AMATEUR: researcher, translator, needleworker. I am not an expert nor a teacher nor a designer.
I do not get paid for any of the tips or information that I write about, nor do I get any kind of kickback from any website that I recommend. This information is given wholly from the desire to share my experiences and help those who would like to learn more about Italian Needlework. My interests are my *hobbies*.
The other day a beautiful photo meant for someone else came across my newsfeed which sparked a revisit for me to the Turk's Head Knot and tassels. For me its not the bright and shiny things that distract me, its the textile textural things... and Deruta beads...
Exceptional isn't it? It's creator is Maria Rita Faleri and she lives in Fermo in the Marche region of Italy which is located near the eastern coastline, pretty much in the middle of Italy: a little north of Rome, a little south of Florence.
Now, I knew a little bit about her and we've corresponded a couple of times about other things over the years and I told you about her wonderful Tassel book here. We started chatting about the tassel above and then another...
and another...
I mentioned that I had abandoned the Turk's Head knot which is what those little knots are and she helped me discover where I had gone wrong. I love the internet. She was nearly 9000 kilometres away and 9 hours ahead in time difference but within a few quick comments of a chat, she had made the lightbulb go on in my head.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the instructions in her book, it was me that missed an important step. Looking at them now, they make perfect sense.
We started to chat about other things. Maria Rita is part of a cultural association in Fermo called Il Filo Che Conta (a little play on words: the thread that counts) where she teaches (among other techniques) Catherine de' Medici embroidery and knotted tassels. She edited the book on Catherine de' Medici embroidery that you'll find when you follow this link. She also wrote a book on marking stitches called Punti di Marca a few years ago.
Maria Rita told me that she will have a booth at the Abilmente trade show in Vicenza, Italy this October. It's one of the fairs that I'd love to go to one day, I really need to plan to be in Italy one autumn. Her booth is under her association's name: Il Filo Che Conta and you can find it in the Embroidery Salon area. She will have her books and materials for Catherine de' Medici embroidery, Bobbin Lacemaking and of course Tassels! Maria Rita will be there for demonstrations and she has made new kits for the three tassels you see above plus this one:
And also this adorable little bunch of grapes:
Inside the kits are the instructions, needle and threads plus two sizes of tiny wooden sticks which help in the execution of the knots. I want them all!Maria Rita tells me that this fair Abilmente is the only one she exhibits at and what she earns during the show helps keep her cultural association afloat.
Here is a report from a previous Abilmente show in 2012 where you can see some of Maria Rita's beautiful tassels displayed absolutely marvellously:
If you are in Italy and go to Abilmente, please leave a comment below and tell us how it was. Drop by the Il Filo Che Conta booth and say hello to Maria Rita for me...
Four days before I left for Italy in September, I received an email from Bianca Rosa Bellomo of the Associazione Culturale "I Merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" in Bologna. She was putting the finishing touches on a couple of Aemilia Ars needle lace DVD instructional videos that the Associazione had made in collaboration with the Nuova S1 publishing house and there was provision for subtitles in English - could I check over her translations?
Back of the DVD
We worked right up until the day before I left on English subtitles for both DVDs. The first one covers the basics of Aemilia Ars needle lace and includes the printed patterns for a lavette cloth with a border and a rose motif (48 minutes long). The second covers the same basics of Aemilia Ars needle lace and includes a printed carnation motif design (35 minutes long).
You can check out the DVD trailer on YouTube, be sure to change the settings to 1080pHD for high definition quality:
When we met in Bologna a week later Bianca Rosa told me all about how the Associazione's idea came to fruition and the incredible work involved in making the DVDs. She described all the things you never think about like the music selection, typography and the best camera angles. They were hoping to have the DVDs ready for the (then) upcoming handmade creativity exhibition Abilmente in Vicenza the weekend of October 17, 2013. Unfortunately I was unable to get to the exhibition but Bianca Rosa performed acrobatics in order to get me my copies of the DVDs before I left Italy for home.
