is worth bookmarking and checking back often, it will take quite some time to transfer the information from the old website and they are working hard to update information as well. Watch it carefully as it grows!

Welcome back online Tuttoricamo!

(please be patient while I update the broken links on this blog to the old Tuttoricamo website (nearly 50!) which I can only do when new material becomes available on the new Tuttoricamo blog - thanks!)

Needle lace medallion in Piecework

For those looking for a small needle lace project to try, I wanted to tell you that the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of Piecework has a small needle lace medallion project that I translated.

Silvia from Turin has made an exquisite needle lace medallion using beads and silk thread. I stitched it to make sure that my translated instructions made sense and used round silver hoop earrings instead. There is lots of potential for the imagination with this little beauty!

This is Silvia's stitched model, mine is not worth showing you as my tension definitely needs a lot of practise! I can tell you that the medallion was quick and very enjoyable to stitch up!

Silvia has a great imagination when it come to needle lace, this is another of her designs:

You can see what I mean about my tension needing practise as this is my attempt, but the heart design is all Silvia's. I hope she will treat us to more tutorials and projects on her blog. Check out her profile info to see another one of her delightful needle lace medallions!

If you'd like to learn more about needle lace, Silvia has her own blog and she makes exceptionally clear tutorials!

Italian Needlework Treasures

It is with great excitement that I tell you – Vima deMarchi Micheli's latest book, Italian Needlework Treasures is now available!

I have been anticipating this publication for as long as I've known Vima. Her experience in the world of Italian needlework is amazing. She has been studying and traveling in Italy for many – many years and now we can benefit by reading of her adventures and admiring the beautiful Italian Needlework Treasures which she has seen and learned about.

Italian Needlework Treasures is everything I hoped it would be. It starts out with a chapter on the history of embroidery with attention to Italian-related events, followed by a section on Italian embroidery techniques with lots of colour photos of pieces in Vima's own incredible collection and also photos of pieces from the private collections that she has seen over the years; next there is a history of lace and again a section which follows detailing the many needle and pillow laces of Italy; tassels have their own chapter as do weaving techniques and traditional costumes, each chapter is sprinkled with little stories of Vima's experiences and tales of some of the people she has known relating to the individual techniques; after all this is a calendar of some of the regular events held in Italy where you can see fine embroideries and laces; a chapter on good museums and shops in the various regions of Italy which have a particular richness in Italian needlework and where Vima has personally seen the items. At the end of the book is an indispensible vocabulary of needlework and textile terminology in both Italian and English; a glossary and bibliographies of both Italian and English publications.

Vima tirelessly helps out in the assembly of the Italian needlework exhibit at the EGA National Seminar in San Francisco, September, 2010.

In the introduction, Vima states that she has tried to include the information which she has been most often asked by the public throughout her years of travelling and teaching. You can see that she has put a lot of thought and care into what she has presented. Honestly it has satisfied my curiosity about the things she has done and seen and I must compliment her on this volume as it is not often that one is able to provide exactly what is asked for. Italian needlework enthusiasts are sure be very pleased with this book.

Vima explains Perugian weaving techniques in Perugia, May, 2009.

You can purchase Italian Needlework Treasures directly from Vima on her website. If you'd like to learn a little more about her, go to Tuttoricamo, click on the British flag for the English pages and then click on "Prominent Characters", then her name under the "...today" heading.

Sardinian Weaving

In the small comune of Ulassai in the south-east part of Sardinia among the mountains and cliffs there is a small hand-weaving workshop called Su Marmuri next to the Stazione d'Arte Museum which features many of the art works of a Sardinian artist named Maria Lai (you can see some of her art in this YouTube video).

The hand-weaving workshop features many of Maria Lai's artwork designs in their weaving...

and their signage! These little goats show up in many things.

Sardinian hand-weaving is really different, they make little bumps of thread by inserting a metal rod so that when the rod is pulled out only the bump of thread is left to form designs...

The rods are not the whole width of the weaving so many must be used together, it is a painstaking and time-consuming method but the results are very attractive!

Whether there are more than one colour used or just tone on tone, this method is striking:

I got a couple of hand-towels with Maria Lai's goats on them and a peacock patterned one which can be seen here.

After the visit to the museum and the hand-weaving studio, we visited Maria Lai herself but I'll save that story for another day.

Punto Antico & Reticello

I have always been a fan of Giuliana Buonpadre's embroidery and her books. She makes elegant things which are always tastefully done and her creativity inspires me.

