Giuliana ricama - new needlework magazine

Last June I received an excited email from a friend in Verona with news that very soon a brand new embroidery magazine was about to come out with their first issue. My friend had met with and liked the people involved and was writing to tell me that she was sending me a copy.

There was much excited buzz online about this new magazine when the first issue was released. It was different from all its predecessors and distributed only through needlework schools. Issue "0" was free of charge!

Issue "0" of Giuliana ricama, June 2014.

Even before I received my copy I had lots of emails from Italian embroiderers asking if I knew about it, if I'd seen it yet, what did I think? Reviews were mixed. Some people were very enthusiastic, some less so. What I did hear loud and clear was that it was different from what people were used to - in every way. Change is good. The magazine had gotten people's attention and they were talking about it.

Italian embroidery magazines have traditionally tended to be beautiful. High-glossy pages full of breathtakingly beautiful masterpieces. Sparse on instructions, mostly eye-candy.

When my copy of Giuliana ricama arrived I tried to be impartial as I wanted to do a review on my blog. Large format (9 1/2" x 11 7/8") with perfect binding and a heavy card cover, it has semi-gloss paper inside and just over 100 pages. It's too big to fit in my scanner so I have to give you cropped cover pics.

The macramé beach accessories on the cover interested me. The first page inside the cover had an advertisement that promised digital download for your smart phone or tablet, this also interested me.

The letter from the editor asked for feedback, collaboration and ideas.

There was a wide variety of projects: traditional embroidery, drawn-thread work, cross-stitch, macrame, crochet, bobbin lace, trapunto, reticello, punto antico, cutwork, huck-weaving, sicilian filet lace. Traditional projects like bed linens as well as fun things like t-shirt embellishment. Relatively simple projects, nothing that seemed like years of work. The magazine seemed to me to be aimed at young women or perhaps women with younger children.

Personally, (and you know I'm interested in Italian needlework almost exclusively) while there were some Italian-needlework specific projects, I didn't think it would be a magazine for me mainly because of the level of simplicity and that I felt the projects were too "young" for me.

However, when issue No. 1 came out and I saw the cover art online with Sardinian Punt'e nù embroidery, I was curious enough to ask a friend to send me a copy. I was delighted to find that this new issue had a number of historical articles and an interview with one of the masters of Italian needlework.

Issue no. 1 of Giuliana ricama, November 2014.

I started to hear good things about the staff of the magazine from people who were meeting them at the various textile fairs and shows in Italy.

Giuliana Ricama was not distributed on newsstands but through Italian embroidery schools. If you wanted a subscription, you had to do it through your local needlework school. I liked this idea, it meant that only those who were interested had exposure to it. The down-side to this of course is that all those people who embroider at home without attending schools don't see it on the racks of their local supermarket. But really, how often do you see needlework magazines on the racks anymore? Unfortunately this also meant that those of us outside of Italy could not subscribe. I was very lucky to have a friend gift me with a subscription but I feel incredibly guilty at the cost of overseas shipping every time I receive a new issue and imagine that my friend has other things to spend her money on, but I'm grateful nonetheless that she is making it possible for me to see this magazine.

One thing I noticed immediately in this issue was that the ad promising future digital support was gone and I have since learned that they have decided not to pursue the digital subscription option.

Issue No. 2 arrived and I was happy to see that the historical articles and interviews seemed to now be regular features. The range of ideas for projects was widening, this time there were things for those people who like to do historical re-enactment costuming. Step by step photos of stitch instructions were more elaborate and numerous than previous issues. There were some more-involved and technically-advanced projects too, not just simple quickies anymore, though small projects were still offered as well.

Issue no. 2 of Giuliana ricama, February 2015.

I have to say, having seen the cover art online, I couldn't wait for Issue No. 3 to arrive. This time I was inspired to stitch more than one of the projects. There was a subscription form in this issue which meant that if you lived in Italy, you could now get your issues delivered to your home instead of your local embroidery school. The letter from the editor continued to ask for feedback and collaboration and to point out that they were implementing reader suggestions in an effort to improve the magazine with each issue. I think they are doing just that - improving with every new issue. I saw the collaboration of various embroidery schools who seemed to be abundantly submitting projects. I for one, am looking forward to seeing what the next issue holds - changed my tune, didn't I?

