Italian Needlework School Collaboration - History in the Making

I have been asked to tell you about a project I worked on in 2008. Many of you know (and many of you may not know) that I donate some translation work for the website Tuttoricamo.

In 2008 the Tuttoricamo ladies wanted to put together a book about Italian embroidery with the proceeds going to charity. Simona Bussiglieri from Mani di Donna had already put together a booklet of cross stitch designs in 2007 and was doing the same for 2008.

The ladies from Tuttoricamo sent word around to various embroidery schools asking if anyone would be interested in contributing to this worthy cause. (Proceeds went to the Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù of Rome which then used them to help the Bellosquardo House in Rome which houses low-income families from all over Italy and the poorer countries of the world). The response was good and the Tuttoricamo ladies embarked on the daunting task of coordinating and putting together the book: Un Natale da Ricamare 2008 con Tuttoricamo.


First a bit of background information: in Italy there are many embroidery and lace making schools. They are run by the various masters and teachers of Italian needlework techniques, usually as a second job, as most of you are aware, embroidery doesn't make anyone rich. These schools are generally in competition with each other, each one vying for students, teaching not just one, but many techniques in an effort to attract pupils. Some courses are carried out over weekends, some on specific days of the week, some over a period of weeks, months or years; in churches, community centres, private homes. Some schools and associations are fortunate enough to have some financial backing from community, provincial or regional funds and therefore have a fixed address and classrooms. It is a difficult way to make a living and the competition is quite fierce.

To ask these schools to collaborate together is something that had not been attempted before. Counting on the main goal of charity at Christmas time, the Tuttoricamo ladies went ahead and were successful in getting 13 associations to donate over 30 small patterns to be stitched up as Christmas cards or gifts. The techniques included: Classic Surface Embroidery, Drawn Thread Work, Palestrina Embroidery, Aemilia Ars Needle Lace, Cutwork, Reticello, Shadow Work, Cilaos, Filling Stitches, Bricco Embroidery, Cavandoli Macramé, Bandera Embroidery and Colbert Embroidery. Projects besides numerous Christmas cards were: table runner, table centre, needle book, lingerie envelope, wine bottle carrier, dish carrier, wine bottle drip-stop apron, napkin rings, Christmas tree ornaments, book cover, guest towel, advent calendar, sachet.

This is the sachet done by Gilda Cefariello Grosso (look her up at Tuttoricamo under 'Prominent Characters'):


This is the lingerie envelope done by the Association Giaveno Ricama:


Everyone donated their time, those who drew the patterns and wrote instructions, those who stitched the models, those who photographed, those who coordinated and me, who translated an English version (available as an insert upon request from Mani di Donna). The booklet is not for beginners, it is assumed that you have some working knowledge of the techniques as limits of space prohibited extensive instructions. It wasn't easy and it was stressful as putting together any publication is. Printing deadlines had to be met and asking people who are donating their time to conform to time restraints is not the easiest thing in the world to do. In the end however, a piece of history was made. This book represents more than the good will and charity of embroiderers at Christmas, it represents a sisterhood of sharing the art of Italian needlework and presenting it to the English-speaking world.

Cavandoli Macramé

Since I told you about Bricco Embroidery yesterday, it only seems logical to tell you the story of Cavandoli Macramé today.

Valentina Cavandoli was an Italian school teacher who came to be the headmistress of a house for poor and/or orphaned children in Turin around the end of the First World War. Many of the children were the healthy offspring of parents with Tuberculosis. There were many houses who cared for these children but we will concentrate on the Casa del Sole [House of the Sun] directed by this special lady.

The Casa del Sole was a mansion donated by a clothing manufacturer in memory of his daughter. He also donated enough money to build dormitories, a dining room and shower facilities for the 100 children who lived in the home. Children of both sexes were housed between the ages of 3 and 15.

To keep the children busy, Valentina had them create objects in a certain type of Macramé – an art she herself had learned from her great grandmother – which came to be known as Cavandoli. With this technique, the children made accessories for clothing and interior decorating and sold them in charity markets. Each child was assigned a savings book and the money earned from their products was recorded and then given to them upon their leave-taking of the home.

The Casa del Sole survived until 1936 when the political and social situation in Italy became too difficult for the mainly Jewish benefactors of the home.

