Deruta Drawn Thread Work - new book!

There is an ever-growing, never-diminishing stack of books on the floor beside my desk that I refuse to put away in my bookshelves because I want to tell you about them. I am woefully behind due to many projects that have more demanding deadlines but today I find myself with a few minutes and I want to tell you about a book which is filled with exquisite Deruta Drawn Thread Work embroidery or Deruta Sfilato as it's called in Italian.

This book actually came out last September and is the second for Maria Elide Melani of Ago, Aga e Fantasia on this beautiful and delicate Italian needlework technique. You can read about the first book here.


I've translated the book introduction for you:

The forgotten history, the tradition of a lost embroidery that I rediscovered retakes shape and transforms, leaving room for imagination in the creation of small, simple masterpieces.
Passing the time to recover the memory, studying old trousseaux and taking inspiration from the designs of many years ago, I felt the need to give a new utility to this embroidery.
The fragile cloth is intertwined with needle and thread, faithful to traditional motifs, but here ideas and new colours are born with unusual designs.
Purses and pillows in the colours of spring take form together with small lampshades, a delicate little dress which makes you think of a big party, not to mention the color red that offers many ideas for Christmas and many other pieces, outside of tradition and unthinkable until only a few years ago.
The simplicity of the execution is accompanied by instructions and photos which illustrate the various stages of the work, making it easy even for less experienced stitchers.
I wanted to introduce this book with only a few words because my intent is to let the embroideries and patterns "speak" and, with a personal touch, they can be perfectly adapted to any embroiderer.
Happy Stitching!

The book is 60 pages long with many large full-colour photos. The text is in Italian but step-by-step photos guide you along the preparation of the fabric, the mounting of the fabric into the frame, the series of stitches used in this technique and how to execute the various motifs. The only thing you'll really have to spend some time translating (use Google!) are the six sentences about care and washing when you're done. There are 22 patterns for the most exquisite projects: a handbag and workbasket, dress hemline and table runners, several stitching project bags, table centres, towel borders, lampshades, pillows, curtains, Christmas tree decorations and tablecloths. You can see a preview by clicking on the larger photo of the book on this page here.

The book is available directly from the publisher Nuova S1 - they accept PayPal, or through Tombolo Disegni - send an email to order; or from Lacis in the US.

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.

Italia Invita - 2011

Though I have told you many things about my trip to the Italia Invita Forum in May 2011 in posts about Puncetto, Deruta Drawn-Threadwork, Ars Panicalensis, and Sicilian Drawn-Threadwork, I didn't really tell you much about the Forum itself.

As my thoughts now turn to the next one coming up May 10 - 12, 2013 in Parma, I have been going over some of the things I saw and did at the Italia Invita Forum in 2011.

The theme for the 2011 Italia Invita Textile Forum was: Herbarium. Each exhibitor was asked to create a "herbal" themed piece using their favourite technique. As always, competitions of this kind produce extraordinary things and the exhibit of entries was fascinating. Here are just a few entries which are all photographed and can be seen in the catalogue:

Pescocostanzo Bobbin Lace. Image from Herbarium Catalogue.

Aemilia Ars Needle Lace. Image from Herbarium Catalogue.

Umbrian Embroidery. Image taken from Herbarium Catalogue.

The umbrella of textile arts this time included weaving, quilting, knitting, crochet, felting and cross stitching added to the original embroidery and lace of years before. This was the 5th biennial event which started in 2003.

The Italia Invita Forum 2011 also coincided with Italy's 150th anniversary celebrations so one of the contests of this Forum was to stitch the flag or use the flag's colours. There was also a contest for quilts! So much to do and see, the Italia Invita Forum was divided over two paddocks, the contest entries in one building and the vendors and textile exhibitors in another.

