Prato Textile Museum

I've been back for a whole week after nearly a month in Italy and already the cold and rainy November days here have made the sunny warmth of Puglia, Lazio and Tuscany seem very far away. To chase away the blues, I'll tell you about my trip to Prato in Tuscany and the Prato Textile Museum.

Museo del Tessuto, Via Puccetti 3, Prato, Italy.

The regional train to Prato from Florence takes 20 minutes and the distance from the Prato Centrale railway station to the Museo di Tessuto is a five minute walk. I've wanted to go there forever and never investigated how easy a trip it really was, no excuses then for not going there every time I'm in Florence!

Since May of 2003 the Textile Museum of Prato has been permanently housed in part of the restored rooms of the old Campolmi textile factory. There is a great collection of photos, past and present at the Comune di Prato website. You can read the history of the Campolmi textile company here.

The present exhibition at the museum is called Officina Pratese. Tessuti del Rinascimento italiano. [Prato Workshop. Fabrics from the Italian Renaissance.] In collaboration with the Fondazione Lisio, who reproduced many ancient fabrics and further produced fabrics inspired by renaissance paintings, this exhibit has some truly breathtaking and rich velvets, damasks and lampasses. If you have Facebook, you can see some of them here and here.

Pictured above: the voided silk velvet woven by Gianpaoulo Cherchiarini of the Fondazione Lisio inspired by Mercury's clothing in Botticelli's painting Primavera.

We were exceptionally fortunate to have a fascinating guided visit by the curator Daniela Degl'Innocenti, an extremely knowledgeable young woman who was able to explain the links between Prato textiles and famous renaissance artists, the rich textile history of Prato and it's people, recount the history of the Campolmi textile factory, show us Leonardo Da Vinci's innovations for textile production and so much more. I could have stood and listened to her for hours. The exhibition's collaboration with the Leonardo Museum in Vinci meant understanding Leonardo's designs for increased productivity for many of the steps in making textiles. Check out the models they've made from his specifications here.

We were even able to study a few of the lace pieces from a collection that the museum holds but are not yet on display as they are being catalogued - let's save that for another post.

The Museo di Tessuto bookshop was a treasure trove of publications that I've seen or read about online but never been able to leaf through and of course I wanted them all! Limited space in my suitcase meant that I was not able to bring home all that I desired but if you're interested in any or all aspects of textile documentation (weaving, spinning, dyeing, fashion, costumes, embroidery, lace and more) you'll definitely find something worthwhile there. 

I highly recommend taking a guided tour, or if you have more time, they offer collection consultations and educational programs as well. 

For more information about Prato's textile history, you can read Iris Origo's biography of Prato's famous medieval merchant Francesco di Marco Datini.

Errata - Punt'e Nù article in EGA's Needlearts Magazine

In 2011 I wrote a thesis for the EGA's Legacy Scholarship Program on Sardinian needlework with emphasis on two techniques specific to the area in and around Teulada. The edited thesis and projects became a two-part article series for EGA's Needlearts Magazine this year with the first part including a Punt'a Brodu project in the June 2013 issue and the second part including a project in Punt'e nù in the September 2013 issue.

Due to some unfortunate electronic difficulties the Punt'e nù project in the September 2013 issue has a couple of errors.

• On page 14 the materials list should have 3 1/2" x 9 5/8" for the piece of organza.

• On page 19 the photo J is incorrect and the text at the top of the page explaining how to end the thread at the end of the work is incorrect.

To end the thread when ending the work, take the needle through to the backside in the nearest ground fabric hole and slide the needle under 3 or 4 knots on the backside of the work (use a sharp needle to make this easier) to secure the end and trim the thread. (This is different than ending the thread when changing to a new thread and continuing on with the work. In this case both thread ends are secured under the newest first 3 or 4 knots with the new thread, pulling tightly to secure them and carefully trimming the tails of both the old and the new threads. Pay careful attention not to snip the working thread which will continue on.)

• On page 20 the piece of organza (3 1/2" x 9 5/8") is folded in half to make a 3 1/2" x 4 13/16" bag.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused anyone attempting the Punt'e nù project. Please contact me if you need any further clarification.

Needlework Contest - Florence Update

Back in March of this year I told you about an upcoming needlework contest which will take place in Florence at the end of the year.

I have just received an update from the Club del Punto in Croce and wanted to pass on these dates and locales to you. It seems I was not totally in error to tell you that the exhibition would be displayed at the Palazzo Davanzati after all - they have added a second exhibition:

November 9 - 30 2013 – Palazzo Borghese – via Ghibellina, 110 – Firenze

December 3 - 15 2013 – Palazzo Davanzati – via Porta Rossa – Firenze (open only in the morning!)