Issue no. 3 of Giuliana ricama, April 2015.

When I was in Italy this past April, I went to their offices to meet with the editor-in-chief Marco and the sales manager Nicoletta. We sat in a room full of boxes of needlework that had been sent to the magazine for future issue projects. I may have peaked, but I'll never tell!

The staff are very dedicated to the magazine and very much in need of support from anyone who is willing to submit projects, ideas and/or articles. Their interest is not limited to Italian needlework so this means that you can support them with any idea that you might have. Contact them here. They really do want to hear from you!

Just so I've said it, the text of the magazine is in Italian.

Giuliana Ricama website: http://www.giulianaricama.com/
Giuliana Ricama Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/giulianaricama

Embroidery on ribbons - new book!

Anna Castagnetti from Verona has released her latest book: Ricami sui Nastri [Embroidery on Ribbons] through the ever-expanding "Lace and Embroidery" collection from Nuova S1 in Bologna.

Anna is now the author of many Italian embroidery books and she shows no sign of slowing down or running out of cool ideas.

This is a translation of what it says on the book's page at Nuova S1:

Zigzag ribbons are very versatile: they can be found in many colours and in various widths and, being flat and of a compact weave, are perfect to apply to fabric and embroider on effortlessly.

Starting with this simple ribbon the author offers many ideas with detailed instructions, accessible even to beginners, for decorating your creations.

The zigzag ribbons, I know as Rickrack trim and there are other trimmings used like grosgrain ribbons and gorgeous velvet ribbons alongside coloured embroidery threads.

Guest towel project from Ricami sui Nastri by Anna Castagnetti.

The book is 64 pages and contains diagrams for a few decorative embroidery stitches used in the embellishment of the projects of which there are 14 of various complexity. Delightful guest towels, bags and purses, cushions and placemats which all serve to get your creative juices flowing and lead you to think of a million other things that you can apply these ideas to.

It is chock-full of step-by-step large and close-up colour photos. The text is in Italian but there is enough here in the way of diagrams, illustrations and photography to help you figure out what to do especially if you already have some sewing and/or embroidery experience.

You can see a preview of a few pages here.

Simple and quick but enough to personalize. I admire the way that Anna can always do these kinds of things that are just perfect for today's embroiderer who has less time than previous generations but who still wants to create with needle and thread.

This book is available now and you can contact Anna through her website or Nuova S1 (I believe they take PayPal now).

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!

Punto Antico & Reticello

I have always been a fan of Giuliana Buonpadre's embroidery and her books. She makes elegant things which are always tastefully done and her creativity inspires me.

I told you a little about one of her books in this post on Reticello.

I tried to visit her at her little shop in Via S. Egidio in Verona in 2007 but alas, she had broken her leg and the shop was closed.

I was pleasantly surprised later that same trip to meet her and her lovely husband at the Italia Invita Forum in Rimini.

In 2009 concern for her health was widespread as she had a bout of cancer as I understand it but thankfully she recovered and is once again teaching, traveling and writing.

In the little shop in Verona now there is the association "Le Amiche di FiloFilò" or "the friends of FiloFilò", FiloFilò is the name of Giuliana Buonpadre's original association. Classes are available.

This year Signora Buonpadre released a new book, starting a new series called "Sulle tracce del filo" [Following the tracks of the thread], the first of this series is titled: Lenzuola, Samplers a Punto Antico [Sheets, Samplers in Antique Stitch].

These are books of great instructional value as they are produced for the most part in three languages: Italian, French and English. They include clear photographs and professional images and stitch diagrams. The best thing I like about them is that they show a stitched sample beside the pattern diagram so you can see what the stitch or motif will look like when completed.