I told you a little about one of her books in this post on Reticello.

I tried to visit her at her little shop in Via S. Egidio in Verona in 2007 but alas, she had broken her leg and the shop was closed.

I was pleasantly surprised later that same trip to meet her and her lovely husband at the Italia Invita Forum in Rimini.

In 2009 concern for her health was widespread as she had a bout of cancer as I understand it but thankfully she recovered and is once again teaching, traveling and writing.

In the little shop in Verona now there is the association "Le Amiche di FiloFilò" or "the friends of FiloFilò", FiloFilò is the name of Giuliana Buonpadre's original association. Classes are available.

This year Signora Buonpadre released a new book, starting a new series called "Sulle tracce del filo" [Following the tracks of the thread], the first of this series is titled: Lenzuola, Samplers a Punto Antico [Sheets, Samplers in Antique Stitch].

These are books of great instructional value as they are produced for the most part in three languages: Italian, French and English. They include clear photographs and professional images and stitch diagrams. The best thing I like about them is that they show a stitched sample beside the pattern diagram so you can see what the stitch or motif will look like when completed.

This particular book is more advanced in the level of expertise needed to stitch the designs, that is, it goes beyond the basics and the projects are more labour intensive and time consuming than some of her previous books. The combination of Punto Antico and Reticello motifs is very pleasing to the eye.

There are instructions for cutting, finishing and hemming sheets and various styles of pillowcases, a stitch glossary and instructions for classic embroidery, pulled thread and needle lace stitches, corner treatments and a lovely introduction in which Signora Buonpadre describes the path she followed which led to this latest publication.

If you join her website, you can download sample pages of her books, though there aren't any examples of this particular volume, the samples of previous book's pages will give you a good idea of the format of this one.

You can also purchase directly by filling out the request page on her website.

Chiaramonte Gulfi

Chiaramonte Gulfi was known as the balcony of Sicily in the previous century for it's panoramic position: it rests atop a hillside at nearly 700 metres above sea level and looks out over the Ippari Valley. On a clear day you can see the Mediterranean Sea in one direction and Mount Etna in the other in a breathtaking view you can take in from the Villa Comunale.

We started out from our hotel in Comiso which is relatively nearby, taking the only bus which turned out to be the school bus that stopped at all the surrounding towns before taking the students to Chiaramonte Gulfi. What initially seemed a short journey was really a very long and winding road on a bus full of enthusiastic and boisterous students!

You live and you learn and since we were in an adventurous mood we took it in stride and climbed the steep road to Chiaramonte Gulfi from the bus stop at the foot of town happy to have arrived at last. In a bar where we had fantastic pastries we learned where to go to get tickets for the Sicilian Drawnthread Museum [Museo dello Sfilato], impressed that all the men we asked knew all about it.

At the Museo dei Cimeli Storico Militari [Museum of Historic Military Relics] in the main Piazza Duomo (which is where you need to buy your ticket to the museum) we met a lovely lady who offered to accompany us to the Drawnthread Museum.

The Museo dello Sfilato lies in Via Lauria 4 at the top of a steep stairway but there are signs pointing you in the right direction made of ceramic tiles:

Our guide pointed out many other things along the way and we admired many sets of embroidered curtains in the houses that we passed:

The museum itself seems small but is packed solid with needlework and definitely worth the trip.

Entrance Hall of the Museo dello Sfilato, Chiaramonte Gulfi.

We spent a lovely morning drooling over all the clothing, table linens, household furnishings and other exquisitely embroidered items in the museum and our guide told us as much as she could about the museum and the works within. She was a member of the Associazione dell'Arte del Ricamo e dello Sfilato a Chiaramonte Gulfi [Association of the Art of Embroidery and Drawnthread of Chiaramonte Gulfi] so her love of the embroidered pieces shone through when she was telling us about them.

A couple of weeks later at the Italia Invita Forum in Parma, we met other women from this association who had a booth at the Forum. A friend bought me a birthday gift of a piece of Drawnthread work from them which has the embroidery known as the Chiaramonte Stitch:

Close up of the Chiaramonte Stitch.

There is a great tutorial of this stitch on Tuttoricamo, click on the British flag for the English pages, then click on "How it's Done" and then "Chiaramonte Stitch".

We hired a driver from the travel agency in the Piazza Duomo to take us back to Comiso so we could be back in time for our lessons with Roberta Rizza in the afternoon.

Special thanks to Elisabetta for the use of her photos!