Most probably you may have not… Assisi Embroidery is a type of counted-thread embroidery with foundations that range back to the 13th century in a small town called Assisi in Italy. The background is filled with embroidery stitches and the main motifs are left void and unstitched. Hence this embroidery has been coined as the voiding method. The background is generally cross stitch with rich colors like red, gold, bright blue and parrot green. There are 2 techiques to do Assisi embroidery, the old fashioned way being to draw figures on the fabric free hand and the modern way to construct the pattern on paper and then transfer to the cloth.

The Assisi embroidery are as beautiful as modern day carpets. Check out the Snowflake design to the left. The intricate patterns of this hand embroidery would leave the viewer stunned. As one can see, it is the voids that make the design while the stitches outline it.

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Italy has had a long historical tradition of bright and colourful embroidery. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries monastic embroideries developed a simpler style where designs and motifs were voided on fine linen cloth with the outlines and background embroidered in coloured silk. Motifs were strongly influenced by traditional designs of bird or animal pairs surrounded by elaborate scrollwork. These early articles were most often used for religious purposes e.g. altar cloths and chasubles.

One can see a basic Assisi embroidery below which gives a clear picture of the cross stitch techniques used.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, this form of embroidery fell into decline and many of the designs and motifs were lost. It was only at the turn of the 20th century that the practice was revived in the Italian town of Assisi from which this form of embroidery gets its name. In 1902 the ‘Laboratorio Ricreativo Festivo Femminile San Francesco di Assisi’ was established. The aim of this handicrafts workshop was to revive traditional local handicrafts and provide employment to poor women to supplement their income. This cottage industry flourished and these more modern designs, using the counted thread technique, quickly spread throughout Italy, Europe and further abroad.

In the last 20 years, a modern version of Assisi embroidery has evolved. Many different colours and patterns are used for the background, and the motifs are extremely varied. However, it is heartening to note that the traditional version is still practised in the town of Assisi where one can see the local women sitting in front of their houses and embroidering Assisi work items for the local co-operative embroidery shop.

Check out an Assisi embroidery techniques book by Pamela – Assisi Embroidery: Technique and 42 Charted Designs (Dover Needlework)

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