Gentleman's Coat Design by Dolores Andrew

When we were in Italy, studying my Italian textiles, we happened very accidentally to go to the Sforza Castle in Milan, after a suggestion from the curator at another museum. It was there that we found the eighteenth century gentleman's jacket that I used for inspiration for my Honors piece. It is from a small element on the jacket, which was stitched with the repeated morning glory design along the front edges .

I enlarged and developed the design using elements from other parts of the jacket, and stitched in silk on silk. As I worked on my version those many hours, I tried to imagine how long the worker had taken to create the whole design originally. Working to keep the silk and the baguettes to catch the light was a continuing challenge, and must have been even a larger challenge for the person who stitched that jacket over two hundred years ago.

This was just one of the many images of Italian embroidery that I discovered on our travels there, and that showed me what a diverse, ancient, and fascinating culture they are.