Faby's masterclass

Discover new techniques every month with our resident stitching expert, Faby Reilly

Assisi work is named after the Italian town of Assisi and this late-medieval technique first appeared in the 13th century, practised mainly in monasteries. The principle of this type of work revolves around 'voiding', whereby the motifs are left blank and it is the background that is stitched.

Assisi work uses one vibrant colour (usually red, blue, green or gold) for the background and one dark colour (black or brown) for the outlines. Another distinctive feature is its frilly border work. The motifs originally featured birds and animals, evolving to include mythical creatures over the Renaissance period, to pretty much any motifs in modern Assisi designs. Traditionally, the motifs were outlined with holbein stitch (double running stitch), but these days it's often replaced with backstitch - I show you how to stitch both.

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