This particular book is more advanced in the level of expertise needed to stitch the designs, that is, it goes beyond the basics and the projects are more labour intensive and time consuming than some of her previous books. The combination of Punto Antico and Reticello motifs is very pleasing to the eye.

There are instructions for cutting, finishing and hemming sheets and various styles of pillowcases, a stitch glossary and instructions for classic embroidery, pulled thread and needle lace stitches, corner treatments and a lovely introduction in which Signora Buonpadre describes the path she followed which led to this latest publication.

If you join her website, you can download sample pages of her books, though there aren't any examples of this particular volume, the samples of previous book's pages will give you a good idea of the format of this one.

You can also purchase directly by filling out the request page on her website.

Veronese Crochet Lace - Il Pizzo di Verona

I can finally tell you some exciting news!

If you've been wondering why it's been so quiet on my blog lately, part of the reason is that I've been translating a fascinating text on a nearly-forgotten Italian needlework technique from the early 20th century called Il Pizzo di Verona or Veronese Crochet Lace.

The book will be published in about a month or so and presented at Palazzo Forti in Verona on March 12, 2011 at 11 am. I greatly envy you if you can go!

Bianca Rosa Bellomo will present the book during a lecture about historical events in Verona in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and how they impacted the creator of this lace, Laudomia Spazzi-Gonevino and her family. She will no doubt fascinate you with the story of how the authors of this new book (Anna Castagnetti, Donatella Granzarolo and Bianca Rosa Bellomo herself) researched this technique and it's creator and her family, starting from two all-but-forgotten booklets published in the early 20th century edited by Amelia Brizzi Ramazzotti for the Sonzogno publishing house in Milan.

Also from March 8th - 12th there will be free demonstrations of how to make this exquisite crochet and needle lace during the show Verona Tessile: "Le vie della seta si incontrano a Verona" [Verona Textile Show: The silk roads meet in Verona"].

March 8th is also International Women's Day which is widely celebrated in Italy so it is fitting that there be a celebration of a woman's life at this time.

This new book has some historical information as well as step-by-step instructions and photos for creating this beautiful crochet and needle lace, the text is in Italian and English. It is published by the NuovaS1 publishing house in Italy and I have no doubt that Elena at Italian Needlecrafts will have it for sale as soon as it becomes available. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

Italian Openwork Embroidery - New website

Anna Castagnetti of Ricami a Fili Tesi in Verona has opened up her own website!

Click on the British Flag for the English version and have a look around.

On the "Courses" page, be sure to click on the title of each technique that Anna teaches (so many!) to see photos of her beautiful needlework.

Here is an example of her Hedebo stitching:


For intensive courses over a weekend you can invite her to teach at your place - I would love to bring her to Canada to teach! I've just got to work out that airfare...

Contact her (anna.castagnetti@ricamiafilitesi.com) if you want to bring a small group to Verona for classes.

This is my favourite option: Art-embroidery courses. Besides teaching your selected technique, Anna will take you around Verona to see important artistic sites (yes, she speaks English!). This I can tell you is fantastic. Anna and another lady from Mantua took me to the Don Mazza Museum in Verona and I have to say, if you love needlework and are in Verona, you shouldn't miss this little place. I have posted many times about the needlework in this museum and I still haven't showed you half of what is there. See Italian Stumpwork, Embroidery on Tulle in Verona, Fine Italian Whitework and Samplers.

Also to check out on Anna's website is a free Stumpwork project to download (instructions in English!) on the "Projects" page.


Included in this project are the instructions for those lovely tassel-buttons used on many different types of Italian needlework. The pdf file is loaded with excellent close-up photos.

You can read more about Anna and her needlework here and here.

Italian Stumpwork?

Sometimes you come across an embroidery that is so amazing that you can look at it forever – or never tire of looking at it.

This piece lives in the Don Mazza Museum in Verona:


Most of my photos of this embroidery turned out terribly blurry but this next one is okay and shows many of the different textures and three-dimensionality of this incredible needlework. (Click on the photo for a closer look.)


