Marta Cucchia and the Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Studio

Sometimes people do things that make you absolutely marvel at their talent. Marta Cucchia of the Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Studio in Perugia is one of those people who does this to me.

Everything Marta makes is amazing. I've told you a little about her and the Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Studio before. I had the enormous good fortune of visiting them in 2009.

Back then Marta had recently finished a piece she had been studying and figuring out from a Pintoricchio painting.

She explained how she was fascinated by the designs on the fabric in the painting and thought to challenge herself by recreating the piece.

The piece is quite long and each line is a different pattern!

The inspiration for this work is the cloth that the Baby Jesus is wrapped in in this Pintoricchio painting which can be found in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria museum in Perugia.

I am still in awe of Marta's talent five years later. She continues to do amazing work and is always finding new things to challenge herself with. If you ever find yourself in Perugia, you should not miss a trip to the Giuditta Brozzetti Weaving Studio, they have guided tours (in English too!).

Thanks to Vima for the use of her photos!

Needlework adventures

One day back in the spring of 2011 I received an email from a Canadian reader who was looking for someone to teach her travel group an Italian needlework technique while they were on holiday in Italy. They planned to go in the fall of 2012, rent a place to stay and wanted a teacher who spoke English to come and teach them.

I suggested a few names and sent a few emails but the reader had some medical problems which ended up preventing her from making the trip as planned and I didn't think much more about it. Then in the spring of 2013 the same reader contacted me again saying she was all healed and was trying again to organize the trip she had been planning before.

Her group were stitchers of varying levels of experience and they liked to travel to different countries and learn a local needlework technique while there. They had already travelled to places like Ireland, Scotland, England and France.

Villa Saraceno in Finale di Agugliaro where the ladies stayed while in Italy.

They had rented the Villa Saraceno near Verona and this put me in mind of Anna Castagnetti who I have mentioned a few times here. The trip was planned for the spring of 2014.

I'm delighted to say that Anna was available and she put together an introductory class on the cutwork part of Punto Antico for the ladies.

Anna also took the group to the Don Mazza museum in Verona where they were delighted with the fantastic needlework collection there.

I received equally enthusiastic emails afterwards from both the reader and Anna about the whole experience. It seems it was a marvellous time for all involved and I'm very happy to have played my part in it! Many thanks to the ladies for sharing their experiences with us!

Venetian Needle Lace - new book

Of all the needle laces, those from Venice and Burano are certainly the most complex, but they are also the most versatile because the limitations imposed by the design are removed.

This publication contains a how-to section of the stitches to start you off accompanied by instructions, photographs and very clear diagrams.

You can take a look at a few pages here.

Exciting news for those who wish to delve into the world of Venetian Needle Lace! Ombretta Panese and Marialuisa Severi have been hard at work creating this book. 

I have translated what Ombretta has written on her blog:

We have tried to give clear and simple instructions on some stitches, which are supported by photographs and designs, so as to introduce the manufacture of needle lace to those who have the intention to learn.

At the end we have included designs of varying degrees of difficulty so you can experiment with what you have learned.

About the authors:
Marialuisa Severi is the President of the cultural Associazione "Il Merletto Veneziano" which was formed in 2005 with the aim to keep alive, enhance and promote the ancient art of Burano needle lace and Pellestrina bobbin lace. Both techniques are traditionally rooted in the island territory of Venice. You can see some pictures of their work here.

Ombretta Panese is a lacemaker from Mestre who has been awarded the title: Expert Needle Lace Maker achieved after two courses of 300 hours each, at the Scuola Professionale della Provincia di Venezia. Together with some of her classmates from these courses, she was involved in the creation of the Associazione "Il Merletto Veneziano". She does some beautiful work, check out her blog.

My copy is in the mail somewhere between here and Italy but I couldn't wait for it to get here before telling you about this book which you can get directly from the publisher: NuovaS1 (send them an email and tell them you'd like to use PayPal for those outside of Europe). Lacis distributes some NuovaS1 books in the US, if you want to see this one brought in, you may have to write to them and request it.

Let me know what you think in the comments below if you do get this book which I understand may be the first in a series.

I'm fine, just busy

I have received many, many messages and emails asking if I'm okay so please excuse the expediency of posting here instead of answering you all individually. I am fine! Everything is okay, I'm working on several projects for Italian embroiderers which I will be able to tell you about relatively soon. They are taking up all of my free time at the moment and when I say all of my free time, I mean all of it! After I get home from work, I sit at my computer until it's time for bed. I eat at the computer. Seriously.

I have neglected my blog, my emails, my Facebook messages. I know it, I feel badly about it. I'm sorry!

Many of you have asked for help with research or information about things and I will get around to answering you all but if you're in a hurry, I'm sorry that I can't be there for you during this period of time.

I will be back! The things I'm working on will be interesting to you.

Thank you so much everyone for your concern! I love hearing from you so please don't stop writing, whenever I get a second, I race through the messages even if I can't take the time to respond. It's often when I first wake up at 3:30 am! I lay in bed waking up with my iPad and read my messages. I do.

I'm incredibly happy to see that so many of you are curious and enthusiastic about Italian needlework, it makes all the work I've done and am currently doing worth every minute it takes to do it.

A presto!

Check out this series of three videos on YouTube on Burano needlelace in the meantime! Video One, Video Two, Video Three.

The instruction DVD videos (I believe there are three on this technique) can be purchased directly from Il Giardino dei Punti. The videos are pricey but they look like they are worth it, they are on my list of things to investigate (which is pages long!) Remember to ask the DVD format they are made in before you buy! Different countries use different formats for viewing using DVD players with your TV.

