Genoese Needlework, Textiles and Fashion - Part One

I know almost nothing about Genoa, Italy in relation to textiles. I've never been there and so it is conspicuously missing from the range of needlework that I've talked about here.

I was recently contacted by Maria Daniela Lunghi, a fibre artist, author and textile history specialist from Camogli in the province of Genoa. She was kind enough to send me some textile museum catalogues from Genoa.

I colori del lusso. Scialli del Kashmir a Genova [The colours of luxury. Kashmir Shawls in Genoa] is a little booklet of 32 pages with lots of lovely colour photos of the collection of Kashmir shawls displayed at the exhibition in 2002 at the Museo di Sant'Agostino in Genoa. It covers the history of textiles in India, the production of cashmere in europe, woven shawls and printed shawls among a few other interesting things. (Text in Italian.)

Now, you might be thinking: What do cashmere shawls have to do with Italy? Well, you may or may not know that Europeans had some periods of time where Eastern designs, fabrics and customs became very fashionable. Periods of Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Bedouin as well as other eastern styles each had their turn influencing the latest fashions for European women and men and India had her turn as well.

Marchesa Emilia Negrone Centurioni by Giuseppe Antonio Frascheri. Oil on canvas. Villa Saluzzo Serra di Nervi, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Genoa.

This little catalogue also discusses the influence of these shawls on the fashion pages of French magazines, the commerce of Kashmir shawls in Genoa and the relationship between Genoese men and women and Kashmir shawls.

There is a small bit at the end about the restoration and conservation of this collection.

I learned quite a bit about these shawls and their high appreciation by Italian women of the period between 1770 and 1870.

Thank you M. Daniela Lunghi for this fascinating lesson in fashion!

Christmas Macrame

I finally treated myself to Adriana Lazzari's Christmas Macrame book, I've been looking at it since it come out in 2009.

Some years ago I tried to create a Santa Claus out of Macrame from a RAKAM magazine but he never really worked out and last year I wanted to create this bell, but even with help and infinite patience from the ladies over at Tuttoricamo, I didn't get very far.

This year, I've had some practise and am determined to create some kind of Christmas ornament in Macrame.

This nice little book has 55 pages, the text is only in Italian but there are lots of diagrams and photos, if you know your way around Macrame, you'd probably have no trouble if you don't speak Italian.

The first section deals with materials and the basic knots after which follows the patterns and ideas section which is the larger part of the contents. The projects include three angels, a chimney-sweep, a couple of brooms, two Christmas trees, a snowman, a witch, a poinsettia, the Nativity Scene from the front cover, three snowflakes and a bell. A bell very similar to the one I was trying to make last year. (If you're wondering, the broom, chimney-sweep and witch relate to the Italian tradition of the Befana coinciding with the Epifany on the 6th of January).

I like Adriana's books as she always tells you how much thread to cut. This helps math-challenged people like me as it leaves nothing to chance. I think I'll make one of the snowflakes to start out, they look like something I might be able to handle. I'll let you know if I succeed.

If you're outside of Italy, you can purchase this book from TomboloDisegni, click on "Libri", then "Libri Macrame": send an email to order, she takes PayPal. If you're in Italy, you can contact the author at her website.

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!

English Insert for Il Reticello by Paola Barbieri

A quick note to let you know that the English translation booklet (pictured above) is now available for the book Il Reticello interpretata da Paola Barbieri published by l'Associazione Il Punto Antico.

If you've hesitated to get this lovely book because it was only in Italian text, now you don't need to hold off anymore. While the website says that the English will be available soon, I know that it is available now as I have waited to get the printed copy in my hands before announcing it's availability to you.

The insert is 31 pages with the complete text of the book translated into English. The English is of very good calibre, not done with an online translator so it is actually understandable. The first sentence of the note from the author reads:

In the pages that follow, you will find very simple and accurate instructions. In fact, several times I choose to also repeat the various steps required for creating a quadrant, in order to be very clear, so as to allow those who have never experimented with reticello to be able to approach this technique.

If you purchased this book already and want the English text, contact the Associazione Il Punto Antico to get your insert sent to you.

Deruta Drawn Thread Work Sample

I seem to have less and less time for my blog as I do more and more translations but I cannot give it up just yet. Quickly I want to tell you a fun story.

Some years ago I corresponded with Maria Elide Melani of the Associazione Ago Aga e Fantasia while she was researching Deruta Sfilato or Deruta Drawn Thread Work Embroidery. We have since met (at Italia Invita 2011) and correspond once in awhile. She wrote a lovely book on the technique, which I told you about here.

I have been very lucky with my internet friendships and I have been able to meet lots of great people who share my interests. I have been very enthusiastic in my reporting of Maria Elide and her endeavours because I find her to be a delightful person as well as a talented embroiderer.

Some time ago, a reader of my blog from the Netherlands wrote to me that she was going to Tuscany and wanted to learn about Deruta Drawn Thread Work. I put her in touch with Maria Elide and they enjoyed a lovely visit together. Then a couple of readers from other countries did the same and I was excited to assist in the discovery by stitchers outside of Italy of this wonderful Italian needlework.

But the best has got to be when you assist without knowing it. Maria Elide was contacted directly by a whole group of Japanese stitchers who were going to Italy and wanted to learn Deruta Drawn Thread Work while they were there. Maria Elide didn't understand how they had found her or why they would choose her over the many embroidery schools in Italy but when the group arrived they showed her a printout of my blog post about her! When she wrote and told me after they were gone, she assumed that I had known - but I was completely ignorant! 

I can't tell you how happy this kind of thing makes me. It is the whole point of this blog. This past week I received a thank-you gift from Maria Elide which, while unnecessary, is much appreciated. Lovely Deruta Drawn Thread Work done by her own hand. It barely fit into my scanner:

I'm very happy to have helped these people and hope that my readers find things of interest in the posts that I write, however infrequently they seem to be written these days.

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.

Embroidery using a hoop

For those who would like to learn to use an embroidery hoop to aid in creating beautiful traditional needlework, Anna Rondelli of Bologna has just released her second publication: Ricamo a Telaio [Embroidery using a hoop].

Translated from her website:

Through the pages of this book, we learn how to hold the hoop in hand. It is the "ABCs" of embroidery that you should know before moving on to more complex techniques. The principal stitches of embroidery executed using a hoop like cording stitch, padded satin stitch, shadow work, buttonhole stitch edgings, Rodi Stitch and many others and their variations are explained step-by-step. Different projects are presented in detail in the third part. The designs of some of the work (on transfer paper and ready to use) are enclosed in a separate envelope. This publication may be useful to experts for consolidating their technical knowledge and for beginners who want to get to know embroidery using a hoop.

Sample of stitch instructions.

This book is also a showcase of Anna's gorgeous traditional embroidery. There are some designs dedicated to the bridal trousseaux in elegant colour choices.

Anna dreams of continuing to publish more and more complex stitches and techniques in the future, so if you enjoy this book, there may be more to come. The text of this book is in Italian.

If you're in Bologna from the 16th to the 18th of November 2012, you can get your hands on this book by attending the fair Il Mondo Creativo in Bologna, otherwise you can contact Anna through her website La Prilletta.

For a review of this book in Italian, see the TuttoRicamo blog.