How Bargello a GoGo can help you get creative

How to learn a vintage embroidery technique
If you are inspired by my guests' stories of finding their creative passions as adults, and want to tap onto your own creativity, then I'm here to help, with the Creativity Found directory of arts and crafts workshops, courses and kits.
For this episode I am so excited to be able to introduce you to Natalie Smart and Bargello a GoGo. Natalie fell in love with Bargello embroidery after she spotted some examples in her vintage magazines, and she now helps other people to discover this vibrant craft with her kits, patterns, and supplies.
Don’t know what Bargello is? Stay tuned to find out more.

Creativity Found is all about helping adults to tap into their creativity.
As well as inspiring listeners with my guests’ stories of how they found or re-found their creativity as grown-ups and how that has benefitted their everyday lives, here at creativity found I also want to encourage adults of any age to find their own creative passion.
I host a website that anyone can visit to search for creative classes, workshops, online courses, kits and supplies, for all sorts of arts and crafts activities.
I also run two memberships.
One to help anyone that is creatively curious get past whatever is holding them back and give them access to new creative activities and experiences to try.
The other supports and promotes businesses that teach creative activities or sell kits and supplies.

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Bargello a GoGo at creativityfound.co.uk

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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

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Transcript

Claire Waite Brown: 0:29

Hi, I'm Claire, host of this podcast, as well as inspiring listeners with my guests stories of how they found or refound their creativity as grown ups, and how that has benefited their everyday lives. Here at creativity found I also want to offer adults of any age opportunities to find their own creative passion with a directory of arts and crafts, workshops, courses and kits. The creativity found community also provide support for the small businesses and sole traders who make these workshops happen, and build market and distribute the kits. One of the ways I can do this is to give creativity found members their own bonus podcast episode, just spread the word about their wonderful offerings, and help creativity seekers to find them. For this episode, I'm so excited to be able to introduce you to Natalie Smart Bargello a GoGo. Don't know what Bargello is. Stay tuned to find out more. Hi, Natalie, how are you?

Unknown: 2:20

I'm fine. Thanks. How are you?

Claire Waite Brown: 2:23

I'm very well. Good. So you run by Bargello a GoGo. Can you start by explaining to me what Bargello is and how you found it?

Unknown: 2:35

Right. So Bargello is a form of embroidery that consists of a simple straight stitch. And it's normally sort of worked up right or parallel to the threads of the canvas. So you normally work it on tapestry Canvas, we can use plastic canvas. And the way I discovered it was in one of my vintage sort of 70s Sewing magazines. I like to go to my vintage magazines. I love that sort of aesthetic from the 60s and 70s. And then I thought, well, what's this and it was actually in the book it was caught in the magazine I've got was called Florentine embroidery, that's actually a name that is like a stitch arrangement of this particular type of this embroidery. But they all come under this big name of Bargello. The name Bargello was used mainly in the 60s and 70s to cover different types of embroidery stitches, such as Hungarian stitch flying stitch Florentine stitch, which will form this sort of Bargello type of embroidery, which is quite bold and striking with the colours you can use and different gradients you can use to make these sort of stitches. So then I looked into where did Bargello come from, it's actually an Italian word. And apparently, that came from a place in Florence in Italy, it's linked to where there was some antique chairs in a museum there that were willing to this type of embroidery. But prior to when the museum was opened in the mid 1800s. It was actually a prison, which was called the Bargello in the 60s and 70s that vintage embroidery books that they tend to use this this name. So yeah, that's where that came from. Yeah,

Claire Waite Brown: 4:17

you have a background in designing knitting patterns. Has that helped you in creating the embroidery patterns that you now make? And even the kits that you now supply?

Unknown: 4:28

Yes, definitely. I had the confidence from that from when I did knitting patterns, like Hamlet were patterns. So I had a format already of how I like to work when I write a design, and I have that creativity inside me where I like to share these designs with with people who perhaps don't necessarily have the confidence to sort of design them themselves. So and it's just something nice if you've been working all day to come home chill out to you know, just look at a pattern, you can follow it. So it did really help me with that. And when I started really enjoying this style of embroidery, once I started having a play and working with it, it made me realise that I wanted to share it with the world to to it made me want to create the patterns as well, that I was making. I was getting likes on Instagram, people liking them, and I thought well, it'd be really nice to maybe share these with people as a pattern so people can make them too. And because I'd already previously done that with with the nifty and I, yeah, I kind of knew exactly sort of how to write them out and make them sort of clear for people to read and follow. Yeah, it was great fun. We had great fun looking at designs and, and creating them. Yeah. And the patterns really enjoyed that part of it. So it was good.