Gigliuccio hemstitching done on the back side

A reader very kindly reminded me that I had never posted the second part of this post on finishing a hem with Gigliuccio hemstitching (Peahole hemstitch) executed on the back side of the fabric.

So, without further ado, here is how to do it. You need to execute this on the back side of the work because the four-sided stitching will match that of the series of stitches you have done to secure the hem. This step today will be knotting the bundles together to create the characteristic look of this lovely hemstitch.

Assuming that we are carrying on after having secured the hem as we did here, turn the work so that the already executed hem is at the top and work from left to right on the back side of the work.

Step one will form the first four-sided stitch:

Step two will form half of the second four-sided stitch:

Step three will knot the two bundles:

Step four will complete the second four-sided stitch and return you to step one:

Repeat the series. Here is what it looks like on the back side:

This is the front side:

If you do this in tone-on-tone you will not see the criss-cross of threads.

There is a great in-depth booklet on this and many other little tips and tricks for executing the Gigliuccio Hemstitch in a variety of ways which can be had by contacting the author, Liliana Babbi Cappelletti. Be sure to ask for the English version if that's what you need.

To see how to do the Gigliuccio hemstitch on the right side of the work, check out this post here.

Liberty Style, Aemilia Ars Needle Lace and Forlì

In Italy Art Nouveau style is called Liberty after the British company Liberty of London. Art Nouveau style was influencing all forms of creativity during the time that Aemilia Ars needle lace was born which is apparent in early pieces of this beautiful needlework.

From February 1st until June 15th, 2014 there is a Liberty exhibition held at the San Domenico Museums in Piazza Guido da Montefeltro in Forlì, Italy.

Among the many things to see will be an Aemilia Ars needle lace exhibit and classes (I've outlined the information on the classes in red on the brochure pictured above). Here is a translation of what it says:

Workshops
Aemilia Ars lace earring
Creation of needle lace
From February 15th to May 24th every Saturday (except the 19th and 26th of April and the 3rd of May)
Mornings from 10am to 12:30pm and afternoons from 3pm to 5:30pm
Other dates available on request
€30,00 (euros) per person
Cost includes a pair of gold earring mounts and entrance ticket to the Liberty exhibits
The workshop is available for individual visitors or groups with a maximum number of 25
A reservation is compulsory
For information and bookings:
Francesca Bencivenni
(contact info via telephone and email which I won't put here so that webcrawling spammers can't target them - check the brochure by clicking on the photo above)

(Francesca Bencivenni is the lacemaker behind the exquisite creations found on this website.)

Also featured in the Liberty exhibit at Forlì will be the Aemilia Ars needle lace altar cloth masterpiece created by the lacemakers and embroiderers of the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Bologna in the early years of the 20th century. I wrote an article for Piecework magazine about this altar cloth which I had the extreme privilege to view while on display at Easter at the Sacred Heart in Bologna in 2011. There are some photos of it here. 

In this post here, I told you about two table cloths created by the Aemilia Ars Society in the early part of the 20th century. I have as yet been unable to discover if either of these incredible pieces have survived to present day. Inspired by the beauty of these designs Francesca Bencivenni of Bologna has created her own masterpiece which will be on display as well at the Liberty exhibit in Forlì.

click on the photo for a closer look!

Francesca's peacock Aemilia Ars needle lace measures 89 centimetres long and 21 centimetres high and took more than 1100 hours for her to complete. It will be for sale at the end of the show - best offer will take it home - interested parties should contact her directly at her contact info on the brochure pictured above. I am in no way involved with, nor will I benefit from, the sale of the lace. If I could buy it myself I would have already made an offer!

If you find yourself in Italy this spring, make the effort to get to this show. I know I always say this but I really do wish I were able to get to this exhibit! If you go, please let me know how it was!

Preparing a skein of Ritorto Fiorentino

Recently a friend asked me what I do to manage my skeins of Anchor's Ritorto Fiorentino pearl cotton thread which is only available in Italy. It occurred to me that maybe readers of my blog might have the same question so here below is what an Italian embroidery teacher showed me to do. Sorry the photos aren't the best, they were taken quickly with my iPod Touch. For more information and a review of Ritorto Fiorentino thread, check out Mary Corbet's blog Needle 'n Thread.

Ritorto Fiorentino is a pearl cotton thread that comes in two weights #8 and #12 just like the pearl cotton thread we know. It comes in hanks of 45 grams which is 350 metres of #8 and 550 metres of #12. I have heard different stories about why it exists but have been unable to confirm any. The legend I like the best is that it was created for the Tuscan market for the embroidery technique of Punto Antico. As works of this type of embroidery generally meant densely covered embroideries on large pieces like tablecloths, there was a need for more thread to complete them. Whatever the story is, they are lovely!

Slide the label off the top of the skein and open it out.

Look for the two ends which will be knotted together like so:

Cut the knot and cut through the threads.

Slide the label on one of the ends of the skein and position it at the middle of the length of threads.

Separate a small amount of threads to the inside of each leg on either side of the label.

Gather the two smaller sections into the centre to form a third leg and LOOSELY braid the three legs.

Near the label separate a single strand with one hand.

Grasp the rest of the skein firmly in the other hand and pull on the single strand.

The skein will bunch up but will relax again after you have extracted the single strand. If your braid was too tight this part will be difficult so make sure the tension on your braiding is loose.

The skein will stay braided. Cut your single strand to your desired thread length, eg. in half or into thirds or whatever you feel comfortable with. The strand is too long to stitch with without cutting it as pearl cotton thread loses its sheen if worked for too long.

Any unused strands can be attached to the skein using a lark's head knot near the label.

You can purchase Ritorto Fiorentino online from Italy from a number of shops like Tombolo Disegni or Casa Cenina. Ritorto Fiorentino is also available in cones for colours like white and ecru.