I was going to Ferrara to visit some friends and I emailed Bianca Rosa to tell her that I had to change trains in Bologna and that I would be thinking of her as I passed by her city. She responded that she'd meet me on the platform. Now, the Bologna central rail station has recently undergone massive improvements and it's huge! There are many entrances and exits to the platforms and great confusion can happen. The morning I left Florence for Ferrara there was a freak rainstorm and flash flooding which resulted in many of the local trains being cancelled due to damage along the tracks and huge delays with the trains that were running. Suddenly the half hour I had to change trains in Bologna became 5 minutes. I hit the ground running from my arrival platform in search of my (by now almost deserted) departure platform and upon arrival at the top of the stairs I didn't see Bianca Rosa anywhere. My train rang the bell that it was departing and I had to jump on immediately. When I arrived in Ferrara I contacted Bianca Rosa to apologize for leaving her hanging around the station for an hour wondering what had happened to me and we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not see each other again before I left Italy at the end of the week.
Bianca Rosa however is a very determined lady for which I am profoundly grateful. She called my friend in Ferrara later in the day to say that she'd looked up my return train to Florence on the internet and even though this time I didn't have to change in Bologna, the train would still stop to pick up passengers there. She asked what carriage my seat was in and said she'd be waiting on the platform right where my carriage would stop and that I should jump down for a second and get the package she had for me.
It all seemed so simple.
My train left Ferrara on schedule and the rain had stopped. Five minutes outside of Bologna I got up and went to the doorway of the carriage to get ready to jump down at the station. All the lights in the train went out and we came to a dead stop. We sat there on the tracks for 20 minutes. Early evening in late October in the countryside of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy means no lights in the darkness. I had returned my borrowed cell phone and therefore had no way of communicating with Bianca Rosa. I will admit that I thought about Harry Potter and the Dementors while we sat there on the tracks in the darkness. Luckily Bianca Rosa waited and when we finally arrived at the Bologna station, I jumped down, thanked her profusely and jumped back on the train instantly. I was afraid that it would leave right away as we were now behind schedule. I ran back to my seat with my parcel and looked for her out the window but she was gone. The train sat in the station for another 15 minutes. I thought about the little mini-visit that we could have had instead of that last panicked hug. Well, enough about my adventures, you're thinking: tell us about the DVDs!
DVD no. 2
Of course I couldn't watch them until I got home to Canada but I can tell you that they are worth all the acrobatics done to get them! They are priced very reasonably for the amount of instruction there is and if you're like me and have been fumbling around with Aemilia Ars needle lace on your own at home, just watching the execution of the lace and observing the way the piece is held, the usage of the thumb and the movements involved will be a great help to you.
Been struggling with those picots? Now you can see exactly how they are done. I really like the graphics and the way they illustrate which parts of the lace you are watching. Even with the sound off and no subtitles, it was very easy to see what was happening. The assembly of the support system is shown as are the various steps to changing threads when you run out in a wide variety of positions (eg. during filling stitches, during structure construction, while executing support stitches, while executing a petal, an arch and other motifs), detaching the lace from the support system, attaching the lace to fabric, attaching the fabric to the support system and many other interesting and valuable tips and tricks.
The Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs are in PAL2 format which means that they won't work on your DVD/TV combination at home in North America but I watched mine without a hitch on my Macintosh computer - I can't tell you if a PC can do the same but I know that there are programs which allow you to view European formatted DVDs, best to inform yourself first if you have any doubts.
At the moment, the Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs are only available directly from the publisher Nuova S1. I have talked to them and they are looking into shipping costs to North America and the possibility of accepting PayPal as a form of payment, I will update you when they get back to me. Lacis in California distributes their books but doesn't have the DVDs - you could try contacting them to see if they can bring the Aemilia Ars needle lace DVDs in for you. Please let me know if you are successful, so I can spread the news to others!
I have been asked by several readers if I know of upcoming events in Italy relating to needlework. Some are busy planning their holidays and wish to incorporate a needlework event or two into their stay in Italy. It's a lovely idea and makes for a memorable time.