Claire Waite Brown: 5:50

Yeah, I love the patterns that I've seen so far. And I love the variety that you've bought to this graph, because I have seen some of this in the past, but you're really bringing some interesting new patterns into it, I think anyway. So what can people expect to find in a Bargello a gogo kit?

Unknown: 6:14

Yes. So I decided to release some kits. And people really enjoyed them. So that's really good. So in the kit, you will get a tapestry needle, and normally size ating tapestry needle, which works well with the embroidery wall that I use, which is Appletons Appletons wall is a four ply tapestry thread, and it works so well with the coverage and the bounce, the fullness, you get in the stitch on the canvas, and it's British made, which I love. So it's made in England, it's died in England, distributed in England, it's all it's all there. It's and I was really fortunate to visit Appletons a few weeks ago, you know, seeing the hub and seeing the HQ and and what they do. And yeah, it was it was so nice and Zen staff and it's quite small company, you know, there's not loads of staff. It's really nice little small company and lots of care and attention goes into every detail, quality control to just get it out to me really quickly when I need it for for the kids, which is great. And then you also have the tapestry canvas, sometimes it's depending on what I'm doing for the design. Like if it's a bag or something, it's a more rigid canvas, like a plastic canvas I use that I get from a supplier in England, which is like a 10 count plastic canvas, which is again good for for the style of embroidery, or it's a fabric canvas, a tapestry canvas. And my favourite is I got who are very good brand for that type of embroidery as well. I've yet to find another canvas that's as good for this style of embroidery, I really liked the quality of it. And that comes in at 12 count. So yeah, that's what you're getting the kits and you'll also get a project bag as well. I'm just in the process of designing some new kits at the minute, which is quite exciting with some new project bags. So it's all yeah, really, really fun. And you also get your printed pattern as well with the step by step photos, you get colour charts to show you how to sort of in the stitches and where they need to go on the design.

Claire Waite Brown: 8:16

And if people love this style of embroidery from your kit, which I'm sure they will and want to continue further, can you help them with that?

Unknown: 8:27

Yes. So for anyone that's looking into this style of embroidery, he's not quite sure if it's for them, it's something new, they want to try. If you subscribe to my newsletter on my website, Bargello gogo.com, there is actually five free Bargello patterns you can try yourself and they come coloured charted, I've even done a chart. So you could have a plate doing a wall hanging as well. But it tells you the threads you can use for those if you wanted the same colorways. So you get a free PDF file sent to you on subscribing. And it gives you a free guide to Bargello embroidery. So it talks about the Bargello embroidery in there. And also shows you how to do Bargello embroidery. And then as well as that I've also got YouTube videos showing you how to do the embroidery too. So if you're a complete beginner, you can, you know, really learn it from the materials and resources that I have on my website. So, again, the video links are on my website that you can check as well. People have told me has been really helpful for them. So that's really nice to know. And then once you build up your confidence with the sewing and obviously you can make the kits what I also wanted the aim of the business as well was that you could buy your own supplies. So if you want to make your own creations you can get the supplies from from my online store as well. You can get the threads, the needles, the canvases. There's also some stitch pattern books as well, that's been released by some other great people who do by General embroidery that you can get on the websites. And I've also got a an embroidery journal book where you can actually it's charted and got a diary Notes section as well. So you can create your own projects and note it in there. So you can sketch them out first of all on the graph paper, and then also write the dates on your ideas in another section just to show you what your thoughts are on creating a patent because I found that really helpful to me. I initially created it for myself when designing the kits and patterns and projects. And I thought actually I think people would like this too and that's been very poor. Popular people have really enjoyed purchasing those. And they've said to me, they found it really helpful in creating their designs initially to see if it's going to work before they commit to the, you know, actually putting it on to Canvas. So by sketching it first and writing their thoughts out and just having a record of the threads debuts and the quantities and everything, so, yeah, that's been a lovely thing as well. I work I live in a wet labour flat so people go in and out. Apologies.

Claire Waite Brown: 11:06

No problem. Well, now, I'm gonna say, you can of course find out more about everything that Natalie spoken about today at creativity. found.co.uk/bargello. Gogo. And where else can people find Bargello? ago, Natalie,

Unknown: 11:29

so they can find it on Instagram? At Bargello a Go Go. And on Facebook again. It's Bargello go go. That's my two social media.

Claire Waite Brown: 11:38

Thanks so much, Natalie. It's been brilliant. You.

Unknown: 11:42

Thanks. Thanks for your patience.

Claire Waite Brown: 11:49

Thanks so much for listening to creativity found. If your podcast app has the facility, please leave a rating and review to help other people find us on Instagram and Facebook. Follow up to creativity found podcasts and on Pinterest look for at creativity found. And finally, don't forget to check out creativityfound.co.uk The website connecting adults who wants to find a creative outlet be the artists and crafters who can help them tap into their creativity.