I'm so sorry that the detailed close-ups didn't turn out but do take a close look at all the things going on in this work; the hair, clothing, different fillings, padding – just each and every thing really.

It was embroidered by the young students of the Don Mazza school in Verona somewhere around the turn of the 20th century.

Italian Stumpwork?

Openwork Embroidery - Italian Style

It's here! It's here! I can finally talk to you about the latest book that I helped with!

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery by Anna Castagnetti of Verona, Italy:


Late this past spring Anna contacted me and asked if I would do her the favour of correcting her English on a book she was writing. Of course I agreed! I have had the great fortune to see Anna's needlework many times in the Italian needlework magazines RAKAM and Ricamo Italiano and also at her house in Verona.

Anna likes to fill voided spaces in her embroidery with needle laces stitches from techniques like Hedebo, Reticello, Teneriffe, Aemilia Ars and other needle lace techniques.

This book is filled with a great many step-by-step instructional photos and Anna includes little tips and tricks for achieving better results along the way. There are four different projects, each with a variety of different filling stitches all explained in great detail. Included also are photos of some of Anna's embroideries executed in this technique. There is something here for everyone, from elegant designs to cute ones like the Tortoise on the cover. Text is in both Italian and English.

You can read more about Anna and her needlework activities here and here.

For an extensive book review, go here.

The book is available from Elena at Italian Needlecrafts.

Embroidery on Tulle in Verona

Whenever I think of Embroidery on Tulle, I always think of light, gauzy flowers on a veil or hemline like the one pictured here.

While in Verona last year however, I discovered the art that is embroidering pictures on Tulle in Italy, using different densities of thread to provide shading effects.

In the Don Mazza Museum in Verona, there are several amazing examples of this delicate art.

The design was basted behind the Tulle and then embroidered over top, following the shading by executing denser or sparser rows of Darning Stitch:


I'm sorry that most of my photos are blurry but you get the overall effect.

Here is the linen thread and the super-fine and long needle that was used to make the following pieces:


Some flowers and leaves:


Check out the details on the fingers:


This piece was framed and rightly so!


The mane was amazing:


Madonna and child:


In the book that I picked up about the vestments made by the embroiderers at the Don Mazza School there is a picture of a gown of Don Mazza's which has the Virtues depicted along the cuffs and around the hem (front and back!) in this type of needlework.

This is a fragment of the same style of design which was on the gown, though the subject matter is different.

Italia Invita Forum - Part Three - 2007

My daughter and I headed off to Italy in April of 2007. Intended as a two-part vacation, the first part was all for her: she had never been to Italy so I got her to pick out places she wanted to go and things she wanted to see which we did first, then the last few days were to be for me at the Italia Invita Forum, this time to be held in Rimini, Italy.

We arrived in Rome and were picked up by Giovanna of Tuttoricamo and her son at the airport. I had never met Giovanna before but we had corresponded over the past two years and she generously offered to put us up for a few days when we arrived and again just before we left. I often wonder what she and her family thought of us on that first night... we arrived exhausted and in bad need of a shower. They had held dinner for us and we were very sorry to try to explain that they feed you every two hours on a long flight so we weren't the least bit hungry! We managed through dinner (everything was delicious even if I thought I'd never eat again, I was so full). Giovanna and her husband had found us a spare cell phone, got us bottled water for excursions, bought us transit passes and investigated everything we would need. We wandered out the next day into Rome (where I hadn't been for at least 15 years or more) and despite all efforts to prevent it, promptly got lost... and sunburnt.

We wandered into the museum at the Palazzo Venezia and enjoyed the air conditioning while going through the Applied Arts exhibition. I am mentioning this here instead of taking you on to Rimini right away, because it is worth mentioning that if you are in Rome, and some people do opt out of spending the day at the Vatican, there are other museums which have needlework. This is one of them. The collection covers the period around the turn of the 20th century, there are many things to look at, lots of military stuff (bring your husbands!) but there is also embroidery of various types.

