Gigliuccio Hemstitch - Attaching the hem

Lots of readers have asked if there is another way to attach a hem while doing the Gigliuccio or Peahole Hemstitch at the same time as executing the hemstitching instead of in a separate operation. The answer is yes! However, the rules of how to execute the Gigliuccio change and instead of executing the work on the frontside of your fabric, you will have to do everything on the back side.

I finally got around to reading up on my camera's settings and was able to do a relatively nice set of super-macro photos for this, though it took many tries and hundreds of photos! I got a great table-top tripod for Christmas from my photographer-daughter and with a ball-head attachment it is perfect for what I need it to do! (If you're wondering: the camera is a Canon S5 15 and the tripod is a Joby Gorillapod.)

So, withdraw your threads for the Gigliuccio hemstitch, turn up your hem and baste it down (to the backside of the fabric). I tied a knot in my thread and then went into my hem area about 2 inches away from where I wanted to start stitching. Come up at the top of the hem fold right where you want to begin. Just to be clear, you are coming up from inside the hem fabric, you are not catching any of the front fabric at all.

Step One: Moving left to right, slide the needle back toward the left under four ground threads:

Step Two: Insert the needle into the hem fabric without catching any of the front fabric to the right four threads, only catch about two ground threads of the hem fabric:

Step Three: Slide the needle behind the same four ground threads as in Step One:

Step Four: Moving diagonally to the right, go up and over four ground threads and slide the needle behind the four ground threads directly above:

Step Five: Insert the needle four ground threads to the right and down, coming out right where your previous stitching is:

Now we begin the whole procedure again, to the right four ground threads and slide the needle back toward the left under four ground threads and carry on from Step Two above:

This is what it should look like on the backside:

This is what it should look like on the frontside:

This is the first step of the Gigliuccio hemstitch which is, in this case, the Four-Sided Stitch and the Simple Hemstitch combined. You will have to do the second part of the Gigliuccio (the other row of Four-Sided Stitch and the bundle knotting) on the back side as well in order to have your stitching match. Click here for the second part of this tutorial.

An excellent publication on the finer points of the Gigliuccio Hemstitch is Liliana Babbi Cappelletti's booklet which is available in Italian from Tombolo Disegni. There was an English version done (called Peahole Hemstitch), you may want to contact the author to see if you can get a copy from her. The step-by-step images are fantastic and even if you can't get your hands on the English version, you should have very little trouble with the Italian version.

Rolled Hem

The Rolled Hem is called Orlo a Prillo, Prillino or Birello and probably other names in Italian in the different regions of Italy.

It has been a difficult one for me to do. While at the EGA Seminar a few weeks ago, I sat with Signora Derna and watched her execute a Rolled Hem on the Assisi Embroideries that she was making. Fascinated, I watched her again and again. She made it look so effortless... so easy.

I didn't make any notes and couldn't take any photos - she was so fast! I still don't know if I'm doing it like she did. I checked through my books and found at least three different methods for executing the Rolled Hem.

Fundamentally they all begin the same way. With spit. Yes, I said spit. I have had more than one maestra tell me this. If you lick your floss when you thread your needle, you won't be too grossed out, if not, well... you need to get over it. Spit washes out. Water dampening your fingers works eventually, but not nearly as well, and you almost always get your fingers too wet. What helped me get it was using a high count fabric first until I got the hang of it, and then trying a more openweave fabric.

Yesterday a reader asked me to explain how to do the Rolled Hem so I'm going to attempt it here for her and any others who may be interested, please remember that this is only one of many ways to do it.

I'm demonstrating on 38ct Sotema ivory-coloured linen 20L, which is my favourite linen right now. It's a beautiful weight of fabric and very compactly woven.

First, I withdrew one fabric ground thread about 10 ground threads in from the edge of my fabric (make sure your cut is straight!). Then I skipped four ground threads and withdrew another one. This is the setup for doing the Four-Sided Stitch which is usually found in combination with a Rolled Hem on Assisi work. If I had more time, I would do the Four-Sided Stitch first to group my threads into squares over four ground threads.

