Cape

Short blue wool cape.

Dress 1

Having done samplers, I wanted to start on garments, actually sew something to wear. A dark wool dress was a nice thing to start on, it has a similarity to the Palestinian dresses the patterns are taken from. I worked on the made-up dress. It is a nicer shape than it looks in this picture.


(The great product that I first used on this is 'waste canvas', a mesh that you tack onto the fabric , sew through and then remove when the pattern is complete. It allows you to embroider a regular counted stitch on any fabric.)

Large Sampler

So, I started working from the book, "Palestinian Embroidery Motifs". Not unconnected with the post 'Tiny Sampler', I thought that since I was needing glasses to use cotton thread on 16 stitch per inch linen, I could make life easier if I used tapestry wool on what was about 6 stitch per inch linen. Also, I would get a much bigger thing to put on the wall. This is almost true. The sampler I made ended up about 1metre wide and 1.5 high. It covers quite a lot of wall.

Palestinian Embroidery

I discovered Palestinian embroidery at the fantastic Palestinian Costume exhibition at the old Museum of Mankind in London. in 1989. To tell the truth, it was this exhibition that made me aware of who the Palestinians were, and what a beautifully rich culture they possessed. The catalogue to this exhibition is still quite easy to find, look on Abebooks.
In 2007 I found "Palestinian Embroidery Motifs:A Treasury of Stitches, 1850-1950" , by Margarita Skinner and Widad Kamel Kawar, in the bookshop of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This is a fantastic book: photographs of a collection of stunningly beautiful dresses, technical and historical commentry. and over 200 motifs named, located geographically, and drawn up in diagrams that are easy to sew from. An unusual combination of a beautiful record and description, and a very practical guide for sewing. My copy is falling apart.