Italian embroidery: Guest post by Maria from Tiricamo

by Embroidery Gulf Embroidery Gulf

The word embroidery indicates both the craftsmanship of embroidering done with needle and thread on a fabric, and the product of this activity. In our wonderful language "embroider" means creating relationships, that is: "adding details to a story". Each of my work is a new story that begins in my hands and continues elsewhere, just like a book!

Embroidering is an ancient activity, still practiced today, which generally develops as a rare and highly sought after craft work. In Italy, embroidery was born as one of the expressions of the Saracen culture and linked to the traditions of Magna Graecia, but soon the Italian school broke away from the initial oriental taste, and placed the center of the activity in Florence creating real masterpieces in different techniques from the tapestry to the laces. Today, the art of embroidery has practically disappeared, leaving interest in the hobby.

Embroidery is part of the so-called "female arts", it allows us to embellish our table and our kitchen, personalizing and enriching them. It is an art that has always fascinated me, I started as a child, when at fifteen my parents sent me 'to the shop' from the neighbor who embroidered professionally. Life then led me to choose another job, but the embroidery has always remained among my greatest passions, for some years I resumed embroidering at full speed. On my blog Tiricamo you find simple explanations, with photos step by step to understand how I work. The carving is my favorite point because it creates wonderful transparencies.

First of all I choose the fabric, I prefer linen. Linen is a natural material obtained from a plant cultivated by man since prehistoric times, a useful and precious plant. It is a plant with a long stem and a simple flower whose colors range from pure blue to pink, to white, a plant whose fibers, once worked, are white, shiny and particularly fine. It is a very resistant fabric to the wear of time, pleasant to the touch because of its softness. Its habitat has always been in the temperate zones of Europe, from the North to the Mediterranean. In the past linen was not easily obtained: it was difficult to cultivate, to be transformed through long procedures and finally to work. Expensive and limited and therefore in antiquity reserved above all for the powerful, the most precious furnishings, the priestly classes and the gods.

Today that the new technologies turned this great world into a small world, I decided to put my work on the network and to share my passion with a lot more people.

I created the blog RICAMO because so those who want can see my work and buy one of my small or large embroidery. It all starts with an email "Dear Maria, I would love to have beautiful new hand embroidered curtains. What do you propose?". I answer and send photos of the schemes and the works that I think can suit your kitchen, his living room, his bedroom, we choose together the fabric, the threads to use, the colors. Once you get the measurements and the confirmation of the work: the engines are turned on and off! My client receives a picture a day (sometimes even longer) on the work in progress. It follows the work step by step, even if we are thousands of kilometers away.

The last work I finished is that for Italina, beautiful curtains in pure linen embroidered and hand-carved, she lives about 1200 km from me, but she followed the birth of her curtains and when she received them she was so happy that he sent me the photos. What satisfaction to work by hand.

The art of embroidery is a patient and difficult art, which for hours engages my attention and my creativity, an art that deserves the best yarns and the best fabrics that modern production can offer but also the best customers!

Thank you Marie for the beautiful words and for sharing with us the beautiful art of embroidery!

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