While in Venice I decided to purchase some of the hand embroidered items after spying some of the local handiwork on a small child. I introduced myself to this little girls mother who was kind enough to explain that her daughter's dress was hand embroidered and that similar items were available in certain souvenier shops. She explained that in order to find a shop that sold high-quality items I needed to check out what was in the window if there was a lot of "kitschy plastic" and "touristy" stuff I was to keep on walking but if the items displayed were unique and seemed to be one of a kind items then to go in and start my search.

After using her guidelines I found a sweet little store not to far from the main marketplace which had blouses, aprons and cloths prominently displayed in the window. Entering I spied some table linens. Using the other advise my new found friend gave me, I looked at the underneath side and recognised the tell-tale signs of hand-embroidering, somewhat uneven stitching, threads tied off and underthreads criss crossing at times as colors changed. Feeling good about the price, I approached the propietor and made my purchase. When she took extra care to wrap my purchases in tissue several times and place them in a box for safe keeping I KNEW I had come to the right place!

I suggest using the afrementioned points to assure yourself of quality work and when it comes to price let your common sense be your guide, you know how much items mean to you now and what they wil mean to you in the future. Ciao!