PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.
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In Search of
Authentic Middle Eastern Fabrics
By Arabella
Introduction
My
sister lives in London, England near an Arab area. She has seen
fabrics there and wanted to send me some, but requested some
guidelines from me so that she could choose something appropriate.
But I realized that while I had absolutely no trouble in identifying
East Indian fabrics, I would not be able to recognize a fabric
from the Middle East.
It was time to hit the books. Here is the result of that research,
as well as some of my own ideas.
Stripes
Stripes appear in pictures over and over again. Often the
stripes are dark against a light background, and are colored
red or blue. I noticed also that the sleeves were usually cut
on the crosswise grain; by doing this, the pattern of the stripes
is not broken at the sleeve seam.
I wanted to make an Egyptian-style caftan, and found some
fabric which instinctively seemed appropriate. It was linen-like,
with medium-blue stripes bordered by narrow white, on a navy
background. A couple of weeks later, I attended my embroiderers'
guild meeting. Imagine my surprise when the speaker showed us
a piece of fabric from North Africa almost identical to what
I'd chosen!
There is a type of striped satin made in Syria and used in
Palestinian costume; it is alled "atlas" and is usually
red and yellow.
A note on color: green is popular throughout the Islamic world
because it was Mohammed's favorite color. Have you noticed how
many flags from this area include green?
Cross-Stitch
Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery is usually red on black
fabric, with blue or yellow accents. Sometimes it is dark red
on cream, and the accents can be blue, green, orange, or bright
pink.
The designs are geometric and regular. Common motifs include
moons, kohl pots, palm fronds, hijabs (triangles - head scarves),
and cypress trees.
Kaffeeyah
Kaffeeyah is the checkered head scarf worn by Arab males.
Most common is red or black on white, but here in Toronto I've
found some interesting color variations: sandy brown, two shades
of green, golden yello on black, and even neon pink on white!
My own kaffeeyah is red on black, because it reminds me of Palestinian
embroidery.
Tulle Bi Telli
Tulle bi telli fabric (which many dancers call assuit), from
Egypt, is made by bending bits of a narrow silver-colored metal
strip around the threads of a mesh fabric to create designs.
These designs are regular and stylized; in fact, they are similar
to those found in Palestinian embroidery. The fabric is usually
black, but occasionally it is white. There is a thread similar
to that used for the designs, used in metal thread embroidery
— it's called "plate".
In the photo to the right, Shira is wearing
a dress made of black tulle bi telli fabric over the top of a turquoise
unitard.
PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California. |
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Inspired by Islamic World
Fabrics inspired by the Islamic world could be included in
this discussion. Admittedly, this is more of an idea rather than
something tangible that can actually be found - but, nevertheless,
I have found two examples in the Toronto area.
The first is printed with a tile design from a mosque; I found
this in a fabric store on Derry Road, at Airport Road, in Malton's
Little India. The store has since closed.
The second is pale blue damask polyester, with a tone-on-tone
striped design of the star and crescent of Islam. I found this
at Maharani, at 1417 Gerrard Street East.
Alas, both pieces were end-of-bolt.
Silk
On a trip to Damascus, I saw intricately woven silk using
many colors, woven into complicated Arabesque designs. Many years
later, I still regret not buying any.
Ottoman
Designs borrowing from the Ottoman Turkish Empire also qualify.
Interesting plant designs are common, with tulips and carnations.
Some of the Islamic fashion stores in Toronto carry scarves
from Turkey; some of these feature such designs.
Pharaonic Egypt
We could also include fabric with designs inspired by Pharaonic
Egypt - although such designs have a somewhat different flavor.
Conclusion
These are all of the authentic Middle Eastern fabric types
that I've been able to think of so far. If anyone has any other
ideas, I'd love to hear from you. Please
write to me c/o Shira, and she'll forward your message along
to me.
About the Author
Arabella, the author of this article, has contributed many informative pieces to this web site on a variety of topics, including:
- Analysis of technique for doing certain dance moves
- Costume ideas
- Essays and opinion pieces
- Understanding Middle Eastern music
- Helpful how-to's, such as remembering choreography
Please visit Arabella's home page on this web site for a full list of articles she has contributed.
Arabella began her dance studies with Russian Ballet classes. Frustrated by ballet's impossible ideals, and curious about more ethnic dance disciplines, she moved on to study various other dance forms. Moving further east each time, these included Spanish flamenco, Escuela Bolera, Middle Eastern, and East Indian Odissi.
Arabella, based in Toronto, Canada, is also a certified Mastercraftsman in crewel embroidery, with a special passion for metal thread and ethnic embroidery. Currently she particularly focuses on Palestinian and East Indian embroidery. |
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