When I was born, my mother was just two years younger than me that I'm now 42. At that time she was a professional dressmaker and worked , since she was 16 old, for Gattinoni factory and after for the Atelier of Fontana Sisters.
I have a picture in my mind of a little girl child playing with her toys and watching mom stitching on a princess like dress, a bridal dress. Because of me, mother left the fashion factory and worked home as a private, impossible was to grow up a little girl and sister staying out of home.
Can still remember the line on her forehead due the attention she had on her work and the atmosphere in the room, was like if something magic was coming out from her hands. She was devoted to her work.
And I remember the history of a jewellery box, that was the container of who knows what jewel, given to my grand-grand mother by The Italian Queen Elena as payment for an embroidered velvet mantle.
The jewel was surely sold by her at the time, but the box was there to remaind that she was the personal needlelace maker of the Queen. Who knows where throught the years that box is gone...
My way of beeing so devoted to embroidery surely comes from those origins, from the images of mother at work, from her patience, precision and great skill.
And after all I'm a self taut person. I was too young to learn from her and at the right age, she was not working anymore.
But I believe that for her working was a real fatigue and sacrifice that she didn't want to pass it to me.
Now she's 82 old and tells me: " leave that needle, go out for a walk don't stress your eyes !"
But I know she's proud of me at all ...
And I enjoy every moment that I can still have with her.
For all these reasons, for the respect that I have for my parents, I approach everything I do in my life seriously. Not just for doing, but for doing as best as I can.
Sometimes I forgot to enjoy the moment because, as my porcelain painting teacher was used to say me:
" you are too concentrated, relax !"
But "obsession = perfection" I believe, and this way of beeing is part of me. And its also my father fault too: " Dad I had 7 vote today at school!" and he " you should take 8 next time".
That's why I can't understand things made superficially, in particular on embroidery, more on Historical Embroidery.
There are some kind of embroidery like Jacobean, Elizabethan and Raised E. who absolutely needs to be studied before threading a needle.
History, colours, stitches, origin of patterns. The eyes of who decides to embarque in one of this adventure must have seen, not only watched, many of the old works; one should have the style in mind before commencing a project.
Materials too should be appropriated when still available, or substituded as best as possible when not.
And this means RESEARCH. In deep.
Means a lot of hours on the Web, means talking with others to share experiences and informations, means a lot of books.
There is a sort of responsibility when one describes on the Web a own project, for example, as "Elizabethan bag" because if materials, stitches and patterns are not appropriated, this person is giving a wrong information to someone reading.
Best would be to say: " Elizabethan bag style " or "inspired".
Making a real Elizabethan bag needs a lot know about, a lot of practice on.
And this again means RESEARCH.
A piece of linen and some silk threads alone doesn't make a real Elizabethan bag.
This is just an example but same is for Jacobean and Raised Embroidery.
A different approach will only give the result in the years, to loose the traditions of those embroidery styles leaving only bad copies.
And the responsibility is much more if one has a Blog or a Website; the risk of passing false informations
is increased, specially when the making process is shown.
One should be absolutely sure that the work is made in the correct way because surely there is a reader that is trying to learn something.
If the intent is to embroidery just for fun, and this is of course a good thing, one should have care of what writes and understand the difference that is evident between spending some free time and making a work that has an historical sense.
If not, I believe is better to don't appeal as Jacobean, Elizabethan or Raised E. because those words have a great history behind that must be preserved and not confused or loosed.
Someone will probably think I'm exagerate but please remind that my my words comes from the respect that some forms of art should merit now and trought the time.