Others took better photos than I, so if you're ready for some eye-candy, sit back and check out these blogs and personal websites of people that were there:

http://veganormal.blogspot.ca/2011/05/italia-invita-bandiere-ed-erbario.html

http://merlettoadago.blogspot.ca/2011/05/parma-2011.html

http://merlettoadago.blogspot.ca/2011/05/parma-seconda-puntata.html

http://ricamoealtro.blogspot.ca/2011/06/parma1.html

http://ricamoealtro.blogspot.ca/2011/06/parma2.html

http://tomboloealtro.blogspot.ca/2011/05/italia-invita-2011-parma-reportage.html


There were even a couple of YouTube videos produced:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAT32nzEkIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl0LpXD_8NI&feature=related


This should give you a good idea of what the Italia Invita Forum is like. There were visitors from all over Europe, Japan, North America, Australia. 46 Textile Schools of Italy were represented by stands of their own but there were even more in mini-stands combined with commercial goods in the vendors section. There were 104 vendors including the four event sponsors: DMC; Fratelli Graziano, Juki and HFT-Filomania. The DMC booth had some of their pieces from the 2009 exhibit which were the stitched designs from their old booklets from the beginning of the 20th century. You can see some photos on their Italian blog:
http://www.dmcblog.it/?p=1024
and more detailed photos of the whole DMC collection here: http://www.dmcblog.it/?p=357

Fratelli Graziano had their first weaving loom threaded up with the colours of the Italian flag as they were celebrating their 170th anniversary (check this link for some photos). Overall there were 150 exhibitors. 8,754 people attended the Forum over three days (May 13-15, 2011) attendance was up 14% over 2009. 17 of Italy's 20 regions were represented with local characteristic textile techniques.

I brought a better camera this time (last time my camera mysteriously stopped working the night before the Forum and started working again the day after it was over) but my photos where not great. Even the automatic movement stability feature couldn't stop my shakiness - too much excitement! This is very unfortunate because many exhibitors were kind enough to let me photograph their things. I wish I had good photos to show you but unfortunately I do not.

Some photos did turn out. Gilda Cefariello Grosso creates wonderful things with colourful Pisan Embroidery and wins many awards with her work:

The Italia Invita Forum offered workshops both free and paid. This time I opted for a paid workshop and took an intensive Puncetto course which I told you about here. There were many others I would have liked very much to have taken, 10 in total: embroidery techniques, filet lace, bobbin lace, needle lace, macramè, crochet lace, tassel-making and weaving. Two were Sardinian techniques that I have never before seen classes offered to the public. It was hard for me to choose which course to take but in the end I chose the Puncetto as I had already made some attempts at it and knew that I would like to improve.

From previous experience I knew that the days would be hectic and exhausting but exhilarating as well. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones in an atmosphere where most of us felt like kids in a candy shop makes for an amazing three days. There are meetings and appointments and gatherings where everyone excitedly goes over purchases and experiences. I will be sad to miss the Italia Invita Forum in 2013. Finances will not allow a trip to Italy next year for me, but if you have the chance to go, you should do it!

So far details are scarce on their website but as soon as they can, I know they will announce everything. They do know that those of us who must plan for trips in advance are out here waiting for news!

Check over the other editions to the Forum that I have talked about:

Italia Invita - Part One - 2003

Italia Invita - Part Two - 2005

Italia Invita - Part Three - 2007

Italia Invita - Part Four - 2009

Deruta Drawn Thread Work - New book!

 

What a lovely surprise in the mail on Friday! A long-awaited book on Deruta Drawn Thread Work by Maria Elide Melani of the Association Ago, Aga e Fantasia.

While the text is in Italian, there are a great many step-by-step photos to take you through the set-up, the stitches and the edgings that you should be able to understand what to do with little trouble. The book is packed full of colour photos of lovely projects and finished works. There are a dozen or so stitches explained and 13 patterns.

This book is the fruit of many years of research and exploration of this almost forgotten technique born in Quarrata in the province of Pistoia in the Tuscan region of Italy.

Maria Elide is a delightful teacher and it is well worth your time to take a side trip from Florence to visit her in Pistoia.

You can purchase directly from the publisher, Nuova S1 via bank transfer or with PayPal from Tombolo Disegni (send an email request to order).

