Islamic Middle Eastern Embroidery: Basic Stitches

By: THL Ghadah Falak Noor Bint Safia Abdu-llah

email: ladysatinedelacourcel@gmail.com
Website: http://theembroiderydiaries.weebly.com

Islamic Embroidery
Woven silk fabrics were extremely expensive. They were usually reserved for royalty, nobility and high ranking
officials. This made it somewhat difficult for everyday people to procure such beautiful fabrics for clothing.
Luckily, there was an alternative to dress up plain fabrics. A cheap alternative to woven patterning was
embroidered work. (Baker 73) During the middle ages Islamic era it was popular to adorn your fabrics with
various styles of embroidery. Certain stitches would stand alone. Other times, several stitches were used at
once on a single garment, both creating beautiful adornment and a unique industry during this time.
What is embroidery
Embroidery is a decorative needlework in fancy thread... (Walker 187).
Who were the embroiderers
The varied quality of many of the pieces and fragments of embroidery, confirm that in addition to being done in
the bazaar, Walker also states:
Embroidery, as opposed to weaving, was a cottage industry. While some needlework was produced by
professionals in the public marketplace, most was made at home by women. Embroideries were an important
component of the bridal trousseau during the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods, as we know from Genezia
documents. The average person in medieval Cairo, for instance, was well-informed about embroideries and has
a sophisticated sense of what was of high quality and aesthetically pleasing (187).

Applique' stitch. Fragment from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452400?when=A.D.+14001600&ft=Islamic+embroidery&pg=1&rpp=20&pos=3

What was Adorned

Preserved pieces and textile fragments have been unearthed in Egyptian burial sites, and also found in garbage
dumps. Many of these surviving pieces are large enough to identify what type of item it came from, such as a
hat, kerchief, or tunic. While other small fragments may not be so easily identifiable as to what they adorned
they do give us valuable information such as: type of ground cloth, embroidery medium and stitches used. The
following quote indicates some of the smaller objects that were embroidered.
...needlework was used widely to decorate all manner of garments including, tunics, the ends of
trouser legs, girdles, waist tie-bands, scarves, caps, slippers and kerchiefs kept in wide sleeves of the tunics.
Items of household linen were also embroidered and include towels, pillow covers, and cloths of different
shapes and sizes used as wrappers and covers. Many such cloths were required for household use to act as dust
covers for all manner of objects including trays, baskets, cooling jugs for water and ceramic jars of the type
known as albarelli or drug jars. Cushions were essential to provide comfort in homes which did not use chairs or
beds. In Mamluk paintings curtains are depicted knotted or drawn aside and evidently played an important part
in the interior furnishings as wall-hangings and room dividers. Two of the more unusual items in the collection
which were hung as ornamental edged around tents and canopies and an embroidered cover for a padded glass
bottle (Ellis 8).

Two Mamluk textile sleeves and a skull cap, Egypt, circa 14th century. Sotheby's

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/arts-of-the-islamic-world-l13223/lot.126.html
The following indicate larger items that were often embroidered to one degree or another:
Prestigious robes of honor, khila, were given annually by the Mamluk court, which included a
bewildering variety of clothing appropriate to the recipients rank (Mackie 127).
Not all Mamluk embroidery was on a small scale: the Brooklyn Museum, New York, has in its collection
part of a large ogival medallion shape in linen, criss-crossed with indigo-blue silk embroidery to form foliated
compartments. Its generous size suggests use as a tent panel or awning section (Baker 76).

Materials
Materials used for embroidery may consist of linen, cottons and silks for ground fabrics, a well as the same
materials also used for the embroidery itself. Linen ground and silk floss were the most common. As Walker
describes:
In the case of Mamluk embroidery, the needlework was usually done in floss silk on an uncolored,
tabby cotton or linen background. The needlework alone enlivened what was an otherwise plain textile (187).
Some surviving pieces also show materials such as silk and cotton being for ground fabrics and
embroidery.

Red (faded cotton) embroidered with linen thread in

interlaced herringbone and chain stitch Example is
used to show cotton being used as ground fabric. (Ellis
Plate 53). Photo from the Ashmolean website:

http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/8/per_ Silk applied patchwork bag with red, white, blue,

page/100/offset/0/sort_by/relevance/object/10857 green and yellow silk in buttonhole stitch eyelets and

backstitch(Ellis Page 94). Photo from Ashmolean site

http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/8/per_
page/100/offset/300/sort_by/relevance/start/798/en
d/1575/object/10815
Thread counts of ground fabrics varied greatly. Embroidery was worked on even weave and non even-weave
fabrics alike. Examples with listed thread counts are found in the Marianne Ellis book Embroideries and
samplers from Islamic Egypt. Also pieces found on the Ashmolean.org website.

Colors

The following colors were used in Islamic embroidery: dark blue, purple (Lamm 67), tan (Hague 12),
orange (Hague 15), light blue (Walker 196), the remaining colors are found in Embroideries and
Samplers from Islamic Egypt red, blue, green, dark brown, yellow, black, brown, white, pink and
cream.