Working on the back side of the work, I licked the tip of my index finger and thumb on my left hand and taking the edge of the fabric between the two, squeezed and rolled the hem up a little. You don't have to do too much, like only a couple of inches along the edge at a time. My first roll was a little fat, so I just re-rolled it squeezing a little tighter with my fingers and the roll tightened up. This is such beautiful fabric, the edge didn't even start to fray:


Don't start at the very bottom, but a little above and just keep rolling and squeezing until you get some control. The motion of it reminds me of the way an old boyfriend used to roll his cigarettes.

Using a sharp needle (I think the one I'm using is a no. 7, but it can be smaller - it probably should be at least a no. 8 or 9 but it's what I have handy right now) and some n. 50 crochet cotton thread because it was handy, (you can use floss or Pearl cotton n.12 or finer crochet cotton or even sewing thread) I let a couple of inches of the tail of my thread lay in the part that would be rolled up and came out with my needle about two ground threads into my roll. Working from bottom to top in direction, I entered with the needle into the withdrawn thread channel four ground threads up from where I exited in the roll and skipping four ground threads I exited with the needle like so:


My original exit position in the roll should be about level with my exit position in the withdrawn channel. Then going up to where I entered the withdrawn channel, I enter with my needle into the roll, keeping the same distance as before (about two ground threads), the needle goes between the roll and the fabric, that is, you never come out on the front side when entering into the roll.

Okay, I swear that I only came out at a distance of two ground threads into the roll but while trying to position the camera my roll came slightly undone - it's hard to do this and take close-up photos with only two hands! Everything is stitched with the fabric over your index finger.


I'm working directionally along the edge from bottom to top but I thought Signora Derna worked top to bottom and came out already into her roll... that is, without taking a separate step like I'm doing here, but I just don't seem to be able to figure that out right now.

Remember: when going into the roll, you never pierce your ground fabric so that the stitch will be visible from the front. Here is what a little bit of Rolled Hem looks like from the front:


This is how it looks on the back. Click on the photos for a closer look:


And here we have a bit of Four-Sided Stitch beside the Rolled Hem:


Sorry my photos aren't better, my photographer is not home this afternoon and I probably should have used coloured thread! See? I'm learning too!

Does this help at all?

Samplers 2

The following photo is of an open work Italian sampler pictured and described in Elisa Ricci's Ricami Italiani Antichi e Moderni (Le Monnier, 1925).


A 17th century sampler of 60 different motifs divided into three columns. All done in white on white, superby executed – perhaps the work of a professional embroiderer or teacher. Reticello, Punto Antico, Drawn Thread work. Elisa Ricci says that it is no longer a "page of notes" but a "page from a dictionary or manual." Indeed this is definitely a sampler one could use as a reference for many, many motifs and stitches.

What if it was someone's resumé? You'd hire them on the spot!

Rows of Four-Sided Stitch are used to divide the motifs and the sections (also as a unit of measure - it's much easier to count squares than individual ground threads!). Curl Stitch, Satin Stitch and Buttonhole Stitch in many of its variations.


Wouldn't it be lovely to study this one up close? Look at the texture!

For some excellent articles on samplers, go to Tuttoricamo and look under the 'History' heading.

Punto Antico - Antique Stitch

I absolutely love this technique so you will probably read a lot about it here. Known under many names, Punto Toscano, Punto Reale, Punto Riccio and others, the term Punto Antico seems to be a relatively recent (early 20th century) name used to encompass needlework that uses the basic elements of this technique: Satin Stitch motifs, Curl Stitch curlicues, Overcast Stitch for bordering Openwork and Drawn-Thread work areas, Four-Sided Stitch, and very often Gigliuccio hemstitching. It is often paired with Reticello, Aemilia Ars and Punto in Aria needle laces.

Today it is largely done as a Counted Thread Technique but in the past (as even now) some do it as a classic embroidery technique, that is with traced designs on the fabric to be executed not by counting ground threads.

Going through the museums all over Italy I found extant pieces of this technique dating back quite far. There are pieces of fabric with Punto Antico elements on them dating back to the late 15th century. The pieces are quite complex suggesting that the technique goes much farther back in time.

This is some work at the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte in Bologna:


Ancient pieces have almost the whole surface of the fabric covered in stitching while modern pieces are quite sparse in comparison though done with no less good taste. I like the texture, the bas-relief effect, it seems to me like carved marble. The openwork spaces balance the textured areas using chiaroscuro effects so that this mainly monotone embroidery does not suffer in the least for lack of colour. The curlicues are my favourite element.