Okay, fast forward. My daughter and I worked our way from Rome to Florence where we stayed in a convent. The nuns who worked the reception desk passed the time embroidering some designs from RAKAM, an Italian needlework magazine, and we had a great chat about the show I was headed for. They took us on a tour of the convent and showed us embroideries which were out of the view of the public. The stitching sisterhood is a great club to belong to! Off to Siena and Pisa and then we met up in Verona with Maria Rosaria of Tuttoricamo and her daughter and stayed with them for a few days in Mantua. I had never met Maria Rosaria before either but again, the passion for needlework brought us together. From there we went on to Ravenna and then to Rimini for the Forum.

The 2007 Italia Invita International Lace and Embroidery Forum was held at a bigger venue than the previous two editions in Bellaria, and this time it was in Rimini, Italy. Rimini is quite the place for conferences, exhibitions, shows and the like, busloads of people were arriving from other places when we arrived! I went straight to my first atelier class which was on Sicilian Drawn Thread work and toiled diligently for two hours before I could look at anything. This is what I made (well, almost - I had to complete it at home but we did get quite a lot done in class):


The space for the Forum was divided into sections, on one side were all the vendors and on the other side all the schools and associations had their booths with displays of their works and things for sale like books, kits, supplies.

The Laboratorio Tessile di Alice booth with a display of Trapunto:


The Palestrina Embroidery Booth:


This edition of the Forum's theme was Cushions and 70 schools and associations stitched a cushion cover in their specialty technique which were displayed together in one area;

This cushion was done in Palestrina Embroidery:


Orvieto Lace Cushion (picture taken from the Forum 2007 book):


...there was a competition open to all Italians to produce a 20cm square of embroidery or lace, traditional or freestyle and there were 160 entries displayed on the walls to marvel over:


There were displays of works from textile artists and a memorial display of the works of a beloved stitcher, recently passed on. A booth dedicated to early 20th century Italian needlework scholar Elisa Ricci and her work. I met Bianca Rosa Bellomo who is occupied with researching Elisa Ricci's life and got to see some of her own antique needlework book collection. The stories of her research are fascinating!

I left my daughter with Giovanna's son and Maria Rosaria's daughter at the Tuttoricamo booth which they kindly manned for their mothers while they took turns looking around the Forum. We used the booth as a depository for purchases and a place to go and sit down, compare purchases advise others of things of interest, eat lunch and visit. In the afternoon I attended a Bizantina Ars class and learned that the Punto Stuoia (Rush Stitch) was something that was going to take me more than two hours to learn!

I did eventually complete this piece though:


That night in our hotel after dinner we all met in the hotel's bar and questioned each other about the many things we'd seen during the day, this turned into a two-part tutorial on Puncetto needle lace and Sardinian Knotted Stitch... we fell exhausted into bed sometime after midnight to do it all again the next day. Three days of frenzied learning, buying, meeting people... I met the infamous Agnese who, without knowing it, had helped me so much in finding out things about Italia Invita with her column on SuperEva. I met so many people I got confused as to who was who... I lost my voice from talking so much, I literally wandered around the Forum with my mouth open. I took two other atelier classes, one on Aemilia Ars needle lace and one on Deruta Pulled Thread Embroidery. I can't show you pictures of my finished projects because they don't exist... my mind was so overloaded that unfortunately I retained nothing from these two classes. In the end I could no longer speak either language but spoke a kind of bad mix of the two and my daughter had to constantly remind me that she didn't speak Italian and couldn't understand a word I was saying.

Over the three days of the Forum, I tried to absorb as much as possible about where to find out things later, where to buy things later, who had a website, a book, kits... I bought so much stuff that I invaded my daughter's suitcase with my things and had to leave some clothes behind in my hotel room! It took me months to come down from this experience and I still have a sack of kits and materials in my room that I haven't sorted out yet.

The Forum was the biggest one yet, receiving more than 6,000 visitors. They produced another book (in Italian and English) called Merletti e Ricami Italiani Forum 2007 [Italian Laces and Embroideries] with pictures of all the cushions, stitch diagrams, a glossary of stitches and techniques and a couple of very interesting articles – especially the one on Elisa Ricci and her book collection. This book on the 2007 Forum is still available but I understand that it is nearly sold out at the publisher's. It is truly gorgeous and a fantastic resource for examples of many different Italian lace and embroidery techniques. I understand that Italian Needlecrafts has just received their supply.