Please let me know if you see or participate in this exhibit, I'd love to hear about it!

Blackwork, Italian style

For a little while I have been admiring the Blackwork designs of Valentina Sardu of Ajisai Press. Instead of just telling you about her work which you can see on her website and blog (and read in English), I contacted her directly to see if I could tell you a little bit more about her. She graciously answered all my questions and gave me permission to use some of her photos.

Valentina, pictured above, is inspired by nature and Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and the name of her company Ajisai Press is the Japanese word for the Hortensia, or 'embroidery flower' as it translates literally. Her Blackwork designs reflect Japanese influence.

Valentina studied Painting and Decorative Painting at the Liceo Artistico (Art School) of Turin, and is self-taught when it comes to her needlework. She feels certain that her Sardinian heritage (her paternal great-grandmother was an expert Sardinian weaver) has equipped her with the fine sense of precision and aesthetics so fundamental to embroidery. She owes much as well to her maternal Piedmontese great-grandmother from whom she inherited a few special items: a beautiful Viennese Biedermeier embroidery pattern and a few embroidered holy cards which Valentina later discovered had belonged to two great-aunts who were cloistered nuns in a convent destroyed during World War II. Her curiosity to learn more about these items led her to the world of textile arts.

Along the way to learning about the textile arts, Valentina began to collect old needlework publications and three years ago after publishing a book on the Japanese art of furoshiki, in collaboration with the publishing house Marco Valerio she had the first Italian edition (1890) of the Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont reprinted. She has since reprinted a number of old publications.

Valentina then started to design Blackwork patterns:

What I love is its more contemporary style, with classic geometric filling motifs scattered here and there, breaking up or merging with other patterns, or they become more sparse, to create areas of light and shadow worthy of a work of art... Furthermore, I always experiment with new effects, and so often I do not stop at the traditional black on a white background, I enjoy using different colours, both for the threads and the fabrics. ...lately I've found it very interesting to combine blackwork and cross stitch because the little crosses are strengthened by the Blackwork and they seem to emerge from the canvas taking on a nearly three-dimensional appearance.

The design above is an example of the tri-dimensionality Valentina talks about. The ladybug & daisy is the first in a series of these mixed techniques.

Check out Valentina's online store where you can download digital copies of her patterns or order her needlework book reprints. Don't forget to stop by her blog too for lots of information including a step-by-step instructional video!

Delicious Umbrian Embroidery

The very best gifts are those that are unexpected. Last week a courier arrived with a package from Italy and I had no idea what it could be. The little girl in me took over as soon as I'd signed for it and I sat down right there on the stairs and ripped open the envelope. Inside was truly a wonder to behold and I sat there for the better part of an hour (probably with my mouth open the whole time).

As regular readers will know, I absolutely LOVE the textured Italian embroideries and this is a stunning example. An Umbrian Embroidery pillow cover in amazing condition!

This very fortunate find was discovered by Bianca Rosa Bellomo of the Associazione I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli in Bologna. She told me that she found it at a stall in the market at an excellent price. The lady running the stall told her that it came from an rich estate in the hills which was vacated. It has certainly been well looked after!

In the book Ricami della Bell'Epoca I found two photos of a table cover with the same design (repeated seven times!). The caption says that that piece dates to the 1930s. I wonder how old the one I have is?

This book says that pieces of this kind of embroidery can be found in the collections of the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York, the Museo Storico Didattico della Tappezzeria di Bologna and the Fondazione Ranieri in Perugia.

Detail of my pillow cover.

Four delightful knotted tassels, one at each corner of the pillow cover. Inside the head of each one appears to be a wooden bead.

Check out these exquisite buttons which run along the top edge to enclose a pillow! They are slipped through buttonhole loops to close.

Insertion stitching used on three sides to join the front and back together. See how the edging matches? The back has three sets of blanket stitches repeating all the way around and the front is bordered by chain stitching. The stitching matches along the edge of the insertion stitches.

Detail of my pillow cover.

Detail of my pillow cover.

Detail of my pillow cover.

Detail of my pillow cover.

I can study the back side of the embroidery too!

I just happen to have the perfect size pillow to put in it and now it sits on my bed so I can see it every time I walk into my room!

A tremendous and heartfelt thank you to Bianca Rosa for this most precious of gifts!

Sardinian Needlework - Puntu Vanu, Punt'e Nù and Punt'a Brodu

Summer always has me thinking of learning something new and I usually decide to tackle a technique that I haven't tried yet. This summer though I am thinking of getting to know some techniques a little better instead of taking on a new one.