Another piece from the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte in Bologna:


This is some work exhibited at the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence:


As with any embroidery technique, there are a number of ways to execute the stitches. Taking the curlicue (Punto Riccio) as an example: it is executed in three parts with a base of Double Running Stitch (or Stem Stitch or Cable Stitch or Back Stitch) which are then whipped with an Overcast Stitch for each base stitch and then the whole line is covered in Overcast Stitches done side-by-side to create a wonderful raised stitch. Time consuming? Yes! Worth the effort? Very much so! It takes a bit of practice..


My first ones were quite lumpy but after many attempts, they are pretty smooth now...


Here's what they look like over Stem Stitch with only one Overcast Stitch per Stem Stitch (overcast the overlap) ... This gives quite a different effect which is nice too.


Anyway, its a fun stitch to play around with, giving your work some texture.

There are some Punto Antico online tutorials at Tuttoricamo under the "How it's Done" section (Antique Stitch). While you're there you can download some old books on the subject from the "Books" section: look under 'downloadable Antique books' - L. Vannini, there are three there.

I did a couple of articles for Piecework which are available for download from their website.

For some modern books:

Associazione Il Punto Antico (all books are either in Italian/English or come with English inserts upon request).

Tombolo Disegni (click "books", "libri ricamo", "ricamo italiani" - you need to send an email request to order) There you will also find a book called Punto Antico disegnato which is not a counted thread technique book but rather designs for traditional freestyle or non-counted thread, Punto Antico embroidery.

Most of the Carmela Testa books at Iva Rose also have some elements of Punto Antico in them though the instructions are a bit vague.

Check out YouTube as there are some tutorial films there too!

Arezzo Embroidery

At the end of the 19th century excavations in Arezzo, Italy revealed some pieces of unevenly woven cloth dating to about 1400. Embroidered on these pieces were some patterns executed in Cross Stitch using only rust and blue coloured thread.

Just after these discoveries some women of the area decided to recreate and revive this embroidery. At the time, women in many cities and areas of Italy were developing or reviving local embroidery and lace techniques.

Fabric was handwoven in the nearby town of Città di Castello especially for this project. Designs of traditional motifs like stylized birds, fantasy animals and Romanesques were used with geometric patterns – designs very similar to the traditional designs of Perugian weaving.

Essentially a Counted Thread technique, the designs were filled in with Long Arm Cross Stitch over four/eight ground threads, and lines were done in Double Running Stitch over four ground threads. The narrow hems of the pieces were finished with Four-Sided Stitch. Hemp threads were used in rust and blue colours.

Items made were: placemats, bags, curtains, tablecentres, panels, cushions with inserts of bobbin lace and sometimes with knotted fringe or tassels.

Works were exhibited in local and regional exhibits.

This embroidery enjoyed some popularity at the time and other areas like Florence adopted it.

Over time it went into decline and is today almost forgotten. I have seen only a couple of modern pieces – one is pictured in the catalogue for the Italia Invita Lace and Embroidery Forum of 2005, executed by the Laboratorio Tessile di Alice in Castiglion Fiorentino; the other can be found if you click on the 'english' button in the top right hand corner of their homepage, then 'activity' at the bottom of the page, then 'weekly courses' there will appear a row of six images along the bottom left-hand side of the page: in the third from the left, is a small bird stitched in blue and rust. This is the only online picture that I can find to show you - if anyone knows of others, please, please – leave a comment below!

Black and white pictures of works from the beginning of the 20th century can be found in:
Anchor Manual of Needlework, Interweave Press
Dizionario Enciclopedico di Lavori Femminili by Lucia Petrali Castaldi
L'Opre Leggiadre by Lucia Petrali Castaldi

Il Gigliuccio - Peahole Hemstitch

As can happen with many different stitches and embroidery techniques, there are different ways to execute a stitch. This can depend on the country where it is being done, or in the case of Italy: the region or even the town. Some associate the Gigliuccio's origins with Tuscany where it is the traditional edging of Punto Antico which some also associate with Tuscany, but in truth it is done all over Italy.

