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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Ricami a Fili Tesi – Book Review for Openwork Embroidery

 

Amazon Books

This past summer while I was away, one of my guest post writers was Anna Catagnetti, who has recently authored and published a book on “Openwork Embroidery” (Ricami a Fili Tesi).

Now that the book is on the market, I’ve had a chance to look at it, and I thought I’d show it to you, too. If you like needle lace, this is a good instructional book to have on hand!

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

What is different about Anna’s needle lace? Not only does she combine multiple types of filling stitches in one project, but within each filled area, she works a variety of filling stitches to fill a given space, as you can see in the sample below.

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

Hence, “openwork embroidery” – more than just needle lace fillings worked separately – it’s the combination of filling stitches to create a more complex openwork area. I like the result. Think free style surface embroidery, where you can use a combination of many stitches to create your picture, and translate that into a free-style needlelace, where, within one area, you can use a combination of many stitches to create your filling.

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

The main text area of the book is written in Italian, but on the sides (and anywhere there’s that gold background), you’ll find the English translation.

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

Step-by-step, up close photos demonstrate how the variety of filling techniques are achieved.

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

I think what I like about the book most is the sections on different edgings. I’m always drawn to edgings, and I really like the very up-close photos that instruct on the various edgings included in the book.

Ricami a Fili Tesi - Openwork Embroidery Book Review

And there are little photos of each motif or edging throughout the book, so you can see it finished, in isolation. This is great for flipping through the book to find a picture of what you want to do.

Ricami a Fili Tesi can be found only through used sources these days (updated 2016), but if you can find it, it’s worth it!

 
 

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