Sorbello stitch
If one goes down the pages of history, one will find that Portugal has had a rich ancient culture which has percolated down to its present generations as well. Over the years with the progress of time, Portugal has emerged as a strong nation but its cultural life has thrived because of the patronage of its ruling powers. This has also enabled the popularity of the Portuguese embroidery works of which some are influenced from other nations as well.
Like various popular Portuguese embroidery patterns which originated in other nations, the sorbello stitch is also another variant which has its source in the village of Sorbello in Italy. The sorbello stitch is a wonderful example of an embroidery pattern which can be used in various forms like stitching in the form of curved lines as well as in the form of a straight line. The sorbello stitch is a kind of Palestrina stitch which refers to a particular pattern of stitching where the sewing of thread gives rise to a kind of knot formation. It is interesting to note that despite having its origin in Italy the sorbello stitch has managed to penetrate into Portuguese culture and is today one of the most prominent embroidery patterns practiced in the country. Since the sorbello stitch has its origins in Italy, it follows the prevalent grid pattern maintained by the Italian embroidery techniques. This grid patterns means that every single stitch occupies a small square of the fabric and thus the sorbello stitch has enabled embroiders to use various innovative designs and patterns because of this grid system. It has also been noticed in case of Italian embroideries specifically that the popularity and swiftness of the sorbello stitch has led to its widespread use. In this case also, the stitch movement is from left to right and loop formation occurs beneath the horizontal stitch which can give rise to the knot in the sorbello stitch.