Some call the Gigliuccio the Fleur des lys stitch and associate it with Florence and the lily. Some associate it with the Gigliucci family of Fermo, Italy where it is said there is evidence of the stitch as far back as the end of the 1600s. We might be safe to say it is definitely an Italian stitch from the region that became Italy in the late 1800s – because technically Italy was not officially "Italy" before the Unification. I say 'might' because when I did finally find something that looked like the Gigliuccio I'd seen in RAKAM, it was in a Schwalm book by Renate Fernau and it was called the Peahole Hemstitch.

If you don't care too much about where it came from, then we can move on to what it is, because here, more or less most people are in agreement. More or less. ;-)

Basically it is a Drawn-Thread technique consisting of groups of knotted bundles in an open channel between two rows of Four-Sided Stitch, also known as Italian Hemstitch. There is a tutorial for executing it on the right side of the fabric here, and a two-part tutorial for using it to secure a hem, executing it on the back side of the work starting here and ending here.

There are many different ways to execute the Gigliuccio hemstitch, you will need to try a couple different ones (I'm sure there are other methods that I haven't yet discovered) to see which one you like best, regardless of the technique used to make it, the result is a beautiful openwork channel which plays with the effects of chiaroscuro and is very pleasing to the eye.

It can be done in tone-on-tone, in light-coloured thread on dark fabric or dark-coloured thread on light fabric: each gives a different effect. Done in multiple rows at a hemline, or in a single row to connect the motifs of a tablecloth, or however else you can imagine it, it is always attractive. Do a Google image search for some inspirational photos!

Assisi Embroidery - Part One

Of all the types of Italian needlework, Assisi Embroidery is probably the most recognized by non-Italians. That is, most embroiderers are at least conscious of it, if they haven't done a bit of it themselves. It is a very attractive counted thread technique that dates back to at least the 13th century, if not before.

There are a number of books on the market, some with traditional designs, some with more modern ones. I have quite a few. In my listing of the books that I have, I didn't list all the strictly pattern books, nor all the electronically scanned out-of-print and out-of copyright ones. I honestly have to stop myself from automatically buying a book on Assisi embroidery every time I come across one that I don't already have!

Almost 10 years ago I bought a yard of 28 ct 'Assisi' Graziano Linen from the US. By the time I factored in the exchange rate between the Canadian and American dollars (the Canadian dollar was not doing as good then as it is now) and the shipping, my yard cost me nearly $200 Canadian dollars. I'm happy to say that it is now easier and much less costly to have this lovely linen. And lovely it truly is! The threads are nice and plump and the fabric is weighty so that it makes great tablecloths, placemats, napkins, centres, doilies, you name it!

Traditional Assisi Embroidery is stitched on off-white coloured Assisi linen in either blue or rust coloured embroidery floss. The cross stitch can be regular x's or long-armed cross and the 'x' part should be made over three fabric ground threads. I've made a couple f scans of a piece that was a gift to me, made in Assisi. Outlines of the design are done first in a darker floss, black or dark brown with the Double Running Stitch. The fretwork is also executed in Double Running Stitch.

I love the combination of the voided work and the fretwork along the borders but most of all I love the hems! Four-Sided Stitch (done on this piece in off-white no. 8 pearl cotton) runs along the hemline (withdraw one or two ground threads for a more open effect) and the edge is finished with a rolled hem. I'm sad to say that I have never quite been able to achieve a rolled hem this small (or this neat!). The trick, I was told, is to wet your fingers with saliva and roll the fabric as you stitch. Here is the back of the same corner, notice how far into the rolled hem the hemstitches go in order to keep the roll in place... almost far enough to be seen from the front.

Of course I also love the tassels! Traditionally in groups of three, these tassels are made of no. 8 pearl cotton thread. The Anchor Manual of Needlework, which has quite an extensive section on Italian Needlework, has instructions on how to make these great little tassels.

You can read more on Assisi Embroidery at the Italian needlework website TuttoRicamo, click on the British Flag for the English pages and look under 'Techniques'. While you're there, you can download an old book on Assisi Embroidery from the early 20th century in .pdf format. Click on the first link under the 'Books' heading in the Assisi article, this will take you to another page. Under the first heading of 'Adele della Porta' you'll see the link. There are some great fantastical beasts in that book.

Here you can find 28ct Assisi linen made by another great Italian linen manufacturer, Sotema as well as many great Assisi pattern books by Mani di Fata

Tomorrow I'll tell you about some of the books I have on Assisi Embroidery that aren't strictly patterns only...

Assisi Embroidery Part Two