HobbyShow is big craft fair in Milan, March 16 - 18, 2012. Needlework is included but not the dominant theme of this fair. http://www.hobbyshow.it/milano/
The Hand Embroidery and Artisan Weaving Exhibition will be held in Valtopina, on August 31 - September 2, 2012. The theme for this show is: Green Monuments of Umbria - the trees. If you would like to participate in their competition for this show, you must make a tablecloth for six settings, executed in a technique of hand-embroidery or lace of your own design. For more details, see their website: http://www.mostravaltopina.it/concorso/
The International Biennial Lace Exhibition of Sansepolcro will be held September 8 - October 28, 2012. This year's show is dedicated to the Emancipation of Women. Download the program in English and Italian here (click on the words: "Regolamento e bando di concorso").
The Ago Magico show and market will be November 9 - 11, 2012 at the Parco Esposizioni Novegro about 10kms outside of Milan. This show is dedicated to artistic embroidery and sewing. http://www.parcoesposizioninovegro.it/lagomagico/
Italia Invita has just announced the dates for the 6th edition of their Textile Creativity Forum which will be located in Parma, May 10, 11, 12, 2013. They haven't announced the theme or events and attractions yet as we're still a little more than a year away from this one, but stay tuned, these things will be forthcoming soon. http://www.italiainvita.it/
That's all that I've got for now. I will post again with any additions that I discover. Please post a comment if you know of an event that I've missed or if you visit any of these events, we'd love to hear about them!
In May 2009 Signora Maria Vittoria Coen Del Vecchio donated the Burano needle lace border of an altar cloth made in the early 1930s to the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza.
Destined for the main altar of the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, this extraordinary work was done by lacemakers who made 16 scenes which depict the most popular moments of the life and miracles of St. Nicholas with the scene depicting the elevation of the saint in the centre.
Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.
Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.
The lace measures 13 feet long by 1.5 feet high and can
be viewed right now along with the original designs until April 1, 2012
at the Diocesan Museum of Vicenza as part of the San Nicola, Tiziano, il Merletto exhibit.
Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.
There are a couple of videos on YouTube to watch, the first one talks about the lace at the 5:30 minute mark, and the second one gives closer views of some of the details.
Image captured from video footage owned by Telechiara Produzioni.
In February there will be a series of lectures at the museum, the one I would love to attend is entitled Il merletto di San Nicola [the lace of St. Nicholas] given by lace expert Doretta Davanzo Poli on Sunday, February 12th at 5pm.
There must be a show catalogue but I cannot find where to get it from outside of the museum itself. I believe there must be one as there is a listing on the Ca' Foscari University website of an article written by Doretta Davanzo Poli entitled Manifattura Veneziana, in San Nicola/Tiziano/Il merletto a cura di F. Gasparini, M. Guderzo, L. Trevisan, Treviso, Antiga Edizioni, 2011, pp.78-83.
If you happen to be in Italy in the second half of October this year, you might think about going to the trade fair Abilmente in Vicenza which is in the northern part of Italy between Verona and Venice, close to Padua. From October 21st to 24th, 9:30am to 7pm.
It seems that many textile arts and hobbies will be represented at this fair: felting, quilting, sewing, embroidery and lace making. A few of the embroidery and lace schools from Italy will be present and have each participated in making pieces for the exhibit of embroidered bodices and vests.
There is to be a large bookshop, workshops and some exhibitions like pieces from the famous collection of Loretta Caponi, a collection of Japanese quilts and pieces stitched by the members of the social network Amoricamo [I love embroidery].
An area is reserved for creative recycling (click on the website links for a preview of some of the creative ideas) and naturally there will also be booths from which to buy all your favourite things like, threads, beads, fabrics and gadgets!
See photos on their Facebook page from past events.
Vicenza is a city rich in history so don't forget to have a look around town at the numerous sights and visit the Civic Museum housed in a palazzo designed by the 16th century architect Andrea Palladio.
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