Tatreez for Beginners by samanajjar

Tatreez For Beginners

Palestinian Edition

By Sama Al Najjar

Tatreez for Beginners

By Sama Al Najjar

WELCOME TO TATREEZ

How about you learn Tatreez to continue the Journey of the Palestinian women?

What is Tatreez?

Tatreez is an arabic word, representing an embroidery style that is uniquely Palestinian and is traditionally known as fallahi

Tatreez is a symbol of Palestinan Identity, the patterns change from city to city, and are a symbol of important events, such as weddings or pregnancies. The colors used would also symbolize different stages in life.

Ramallah Al - Khalil Future Brides Young girl Mature Women

THE MAP OF PALESTINE

SYRIA

AL- QUDS RAMALLAH BE THLEHEM AL - KHALIL JAFFA GAZA BEERSHEBA NABLUS JININ NAZERET H HAIFA TULKARM JORDAN

EGYPT

TATREEZ STITCH GUIDE

Step 1 - Finding the beginning point

AIDA CANVAS

Make a crease in the aida cloth (canvas) by folding it in half. Find the middle of the material by opening it, rotating it 90 degrees, then folding once again to make another crease. Use a pencil to draw a dot right in the middle.

Once you’ve marked the center of your canvas, do the same for your embroidery design. Count the stitches in the whole design and divide that number by two. The result is the midpoint for your design. This is where your embroidery adventure begins!

note: the centre of embroidery is not always the starting point

Step 2 - Prepare your needle and thread

Cut 70 to 80 cm of the thread, feed it into the needle, and tie a knot at the other end.

80 cm 70

Step 3 - Beginning of the Tatreez INDIVIDUAL CROSS STITCH

Follow the instructions in the illustrations bellow to start the first cross stitch. then continue on as shown in the next steps.

A HORIZONTAL LINE OF CROSS STITCHES

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

From below, bring the needle to 1. down at 2 and up at 3 and down at 4 ( a cross is formed)

1 2 3 10 5 6 7 4 9 8 1 2 3 10 5 6 7 4 8 1 2 4 2 3 1 4 2 3 1 4 2 3 1

A Vertical cross stitch line

A Diagonal cross stitch line

Each Stitch is done as an individual cross stitch

1 2

PALESTINIAN THOBES (DRESSES)

RAMALLAH للها مار JAFFA افاي GAZA ةزـــغ HEBRON لـيلخـلا

مار

RAMALLAHللها

Did you know!

Ramallah textile known as “Rumi” was woven by hand!

The Palestinian women used to do Tatreez on the white Rumi for summer and when the seasons changes they dye it to black and embroider on it.

It was known about the Palestinian women’s accuracy in counting the threads of the cloth so that the stitches are regular, and in counting the stitches they organize the geometric patterns and shapes which are embroidered perfectly onto the dress.

RAMALLAH

للها مار

*Make sure to embroider horizontally

Check out the QR code for the tutorial under the Aida Start End

Learn the how to embroider the Palm tree!

RAMALLAH للها مار

Ramallah Motif

JAFFAافاي

Did you know!

The city of Jaffa is located on the Mediterranean coast, northwest of Jerusalem. Since the ancient times, Jaffa is know for its citrus fruits whose green trees surround the city and its neighboring villages.

Jaffa district Tatreez is famous for its accuracy and elegance. The stitches are beautifully decorated and the patterns are elegant and expressive.

When looking at the embroidery patterns on the dress of this region, we notice that its decorative units were surrounded in most cases with patterns of the cypress tree, just as the cypress trees surrounded the orange groves.

JAFFA

افاي

Learn the how to embroider the Jaffa Cypress tree

Check out the QR code for the tutorial under the Aida

*Make sure to embroider horizontally

JAFFA

Start

افاي

End

Jaffa Motif

HEBRONلـيلخـلا

Did you know!

Hebron is rich in its heritage and ancient in its traditions, its artisans worked for centuries in various craft industries, such as glass blowing, pottery, decorating leather, and the textile industry.

The cotton fabrics known as al-Qarawi, woven by hand with a loom, were woven in large quantities and dyed with indigo for the dresses of the villagers.

The villagers used to come from the surrounding areas to shop for these fabrics from the Friday Market in Hebron.

The Hebron district includes several villages that are famous for their dresses and embroidery, which are distinguished by their density and multiplicity of colors and patterns.

HEBRON

لـيلخـلا

Learn the how to embroider the Basha’s Tent!

*Make sure to embroider horizontally

Check out the QR code for the tutorial under the Aida

HEBRON

Start End لـيلخـلا

Hebron Motif

ةزـــــغ

GAZA -

Did you know!

The land of Gaza was famous for its fertility, green pastures, and the abundance of herds of livestock that were used for the production of wool, which motivated its people to weave wool.

Among the most important cities of the Gaza Strip is Asdod al-Majdl and Gaza City itself. Asdod is a port on the coast and was known for its distinctive embroidery with large geometric units. Al-Majdl was a center for weaving and used to supply all Palestinian villages with fabrics until 1948.

The Gazan cloth, made of cotton and linen, had a distinctive canary or edge of striped colored silk.

The entire population of al-Majdal was evacuated in the 1948 war (Al -Nakba), and some of them became refugees in a camp in Gaza, where their weavers continue their weaving.