Palestinian Embroidery Books
I get a lot of questions about Palestinian embroidery books that I use. So here’s a list of the books I read and used so far. I will be updating this post when I discover new books.
Palestinian Traditional Costume الملابس الشعبية الفلسطينية
The book is published by Inash Al-Usrah center.
Language: Arabic
The book gives a short introduction about the history of Palestinian costume and Palestinian traditions, followed by a big section that shows Palestinian motifs. I like this book a lot but sadly I don’t know where you can get it, however the embroidery motifs found in this book are also available in The guide to Palestinian embroidery book that I will talk about down below.
Palestinian Embroidery Motifs 1850 – 1950 A Treasury Of Stitches
Author: Margarita Skinner in collaboration with Widad Kawar
Language: English
This is one of my favorites. This book documented so many Palestinian embroidery motifs. It contains a clear images for the patterns, with the names of these patterns and the areas (city or village) they came from. If a motif is available or has been used in many areas, the book lists those areas and the names (if it has more than one name). I love this book and I highly recommend it.
You can get this book from here: https://rimalbooks.com/products/palestinian-embroidery-motifs
دليل فن التطريز الفلسطيني (Guide To The Art Of Palestinian Embroidery)
Authors: Nabeel Anani, Suleiman Mansoor
Language: Arabic
This is an incredible book for Palestinian embroidery motifs. It shows a lot of patterns clearly, mentions the names and the regions they were used in and suggested colors. It contains over 642 different motifs. I absolutely love this book and I use it all the time for my projects. I strongly recommend it.
Palestinian embroidery traditional “fallahi” cross stitch التطريز الفلسطيني غرزة الفلاحي التقليدية
Authors: Widad Kawar, Tania Tamari Nasir
Language: Arabic and English
This is a beautiful book. It shows images for traditional Palestinian dresses’ front, back, or sides. The images are so clear you could use them as a reference for projects, or as patterns. But this is not an embroidery pattern book, so you will not see motifs on graph paper. The book is organized by city; it lists images from Ramallah, Yaffa, Hebron, Gaza, and Bir al-Saba’.
The Journeys Of Motifs From Orient To Occident
Author: Margarita Skinner
Language: English
This is another great book by Margarita Skinner. It looks into the origins of Palestinian embroidery motifs. It also mentions some variations from the same motif, and the journey of some of these motifs from the Islamic world to Europe.
You can get this book from here: https://rimalbooks.com/products/journeys-of-motifs
Traditional Palestinian Costume Origins and Evolution
Author: Hanan Munayyer
Language: English
I’m still reading this book, but the parts that I read so far are amazing. It shows years of research and love for Palestinian embroidery and I totally recommend it. The pictures in this book are next level, I absolutely love it. In my opinion this should be in your bookshelf if you are interested in Palestinian embroidery. I will write a full review when I finish reading it.
You can buy this book from Amazon or Interlink Books: Traditional Palestinian Costume.
Threads Of Identity
Author: Widad Kamel Kawar
Language: English
In this book, Widad Kawar shares part of her story and how her collection of Palestinian traditional costumes and jewelry came to be. It shows years of research and interviews with the women behind those Palestinian traditional costumes. You get a little window to their personal stories and what these women and their families went through during that period of time. It also gives you a better understanding and appreciation of some of the traditions and embroidery known in different Palestinian areas. This book will make you smile, cry, and hold on tight to your roots.
I bought my copy from Rimal books, here is the link: https://rimalbooks.com/products/threads-of-identity
Palestinian Embroidery
Authors: Shelagh Weir, Serene Shahid
Language: English
This book has more information about Palestinian embroidery historically, tools and materials used, etc. It has a couple of patterns here and there, but this is not a Palestinian embroidery pattern book. I liked this book because it helped me know more about Palestinian embroidery, and it contains some beautiful images for old dresses and pillows.
You can get this book from Amazon.
Palestinian Costume
Author: Shelagh Weir
Language: English
This is not a book where you will see embroidery patterns or motifs, but it is a very nice and valuable book that documents Palestinian embroidery and traditional Palestinian costume and jewelry. The book is very well documented with pictures. It contains a ton of pictures of beautiful Palestinian dresses. For anyone who is interested in research about Palestinian traditional costume or fashion, this is a must-read.
You can get this book from Amazon or Interlink Books: https://www.interlinkbooks.com/product/palestinian-costume/
Palestinian Costume
Author: Jehan S. Rajab
Language: English
This is another book that talks about Palestinian embroidery costume. It has lots of valuable information about traditional Palestinian costumes based on the areas. It's not a pattern book, but I would totally recommend reading it.
You can get this book from Amazon.
Embroidery From Palestine
Author: Shelagh Weir
Language: English
This book gives a quick introduction about Palestinian embroidery, how Palestinian women embellished their dresses, the occasions these women would wear these dresses, and how fashion changed over time. It then displays some Palestinian women’s works, and with each one there are pictures showing the whole thing and a more detailed closeup picture. The book is not a pattern book, but the pictures are so beautiful and I find myself going through the pages of this book whenever I need inspiration.
You can get this book from Amazon.
Palestinian Embroidery
Author: Shelagh Weir
Language: English
This is also another book that has a quick introduction to Palestinian embroidery and then it shows some pictures for Palestinian embroidery works. With each work it mentions which area it is from and gives a brief description of the colors, motifs or fabric used.
You can get this book from Amazon.
Spring Is Here – Embroidered Flowers Of The Palestinian Spring
Author: Tania Tamari Nasir, Mary Jabaji Tamari
Language: English and Arabic
This Book contains images of embroidered flowers of Palestine.
You can buy ebook version on kindle from Amazon.
Stickereien für 1001 Nacht
Author: Anna Dolanyi
Language: German
Sadly I couldn’t understand the text since it’s in German, however the book has lots of beautiful motifs and patterns.
You can get this book from Amazon.
Traditional Palestinian Embroidery and Jewelry
Author: Abed Al-Samih Abu Omar
Language: Arabic and English
I wrote a review post for this one, you can check it out here.
You can get this book from Amazon.
There are so many amazing books that I’m still trying to buy but this is the list of Palestinian embroidery books that I own and use so far. If you recommend some other embroidery books, please let me know in the comments section below. Also if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll see you in the next blog. Love you all.
