{"id":16861,"date":"2026-03-10T11:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:08:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:08:38","slug":"la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

I embroidered during the day and unravelled it at night several times (but only waiting for the definitive inspiration) before finding the exact posture and colours. Each time I thought I had made the right choice, although, with hindsight, I recognise a voice that whispered subtly to me about the nature of the mistake (which was difficult to undo) in the form of a slight annoyance, similar to doubt or guilt, which I silenced by assuring myself that if I embroidered it accurately, it would be fine and that it was not worth undoing. Then I finished the embroidery and looked at it askance for days, feeling that uneasiness growing stronger. I ended up undoing it again and then, after the repeated recurrence of this useless sequence of events, I wondered what the criterion was through which this voice spoke: why it would be interesting to avoid the torments of the creative phase, even though I believe that torment is the driving force behind everything. The voice itself evoked a cryptic answer: the poetic criterion<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As if, only after achieving perfect harmony, the feeling of peace that follows decrees the end. It sounds very presumptuous, I realise. But I don’t think I’m doing something poetic. I don’t even know what poetry is. I just realise that when that something clicks and makes me say \u201cnow we’re there!\u201d, I feel a sensation that I also perceive when I hear beautiful words, when I contemplate a sunset, a work of art or eyes that look at me with affection, or that are inspired, and when a video or film moves me. And I have decided to investigate this voice and listen to it. But first I have to learn to recognise it, not to deny it and… not to let the psychiatrists catch me!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

There was no way around it. I undid the embroidery and almost ruined the fabric, which could not withstand any further rubbing from the buttonhole cutter and pulling from the tweezers. I won’t show you my countless attempts to create volume, from the steam stitch to the full stitch and the scalloped steam stitch. Nor will I post a photo of all the tiny petals embroidered with scalloped and long and short stitches, because they are now just a memory… A painful one. Because in the end, I replaced the dahlias with roses. And despite the defeat (which leaves me with a sense of revenge that I fear will become an obsession), the roses did well to come to my rescue. Because in the end, they are a self-quotation of my first flowery letters. And these, I have now decided, will be the designs for my next paper publication, which will see the light of day almost ten years after the first: the same inspirational alphabet is the basis, enlarged, on which flowers embroidered with more complex techniques rest, a conscious distribution of colour and the more spectacular roses, to which I owe the profound exercise I did thanks to them and on them, through embroidery and teaching.<\/p>\n

Thinking about the ten years makes me feel old and anxious…<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[343,249,248],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettere-bouquet-en","category-flower-letters","category-letters-and-monograms"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10-819x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"819\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elisabetta Sforza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elisabetta Sforza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elisabetta Sforza\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/80c618abc7e7e2abf04baee15b05c9f2\"},\"headline\":\"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings!\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\"},\"wordCount\":7582,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Bouquet Letters\",\"Flower letters\",\"Letters and monograms\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\",\"name\":\"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\",\"description\":\"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo-elisabettasforzaembroidery-it.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo-elisabettasforzaembroidery-it.png\",\"width\":290,\"height\":116,\"caption\":\"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/80c618abc7e7e2abf04baee15b05c9f2\",\"name\":\"Elisabetta Sforza\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/add7fbf14f47b0f91ed48316ea2ae778?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/add7fbf14f47b0f91ed48316ea2ae778?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elisabetta Sforza\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/author\/elisabettasforza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","og_url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/","og_site_name":"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","article_published_time":"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":819,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10-819x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Elisabetta Sforza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elisabetta Sforza","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/"},"author":{"name":"Elisabetta Sforza","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/80c618abc7e7e2abf04baee15b05c9f2"},"headline":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings!","datePublished":"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/"},"wordCount":7582,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png","articleSection":["Bouquet Letters","Flower letters","Letters and monograms"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/","url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/","name":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings! - Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png","datePublished":"2026-03-10T10:04:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T10:08:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.png","width":1080,"height":1350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/2026\/03\/la-dahlia-un-asconfitta-che-brucia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dahlia: a defeat that stings!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/","name":"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","description":"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#organization","name":"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery","url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo-elisabettasforzaembroidery-it.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo-elisabettasforzaembroidery-it.png","width":290,"height":116,"caption":"Elisabetta Sforza Embroidery"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/80c618abc7e7e2abf04baee15b05c9f2","name":"Elisabetta Sforza","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/add7fbf14f47b0f91ed48316ea2ae778?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/add7fbf14f47b0f91ed48316ea2ae778?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elisabetta Sforza"},"url":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/author\/elisabettasforza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16862,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16861\/revisions\/16862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisabettasforzaembroidery.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}