Moroccan embroidery,
modern and old style
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| My favorite things... Moroccan embroidery, modern and old style |
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| Ah, the wonders of Moroccan embroidery. The stitches are made so carefully that it's virtually impossible to tell which is the right and which is the wrong side. Currently I have a piece of this embroidery in my kitchen window and just changed out the brass teapot and vase (winter decorations) for a silver Moroccan teapot that was a wedding present and a miniature tajine dish/lid (just a souvenir) that I have filled with rose petals. | |||||||||||||||||||
| As seen above, most of the fabric base is left unembellished with the embroidery forming a border and a few medallions. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| At Easter, Mom asked me if I'd like the piece of embroidery at right. She did not have to twist my arm to get me to accept it!! | |||||||||||||||||||
| When Mom was still single in Morocco, someone was selling off sections of a large piece of this old style embroidery which is relatively expensive because the backing fabric is nearly completely covered with stitches. According to Mom, the needleworkers would eventually go nearly blind doing this kind of dense needlework. (And please note that my lemons are ripening on my lemon tree and that my fig tree is coming back to life after almost convincing me that it was on its way out.) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Note how impossible it is to tell the back side of this piece (upper right corner of the photo) from the front side. Moroccan embroidery is hemmed the opposite way from how things are hemmed in the West. Hems are turned up to the front instead of being turned under to the back, but the raw edge is covered with stitching so you don't see any raw edges. The stitches on this hem are so thick that one might think it had been finished by a serger, except that one knows this was purchased long before sergers were in existence. | |||||||||||||||||||
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