Ass. Sauvegarde et Rayonnement des Jours d'Angles - Angles-sur-l'Anglin

Angles-sur-l'Anglin, one of "the most beautiful villages of France", is the birth place of a unique and celebrated openwork embroidery technique. With the help of small, very fine and pointed scissors, the tracer pulls weft and warp threads to obtain openings, through which the embroiderer then decorates with a needle and thread using stitches particular to the Jours d'Angles technique. This unique technique can be used with materials including silk, linen, and cotton.

Invented in the middle of the 19th century, this technique was popular up to the mid-1950's, when there were more than 300 embroideries in the village. Unfortunately, during the 1960's and 70's the demand for Jours d'Angles began to diminish and as a result a group of local women decided to found the 'Sauvegarde et Rayonnement des Jours d'Angles Organization, a group intended to preserve this embroidery technique.

The association continues to teach the technique but also produces numerous traditional and contemporary pieces. Thanks to this enthusiasm, an 'Heritage Centre' will be created in the near future.