Deruta Drawn Thread Work - Deruta Sfilato

About this time last year, I wrote a post about the Castello di Verrazzano in Tuscany and the unusual needlework on the curtains we found there.

This year at the Italia Invita Forum in Parma, there was a small booth filled with this needlework called Deruta Sfilato or Deruta Drawn Thread Work. The booth was displaying the work of Maria Elide Melani and the Association Ago, Aga e Fantasia of Pistoia.

I was delighted to meet Maria as we had exchanged some emails some time ago regarding the curtains at the Castello Verrazzano. She has been very busy researching this technique and producing some wonderful needlework.

This shawl for a bridal gown is exquisite:

And there are matching shoes!

Maria decided to exhibit the work at the Italia Invita Forum this year to see if anyone was interested in it. From what I saw of the continuous crowds around the booth and the talk of the people attending, Deruta Drawn Thread Work has a solid future and we will be seeing more of it in the future.

The Association Ago, Aga e Fantasia is offering an intensive embroidery course on Deruta Sfilato from June 17 - 19, 2011 at the Hotel Leon Bianco in Pistoia - how I would love to go... isn't it beautiful?

Corso Intensivo di Deruta Sfilato

Some days later in Florence, we came across the hand embroidery shop TAF at no. 17-red in Via Por Santa Maria and spotted what looked like the same kind of needlework:

As the shop was closed, we returned the next day to ask about it. We were told that the price was reduced as they only had pink tablecloths left and didn't think they could get any more of this kind of embroidery as it was done by elderly embroiderers in the areas surrounding Florence.

I was also told by another person that this kind of embroidery is done in the Sorrento area of southern Italy. Hmmm... this will mean further investigation into the roots of this needlework!

At the website Tuttoricamo, you can read some history about Deruta Drawn Thread Work, from the homepage, click on the British Flag for the English pages, then on "Techniques", then on "Deruta Drawn Thread Work", there are some pictures of a couple of fantastic cushions there too.

Castello di Verrazzano

I told you in a previous post about Deruta Pulled Thread work and in that post I also told you that Deruta Drawn Thread work was something different. I will show you the difference here.

Last year on my tour with Vima deMarchi Micheli we visited the little town of Greve in Chianti in the Tuscany region of Italy where I bought a great woven tea towel with the Chianti region depicted on it from a little shop that sold household linens along the main street of the historic centre. We went on to visit the Castello di Verrazzano in the hills outside of town.


We enjoyed a guided tour of the grounds which were breathtakingly beautiful and looked down onto a wild boar reserve. After a tour of the wine cellars we went up to the loggia to admire the view and listen to some of the history of the company and the area. While listening to our guide I glanced over to some windows across from the loggia and started to examine the curtains which were really interesting...

This is my photo from outside, sorry it's not more clear but you get the complete design:


To my delight we went into the room where they were. All along the one wall in sets of two were windows, each with the same curtain in this intriguing embroidery.

This photo is much better, taken from inside:


There were six small tassels along the bottom hem which hung down, made of the same linen fibres as the curtains - I wondered if they were made out of the withdrawn threads.

I found out later after translating an article for Tuttoricamo on Deruta Drawn Thread work that that was indeed the technique that these curtains were embroidered in.

In fact, there was embroidery throughout the Castello... when we entered the dining room to have lunch we noticed that all the curtains there were embroidered in Punto Antico. We said to each other that we'd get photos after lunch but of course after many wine tastings we completely forgot!

A few days before, we had dined at the Cantinetta di Verrazzano restaurant in Via dei Tavolini no. 18 in Florence - enjoying the Verrazzano Chianti with Focaccia samplers for lunch. They have Verrazzano wine labels available for those who collect them. I picked up these two because they had photos of needlework on them!



To learn more about the history of Deruta Drawn Thread work, look under the 'Techniques' section for an article and more photos on the Tuttoricamo website.

There are some close up photos here.

Thanks to Armida for the photo of the curtain.