Lots of Italians head to Sardinia for their summer holidays and since I can't do that, I've been revisiting some of their needlework techniques in the unusually sunny weather we are having at home. There is nothing better than sunlight for visibility when stitching so I've been out on my deck under my own ombrellone.

In the spring of 2011 I visited Sardinia and spent some time getting to know a few Sardinian needlework techniques like Puntu Vanu, a type of smocking and two techniques that are specifically from Teulada: Punt'e Nù and Punt'a Brodu.

I'm running into all kinds of difficulties not the least of which is lack of good eyesight!

Puntu Vanu is usually executed on percale cotton fabric as it is traditionally worked into a shirt or blouse. I honestly tried to perform an evenly spaced running stitch line on a piece of percale but I couldn't see well enough to do more than a few stitches a day without hurting my eyes with the amount of magnification I needed so I switched to a piece of Sotema Batiste cotton.

Using Rosalba Lecca and Ebe Ciampalini's book, I chose a simple heart pattern and then withdrew one ground fabric thread into which I stitched my first running stitch line.

The first stitching line of my Puntu Vanu piece.

It was tough going as even the fabric count on the Batiste cotton is quite high. Eventually I figured out that if I wrapped my finger in piece of dark leather-like cloth and laid the work over it, I could see relatively well and the stitches went more quickly (the leather-like cloth was sent to me by the lovely Elizabeth Prickett for use when making Ruskin Lace. Unfortunately Elizabeth has since passed away so I cannot ask her for a supplier or even what the cloth is made of. If you really want to know, you could try contacting the webstore).

As Puntu Vanu is a kind of smocking, the strip of embroidery must be long as it will be pulled so that the fabric bunches up to form the pattern. Roughly a 36 inch strip of the Batiste of this thread count will produce a 12 inch piece of embroidery. I'll update you as I stitch more.

Photo from: Luoghi e Volti del Punto Filza

For my Punt'e Nù practise, I decided to make a bookmark using some of the colours found on the traditional Teulada man's costume. 

I took some patterns from this blog where you can also find the instructions on how to execute this embroidery. While you're there search Puntu Vanu, Punt'e Nù and Punt'a Brodu for some great photos! 

I think I'll trim my fringe down a bit more. This was made on 28ct Jubilee cotton fabric using DMC no. 8 Pearl Cotton:

Punt'e Nù stitching

And for Punt'a Brodu, I've taken part of a pattern off of a lovely vase painted by Marilena Ledda that I saw while in Sardinia in 2011:

The work of artist Marilena Ledda

I'm still trying to perfect my stitching on this pattern that I proposed for the EGA magazine Needlearts, June 2013. In the magazine, I did the pattern using embroidery floss but here I've done it using DMC no. 80 tatting thread. I still need a LOT of practise!

I hope you have enjoyed "travelling" to Sardinia with me. As far as I know there are no instructional books on Punt'e Nù or Punt'a Brodu. The instructions (which start in Febbraio 2010) for Punt'e Nù on the blog I mentioned above are quite good - give them a try! The only book I know of on Puntu Vanu is the one I mentioned above.

Punto Antico - Bruna Gubbini's Seventh Book!

Bruna Gubbini of the Associazione Il Punto Antico in San Giovanni in Persiceto, near Bologna has released her seventh volume about Punto Antico Embroidery.

This latest publication has Italian and English text, is over 160 pages packed full of colour photos and offers 20 projects!

From the introduction:

In this new book you will find, apart from bed sheets, cushions and towels, many tablecloths among which are different examples of runners.
My students appreciate this new way to dress the table because the runners are more elegant than the simple placemats, less onerous to work than the classic tablecloth and easier to wash and iron. They can make different designs which can be combined with each other in order to avoid repetition. The runner can also be used as a table centre.
The book concludes with a ring cushion and a series of beautiful favours entirely worked by hand.

There is a small how-to section at the beginning of this book and then more how-tos sprinkled in with the projects themselves. Signora Gubbini's impeccable good taste regarding colours and motif combinations is elegantly displayed with the help of her students and their works.

The photography and styling is delightful. If you are already a fan of Signora Gubbini's books, you will not be disappointed and if you are new to them, all I can tell you is that they are definitely worth the cover price. There are so many inspiring ideas and lovely embroideries to look at!

I am intrigued by the use of a large hoop stand which seems to enable four ladies to collaborate on the work of one piece! Not that I'd want to stand and stitch but it does make me think of an old quilting stand that I have which would be useful for executing embroidery on a tablecloth.

Indulge yourself! This book can be purchased directly from the Associazione Il Punto Antico.