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.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part One

I recently took some books to show a few friends the different styles of Reticello. I find this technique to be one of the most beautiful of Italian needlework so of course, I have all the books I can lay my hands on about it.

This is a technique that I'm sure we will revisit many times here. Elisa Ricci has an entire chapter dedicated to it in her book Old Italian Lace (1913) which can be downloaded in pdf format from the Online Digital Documents Archive. In that book there are many incredible works pictured, some very old. This painting by Jean Clouet circa 1555 shows that Reticello was already perfected and well known outside of Italy (this is a portrait of the Duchess Claude of Lorraine, daughter of Catherine de' Medici) by the mid 16th century:


This unfinished 16th century piece of Reticello shows the various stages of its working:


Here is a beautiful piece from the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte museum in Bologna:


Like all needlework, Reticello has evolved over time. Today, with less and less time dedicated to embroidery, the designs have become simpler and less time-consuming but no less beautiful.

I want to show you two books by Giuliana Buonpadre, an Italian lady from Verona who has a small shop in Via S. Egidio in which she teaches needlework. On her website you can browse her books, clicking on the cover of Vol. 3, Il Reticello will get you a look at what a typical page looks like. Her books come in three languages, Italian, French and English and I like them a lot because she shows you clearly what to do and what the work will look like once it's done.

She does some amazing work. In her second book on Reticello (Volume 5), she has taken it to a new level. She has added colour to what is traditionally a whitework technique. This is a scan of the cover art on the book Fior di Reticello:


Not only has she added colour, she continues the design outside of the grid. I love the style of these designs even if I'm usually a traditionalist. There are many exquisite coloured pieces in this book, but also lots of traditional white ones as well. I believe that you can get Giuliana Buonpadre's books from the Drawn Thread in the US.

Next time we'll talk about books on a more traditional style of Reticello.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Two

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Three

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Four

Hemstitching

I'll admit that I'm very much attracted to different types of hemstitching. Usually instead of flipping over embroidery to look at the back like other stitchers do, I feel around for the edge to see how it has been treated. Italian needlework feeds my craving for hemstitching in all kinds of fascinating ways. There is so much creativity and imagination!

This one I had to try, its name is so fun! It's kind of like Nun's Stitch but different. It's called Dente di Gatto or literally, Cat's Tooth (front and then back):

This one is made of tiny thrown stitches and knots... I wish I could say I did these but mine will never look like this in a million years! These stitches are part of a needle lace technique called Puncetto:

I love this one with three Buttonhole stitches in each hole, again done on high count linen. It is the edging of a lavender sachet that was given to me:

This is one of the first ones I tried... I'm not sure what its called:

Here is my sad attempt at a rolled hem - look how wavy it is! I really liked the arrowheads though:

Gigliuccio is my all-time favourite! This one was done on extremely fine linen (and not by me!):

Oh, I could go on and on! And I probably will in another post. For now I'll leave you with some books to check out. Punti a Giorno (Decorative Hemstitch) Vol. 4 by Giuliana Buonpadre. My copy is in Italian but I understand that you can get copies also in either French or English. All of her books are very clear with diagrams and photos of each stitch.

I Miei Sfilati (My Drawn Thread Works) by Antonietta Monzo Menossi. More complex combinations but really beautiful work, text in Italian and English. You can get this one at Tombolo Disegni (click on: Libri/Books, Libri-Ricamo, Ricamo Italiani - scroll to the bottom of the page).

For the Gigliuccio (known in English as the Peahole Hemstitch) or for the Cat's Tooth (together with lots of other great hemstitches in a booklet called: Hems and...) send an email to Italian-Needlecrafts who is the overseas reseller for these fantastic books.