Uzbek embroidery

So what did I see of embroidery in Uzbekistan? A tremendous amount, far far more than one would ever see in the UK. We were treated to both historic embroideries and visited a number of places where embroidery is carried out as a part of the economy; textiles being created either for personal and domestic use, or to be sold to locals and tourists. On two occasions we were also given a piece of fabric to stitch and some teaching by the embroiderers there. The wealth of amazing embroidered items, from the older pieces in the museums to newly embroidered items for sale was breathtaking. 

The Applied Art Museum in Tashkent was our introduction to embroidery, along with many other beautiful arts and crafts. Here and in Samarkand we saw household textiles, bed and cradle covers, prayer mats, suzanis to hang on the walls, blouses, jackets, babies clothes. Many of these might be a part of a bride's dowry, or created to beautify the home, be that a static house or, in the past, a yurt belonging to nomadic folk, where textiles provided both decoration and warmth. Traditional motifs included flowers and birds, pomegranates, peppers, stars and rosettes. The stitches that we saw used were predominately chain stitch, including that done as tambour work, and Bokhara couching. It all sounds very simple, almost naïve, but the variety we saw, the colours, patterns and designs were absolutely stunning. The pictures below will give you some idea of our delight.

Bokhara couching - row upon row of thread laid and couched, sometimes outlined in chain stitch

detail of the image below, a suzani, Bokhara couching and chain stitch

Suzanis are a very traditional part of the brides dowry. They are often made in several pieces, the fabrics loosely tacked together to allow the design to be drawn. Then they are taken apart and individual family members stitch their piece before all the bits are reassembled. A lovely way for a family to stitch their love and hopes for the bride into a gift which will serve to remind her of their affection for years to come.

several suzanis on display with our lovely guide Mashkhura explaining their creation

a more modern embroidery, but still using traditional motifs

exquisite goldwork on velvet

detail of above - you can see some of the sequins sparkling in the light

Having feasted our eyes on this loveliness we later visited several embroidery workshops and a wonderful collection of embroidered items in a private house.

In Gijduvan we were shown how the threads were dyed with natural pigments

then we sat down in a leafy courtyard with bulbul birds calling in cages above us, while several lovely ladies and young girls showed us how the embroidery was done

we were each given a piece of fabric to stitch - some of us were too creaky to sit on the floor, so no sneak peek of me here, just some of my lovely companions. Even the youngest girls of the household looked incredibly professional as they sat and stitched

and these are just a couple of examples of their work

We also visited the Bokhara workshop of Rakhmon Toshev. This amazing space had an astounding selection of beautiful embroideries on the walls, and great piles on trestles around the room, from which a selection were displayed to us, with explanations about the designs, and the skill and time involved in their stitching. 

Some were embroidered on a plain background

while with others the entire ground was covered in chain stitch - in this case done with a tambour hook rather than needle. 

The daughter of the master embroiderer showing us one of many beautiful textiles. Later we were given some fabric and thread and shown by him how to stitch a design

The Summer Palace had yet more colourful embroideries on the walls. One could have spent hours there just making sketches and taking notes about techniques and colours.

You can see here how suzanis are joined back together once stitching is complete

Finally, Akbar House, home to a marvelous collection of historic embroidered garments and household items and a vast array of embroidered goods for sale.

above and below, some of the beautiful collection of historic textiles and our host telling us about them

a wealth of embroidery, layer upon layer, laid out before us

The workshops we were given were interesting for a variety of reason beyond the simple one of being shown what to do. I was very struck by the almost workaday attitude to the stitching. We are used in this country to going to workshops which emphasise the importance of technique, methods of transferring designs, how to mount our work in a hoop, Perhaps we are introduced to concepts like Slow Stitch or Mending, working with found objects or recycled fabric. We are encouraged to explore themes and concepts in depth. Here, we were "just" doing embroidery.

The designs were drawn freehand onto the fabric with a biro, in this case to order - I asked him for a bird

The stitching was done using much longer pieces of thread than we are used to - no "elbow's length" restrictions here, just however much thread comes out of the pile. And by pile I mean exactly that. The colourful tangle below was the one from which our master embroiderer pulled out whatever thread he considered appropriate for the design we had chosen. In the case of the good ladies in Gijduvan, if the thread was too long, or wouldn't come out clean from the tangle she simply snapped off enough for her purpose. 

So what did I bring back from these workshops? Two pieces of embroidery, one partly done, and one just started, and two plastic bags holding a tangle of threads, mostly silk, but some very badly behaved deep red rayon which I have had to wrestle into submission! I have been enjoying the simplicity of "just stitching", watching the patterns form in the couching, depending on where you lay the couching stitch down and how much slant you give it, and the flow of the chain stitch as it works its way around the design.

work in progress

the chain stitch draws the fabric in however careful you are but once all the fabric is covered this will even out. Below the Bokhara couching forms leaves at the edge and the yellow elements in the flowers. I have supplemented the threads given us with some stranded floss in toning colours just in case I run out!

it's a lovely red, but boy it was springy and twisty and unwilling to comply with my intentions

my bluebird of happiness with his tangle of thread, awaiting further stitches

So, a long post about embroidery, but with so much to see there was a lot to talk about. It is still a living craft there, something done for a practical as well as aesthetic purpose, and it was a huge pleasure to see so much of such variety. I hope you haven't been bored?