Tuttoricamo has pictures of the 2007 Forum in the Italian pages of the website, click here to see some of the booths and click here to see some of the cushions.

Next time I'll tell you about the 2009 Forum which I also went to. I'm sure that I've forgotten to tell you a hundred things but I think you get an idea of how fantastic this Forum is.

Italia Invita - Part One - 2003

Italia Invita - Part Two - 2005

Italia Invita - Part Four - 2009

Italia Invita - Part Five - 2011

Thank you to Giovanna for some of the photos!

Fine Italian Whitework

I wanted to tell you a little bit about some Whitework that I saw last year in Verona.

The Don Mazza Museum is very tiny, to pass by on the street, you wouldn't know it was there. Luckily a lady who lives in Verona had already phoned and arranged for a guided tour for us on my last day before going home.

Though the museum seems small there are actually many, many beautiful works to look at. I think we were there for over 3 hours.

Father Don Mazza (1790 - 1865) started a women's institute in Verona in 1828 which was also a boarding school for needy children. Embroidery was part of the education program and the istitute cultivated its own silk worms and produced its own silk threads for its embroideries. Don Mazza was quite the perfectionist and the embroideries had to be of very high quality. In another post I will go into more detail about the incredible threadpainting and other embroideries that the students produced.

One of the pieces that we found very interesting was a Whitework handkerchief mounted on the wall in a frame.

I couldn't get it all in the picture without the glare of the lights but the top edge was the same as the bottom:


Here's a corner, notice all the flower centres are voided and filled with little needle lace designs:


The monogram was exquisitely done:


All four edges were the same designs, flawlessly executed and opposing corners were the same. Though all four corners had the same designs, the flowers were filled differently at diagonal opposite corners making it even more interesting to look at:


I was fascinated by every part of this amazing work, even the leaves were all filled with different stitches:


I stood in front of this work for a very long time. I wished for a magnifying glass. I may have left nose-prints on the glass... The linen was so fine, and the thread too. Each detail was a joy to behold. But for a bit of wear in the centre and some tiny holes here and there, the handkerchief was in great shape.

Samplers

Italian needlework samplers are hard to come by. I'm not sure if this is because they were actually used as 'notebooks' in the sense that Italians embroidered samplers of stitches as the only record of the stitches that they were taught and therefore the samplers were handled more and didn't survive the years. This is only a guess. They are not as commonly found as they are in English-speaking countries and usually not framed on the wall like we do.

I found some samplers in my travels to Italy last year, a few were at the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence. A couple of them looked to be mostly cross stitch, one was a darning sampler, the one I looked at the longest was one with various surface stitches and gold thread in one quarter with needle lace and some Macramé around the edges, another quarter of it was all Drawn Thread work. A lot of it was empty space as if it weren't finished – I later recognized this sampler in Elisa Ricci's Old Italian Lace, 1913. (you can find it on page 108 of the pdf file). How I would dearly love to be able to study this sampler up close at length!


Sorry the photo is blurry, the lighting was very low in this room:


In Verona at the little Don Mazza Museum in Via D.N. Mazza no. 14, there was a delicately stitched sampler done in such tiny stitches on very fine linen. Those bottom letters are made out of eyelets!


... we couldn't quite figure out how the cross stitches ended up looking like squares on the back:


At this museum we also found a long strip of wool done as a knitting sampler (this is only a small part):


There is a book I'd like to investigate called: Imparaticci = Samplers: Exercises of embroidery of European and American little girls from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century by Marina Carmignani, 1986 (text in Italian). It's quite expensive so it's just on my wish list for now. Do you have this book? Can you tell me about the Italian samplers in it?

Thank you Armida for your pics of the samplers at the Davanzati Museum, mine did not turn out at all!