Studying embroidery from different areas of the world was part of my City and Guilds course. I started with Middle Eastern embroidery.
I had to choose three different areas of the world to studying and of course wanted to pick three quite diverse areas, to make the most of what I could learn about. So I chose India, the Middle East and Italy. So why did I choose the Middle East as one of the three? Well, it's not an area of the world that I know a great deal about. I had been introduced to Armenian Needlelace at my local embroidery classes, and as I love needlelace anyway, was instantly fascinated by the beautiful patterns that can be created. I also remember admiring the beautiful Middle Eastern patterns on items in the V&A. So Middle Eastern embroidery seemed like it would be interesting to learn more about.
Different areas of embroidery
I started researching the different countries of the Middle East and soon began to see how varied the embroidery was across the area. The traditional dress of Palestine is so colourful. The Bethlehem couching influenced by the uniforms of the officers of the Ottoman empire is stunning. Syria has its monochrome counted thread Aleppo embroidery and it's chain stitch Ghabani work. Cyprus is known for Lefkara lace and Egypt has great variety in its Akhmim, Siwa Oasis and Telli embroidery. This is clearly not an exhaustive list, and is merely the few styles I looked at. However even from this small selection of work from the area, it is easy to see how diverse the embroidery in this region is. It's definitely something that I'd like to investigate more in future and try out some more of the different techniques.
Oya
Oya is a type of knotted needle lace particularly associated with Turkey, however it is made throughout the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean area, as well as in Armenia, and dates back around two thousand years. Traditionally silk and cotton yarns were used, however today synthetic yarns are commonly used. Designs are generally inspired by nature, particularly flowers, leaves, birds and butterflies. Oya has been made in Turkey for centuries.
I had tried a little bit of Armenian needlelace before, so I thought it would be nice to try a bit more. I attempted a few flowers and an edging.
I really enjoyed doing this, but it's a long way from perfect! It's definitely a tecnique that requires a lot of practice to get neat and even.
Later on in the course I had to experiment with different edging techniques, so I immediately thought of this technique. and so I tried out a few of the different beautiful edgings that I had seen while doing my Middle East research.
I had seen beads added to the edgings, so had a go at adding them here.
I particularly like this edging and the way it hangs down. I'm sure I'll try out some more edgings and flowers over time, and hopefully improve my technique.
Next I moved on to India! Read about my studies of Indian embroidery here: Indian Embroidery (claireharveyembroidery.com)