Couture Gardens in Bloom
A New Online Embroidery Class in June & a Dior Exhibition
Dear embroidery and textile friends,
As spring unfurls its petals, Paris is warming up, and the world feels a little softer. I’m so happy to share two garden-inspired delights blooming this season — one you can stitch with me from home, and the other you might be lucky enough to experience in person.
🌿 Introducing: “June Garden” – A Special Online Embroidery Class
After the embroidery class I taught in March in collaboration with Selvedge Magazine, I received so many kind messages and requests — thank you for your enthusiasm and encouragement! It was my very first time teaching online, and what a joyful experience it was. The absolute highlight? Sharing those two creative sessions with such a lovely group, and sending embroidery kits all around the world — from France, Portugal, and the UK to the US, Canada, Australia, and even Saudi Arabia. A BIG, heartfelt thank you to all of you who joined!
“If you are interested in the embroidery of historic haute couture, Nadia Albertini's classes are a goldmine. Her sessions provide information and techniques for creating your own stunning embroidery work, and offer much information about the great designers and embroiderers of the past. Nadia's explanations are clear and helpful, and she interacts effectively with participants, answering each and every question. I recommend Nadia's classes for all needlework aficionados.”
from K, in California.
Since many of you weren’t able to get a spot (the class filled up so quickly!), I’m thrilled to announce a brand-new session coming in June, featuring a fresh design, new colors, and beautiful materials. This class is a love letter to the way flowers grow — not just in soil, but in memory, in fabric, and beneath our fingertips.
Together, we’ll wander through this imagined garden inspired by a stunning Christian Dior dress from 1954, transforming blossoms and leaves into textured embroidery using thread, beads, and a few shimmering secrets. Whether you’re stitching from a quiet corner of your home or a bustling city apartment, consider this your invitation to slow down and let beauty take root in your hands this spring.
Expect a sensory journey combining fashion and embroidery history, couture-inspired design, lush techniques, delicate beadwork, and the shared stories that make our community so special. This is a limited-edition embroidery kit and workshop — and I truly can’t wait to grow something beautiful with you.
🌸 And… the Dior Enchanting Gardens Exhibition Is Now Open
A new exhibition just opened at the Dior museum in Granville: Enchanted Gardens. And I’m so thrilled (and a little emotional) to have contributed in a small way. Let me tell you how.
Last May, while diving deep into research on Rébé (yes, I’ve fallen so in love with this topic that I’ll be doing my PhD on it!), I stumbled upon two incredible haute couture treasures that had never been seen together before.
Believe it or not, both Facebook and Instagram are wonderful research tools — if you know how to use them and are willing to spend time scrolling. In between endless blurry images and ads for fake perfumes, I discovered the account of a fabulous vintage boutique: Madame Pauline Vintage. The shop was opened in 2013, the idea of 3 partners (two fashion designers and a former journalist) turned vintage specialists who wanted something new for their city. Their chic styling instantly transported me back to my days working in Milan, and I couldn’t get enough of the glamorous sciure style (if you don’t know the term please check this account — it’s a delight!).
While scrolling, my heart suddenly skipped a beat, my palms started sweating. There, in one image from February 2020, were two MAJOR haute couture treasures TOGETHER!!!
The dress on the right I immediately recognized: Dior’s iconic Vilmorin, embroidered by Rébé with dozens of tiny fabric flowers, capturing a delightful sense of pastoral poetry. Dior’s childhood at Granville sparked a lifelong fascination with flowers that Rébé later translated into rich and intricate dimensional embroideries. These two dresses were found in Brescia in August 2019 and belonged to twin sisters, probably born in the mid 1930’s. The dresses were their 18th birthdays present from their father. Vilmorin is a world-famous piece held by both the MAD in Paris and the Met in New York, and it’s traveled the world in Dior retrospectives. But next to it… was something else. Something no one had seen since the show in 1952!
Meet Andrieux, Vilmorin’s long-lost twin. Embroidered with dozens of delicate buttercups nestled in lush foliage, this gown had disappeared from public view — until now. And of course, I told my friends at Dior Heritage immediately, put them in touch with the fabulous Pauline Vintage team and the rest is history.
If you can make your way to Granville this season, you're in for a rare and moving experience. Dior: Enchanted Gardens is a feast for the eyes and heart, where haute couture and horticulture meet in the most poetic ways. Seeing these two magnificent dresses side by side, finally reunited, is something incredible!
Whether you're joining the online class or planning a visit to Granville (or both!), I hope this season wraps you in inspiration, tenderness, and a renewed sense of wonder.
With needle, thread and bises from Paris,
Nadia
P.S. Want early access to the June class, or have questions about the exhibition? Just hit reply — I’d love to hear from you!
Wow! Quelle incroyable histoire que le re-découverte de cette seconde robe! Imaginer les deux jeunes filles qui les reçurent et les portèrent à l'occasion de leurs 18 ans m'émeut particulièrement. Well done inspecteur Albertini ;) Merci pour cette superbe et pétillante newsletter.