Intaglio is the process of cutting away material to create a design. The term in generally used referring to a type of woodworking. However, it’s also a term used in Italy in reference to a kind of embroidery where cut-outs have been made on a piece of fabric and the edges of the remaining fabric are embroidered. If you are interested in seeing images of this beautiful art form, look up “ricamo intaglio”.

I like the peek-a-boo aspect of intaglio embroidery placed on top of another fabric. But I am somewhat lazy and came up with a rather folkloristic approach of my own. I cut leftover white fabric into squares then folded these square as one does to make paper snowflakes then cut away. Then I sewed these “snowflakes” onto a repurposed black top. The top was too short for my tastes so I added a colourful piece of fabric to give it extra length.