Valentina Cavandoli died at the age of 97 in 1969, having received a gold medal of recognition for her life's work in 1961.

Cavandoli Macramé is always made of two colours. Each stitch consists of two knots, the pattern is created by inverting the knots. When done in larger pieces, it produces a kind of stiff "fabric", excellent for creating table mats, book covers and borders for pillows, purses, etc. Smaller items can be book marks, eye glasses cases, belts, etc. Patterns for single colour cross stitch or filet lace are suitable to use for this technique.

This is the front of my work in progress made with Pearl Cotton no. 8:


... and the back:


I don't recommend starting your first project with so small a thread – I am having a lot of difficulty keeping the work even!

There is an excellent book on the history and technique of Cavandoli called: Bricco e Cavandoli, due favole in punta d'ago by Gisella Tamagno Gazzola. (Click on the author's name to go to her website where you can see pictures of Cavandoli Macramé.)

To learn more about Cavandoli Macramé, go to Tuttoricamo and look under the 'Techniques' heading. Once there, you can also read a review of the book mentioned above: click on 'Books', then 'Other Italian Techniques'.

The book can be purchased at Tombolo Disegni, click on 'Books', then 'Libri Ricami', then 'Ricamo Italiani'. The book has two subjects, Bricco Embroidery and Cavandoli Macramé and is printed in both languages (Italian and English) together. (You must send an email request to make a purchase.)

The Anchor Manual of Needlework has a whole chapter dedicated to 'Cavandoli Work' with photos and technical instructions.

Bricco Embroidery

In 1913 Countess Tarsilla Petitti started a school for girls in a little town called Bricco de Faule (near Turin) in the Piedmont region of Italy. The people of the town were mostly poor farmers and the object of the school was to educate girls and train them in embroidery so that they could earn a living.

The Petitti family was in possession of a sacerdotal robe of richly embroidered fine cambric linen dating back to about the 17th century which they displayed in their chapel. At the time it was made, Church vestments were richly embroidered in what the Italians called Saxony Embroidery (Ricamo di Sassonia) which I strongly suspect is what we know today as Dresden Embroidery.

The robe was finely embroidered in white and silver threads with designs of roosters and peacocks, heraldic double-headed eagles, the emblem of Franciscan nuns, leaves and vines and many different types of stylized flowers. Tarsilla Petitti decided to create designs for her students using the robe as inspiration. Her pupils learned traditional embroidery techniques but became especially proficient at Bricco Embroidery as the embroideries born from the designs of the robe became known.

Instead of fine cambric, robust undyed homespun cloth made of hemp, cotton or linen was used. Thicker cotton threads replaced the fine white and silver ones of the robe resulting in a completely 'new' style of embroidery. Embroidered clothing done by the girls of the school were sold to the upper classes who were happy to support the project.

The outbreak of the First World War robbed the school of its pupils who were needed at home to replace the men who had gone off to war. Tarsilla Petitti then looked to the lower middle class women of the area who needed to supplement their incomes and to local nuns to keep her embroidery workshop open.

Bricco Embroidery took a gold medal at the 1923 Industrial Agricultural Exposition in Cherasco and became well known throughout Italy and abroad.

The Countess died in 1937. This unhappy event and the outbreak of the Second World War signaled the end of her workshop.

The technique had been all but forgotten until a recent revival has sparked new interest resulting in pieces of this unique and attractive embroidery being produced once again by various Italian embroiderers and the publication of the book: Bricco e Cavandoli, due favole in punta d'ago by Gisella Tamagno Gazzola. (Click on the author's name to go to her website where you can see pictures of Bricco Embroidery.)

This is a small purse kit that I purchased from the author in 2007:


To learn more about Bricco Embroidery, go to Tuttoricamo's website and look under the 'Techniques' heading. While you're there, read a book review of the publication mentioned above: click on 'Books', then 'Other Italian Techniques'.

The book can be purchased at Tombolo Disegni, click on 'Books', then 'Libri Ricami', then 'Ricamo Italiani'. The book has two subjects, Bricco Embroidery and Cavandoli Macramé and is printed in both languages (Italian and English) together. (You must send an email request to make a purchase.)

If you have the Anchor Manual of Needlework, there is a little bit written on this technique with a photo in the 'Italian Embroidery' chapter.

This is a fun Advent Calendar done in Bricco Embroidery: