You can (hopefully) print the patterns by downloading the Adobe pdf file. The pat and bpt files are PC Stitch files. Some folks report that the patterns don't work at all on their computers; sorry, but I'm pretty sure that's an Adobe bug. On the other hand, the the lavander lines which appear in some of the pdf files is a bug in the software I used to generate the pdfs, and I'm not sure how to get rid of them. Most color printers have the ability to print in black-and-white, which should be good enough to avoid printing the lavander lines as lavander lines.
We received the following helpful advice from Katherine Robillard (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert):
If it's any help, I'd say that most of the patterns can be adapted for blackwork embroidery and/or cross-stitch, and that "long-armed" cross-stitch is most common in that period. If the patterns are done as borders in blue or red long-armed cross stitch on white linen household items such as towels, that's called "assisi work". Flora and fauna are common on assisi work. The more geometric or vinelike border designs would make great blackwork patterns for handkerchiefs, collars, cuffs, or any number of other items. The ones of classical gods (Luna, Mercury, etc) would make wonderful motifs for cushions, wall hangings, etc. I'm not sure how appropriate they would be for clothing -- I don't think I've ever seen human figures embroidered on clothing in any of the 16th century stuff I've looked at.
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Charts by Teri Landow / Lucrezia dei Bracchi (deibracchi@yahoo.com).