Textile fragment with cruciform palmette, Ashmolean Museum,

http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/8/per_page/100/offset/0/sort_by/relevance/object/10851A

Patterns
Islamic embroidery patterns used include: script, geometric designs, , scrolling vines and shapes, animals such
as birds and fish, and floral are found throughout Islamic embroideries during the Islamic era. from the 9 th -16th
centuries. Marriane Ellis states in the book Embroideries and Samplers from Islamic Egypt:
Many of the embroideries are worked in geometric patterns but there are also examples of scrolling
and arabesque designs, figural motifs and calligraphy (Ellis 8).
Many of these patterns used in embroidery are found on museum websites that house fragments and surviving
pieces from this era. And are also found in books and articles that specifically study Islamic embroidery.
The Following fragments showing different patterns and stitches are found on the Ashmolean website:

Accession #EA 1984.43

Accession # EA 1984.119

Accession # EA 1984.501

Accession # EA 1984.65

Accession # EA 1984.132

Accession# EA 1984.503

Accession # EA 1984.66

Accession # EA 19894.126

Accession # EA 1984.508

Additional Patterns:

Mamluk 13-14th Century . Cleveland Museum of Art

Accession #1950.532 Fragment of embroidery,
Egyptian (Arabic)

Linen Block printed and embroidered. Chain stitch. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accession # 30.112.26

Yellow textile decorated with another textile is

13th16th century. Linen ground with black silk in
chain stitch. MFA Boston Accession # 48.1061

Cupbearer blazon 13th15th centuries, linen ground

and applique. Egypt Appliqu cotton Kelsey Museum
of Archaeology, Accession # 88027

applied upon it with the designs outlined in black

thread. (No accession # found on website)

Cap fragment. 1000-1400 AD. V&A Museum

Accession # 298-1891

Basic Embroidery Stitches

Please Note: Stitch diagrams are from the book Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving 1912 edition by Grace
Christie.

Blanket Stitch:

Buttonhole Stitch: Similar to Blanket stitch however the stitches are smaller and laid down next to one
another.

Back Stitch

Chain Stitch

Couching

Cross Stitch:

Spaced Cross Stitch: similar to cross stitches only there are spaces in between the X's

Satin Stitch

Split Stitch

Stem stitch

Works Cited
Baker, Patricia L. Islamic Textiles. London, British Museum Press, 1995. Print
Christie, Grace. Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving. 1912 Print
Ellis, Marianne. Embroideries and samplers from Islamic Egypt. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2001. Print
Hague, Marian. "The Exhibition of Embroideries at the Arden Gallery". The Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin
Club, Vol. 12, No. 1 (1928): 2-7. CS.Arizona.edu. Web 28 Aug 2009
Lamm, Carl Johan. "Some Mamlk Embroideries". Ars Islamica Vol. 4, (1937): pp. 64-77 JSTOR. Web 3 March
2012
Mackie, Louise W. "Toward an Understanding of Mamluk Silks: National and International Considerations". In
Muqarnas II: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture, (1984): 127-146. Archnet. Web. 5 Dec. 2014
Walker, Bethany J. "Rethinking Mamluk Textiles". Mamluk Studies Review, Vol 4 (2000): 167-217 Uchicago.edu.
Web. 16 April 2011
Works Consulted
Cave, Oenone. Cut-work Embroidery and How to do It. New York, Dover, 1963. Print
Christie, Grace. Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving. London: Published by John Hogg. 1912 Archive.org
7/14/2014
Day, Lewis F. "Art in Needlework." London, B.T. Batsford 1900. Archive.org 5/12/2012
Gostelow, Mary. World of Embroidery. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1975. Print.
Haxell, Kate. The Stitch Bible. Cincinnati, F&W Media International, 2012 Print
Humphrey, Carol, Samplers, Cambridge University Press, 1977. Print
McNeill, Mpyra. Drawn Thread Embroidery. New York, Henry Holt ans Company. 1989 Print
Rhodes, Mary, The Batsford Book of Canvas Work. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1983 Print
Wark, Edna, Drawn
Fabric Embroidery: A Guide to Pulled thread Work, London: B T Batsford, 1979. Print.
Webb, Mary. Embroidery Stitches. Richmond Hill. Firefly books Ltd., 2006 Print
Wilson, Erica, Erica Wilson's Embroidery Book. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. Print

Websites
Art Institute of Chicago http://www.artic.edu Last accessed March 4th 2016
Ashmolean Museum http://www.ashmolean.org/collections/ this website has the best selection of
Islamic embroideries online. Last accessed April 17 th 2016
Brooklyn Museum https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/ Last accessed January 5th 2016
Eternal Egypt www.Eternalegypt.org Last accessed April 17th 2016
Mamluk Embroidery http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/Textiles/mamluk_embroidery.html last
accessed December 10th 2014
Mathilde's Medieval and Renaissance Embroidery Page
http://home.comcast.net/~mathilde/embroidery/embroid.htm Last accessed June 1st 2012
Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org/ Last accessed April 17th 2016
Museum of Fine Arts Boston http://www.mfa.org/ Last accessed April 17th 2016
Miriam's Middle Eastern Research Blog https://awalimofstormhold.wordpress.com/embroiderycharts/ Last accessed April 17th 2016
Sotheby's http://www.sothebys.com/en.html Last accessed November 8th 2015
Victoria and Albert Museum http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/t/the-collections/ Last accessed April 17th
2016
Walters Art Museum http://thewalters.org/ Last accessed April 17th 2016