How to Sew a Suzani
Suzanis are hand-embroidered tapestries with vivid designs based on Central Asian designs and sensibilities. Flowers and diamonds are popular motifs, as is a playful juxtaposition of symmetry and asymmetry. Though suzani designs are often quite elaborate, they are traditionally worked in only two stitches, making a small wall hanging or a suzani-inspired pillow sham an accessible project for a hobbyist. Traditionally designed in vivid jewel tones on a tan or cream background, suzani-style embroideries evoke both Jacobean crewelwork designs and traditional Oriental rugs.
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Things You'll Need
- Twill or tabby-weave fabric, cotton or cotton/silk blend
- Yardstick or measuring tape
- Scissors
- Thread
- Hand needle
- Masking tape
- Fine-tip black pen
- Embroidery hoop or frame
- Embroidery floss
- Chenille needle
Instructions
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1
Lay out the clean, pressed ground fabric and mark the dimensions of the finished piece. Add a 1 inch seam allowance on all sides. If you are piecing together lengths of traditional hand-woven tabby for the tapestry, use a long whip stitch to join the lengths along the selvedge. Cut the fabric to the measured dimensions.
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2
Bind the edges of the fabric to prevent raveling by laying strips of masking tape along the cut edge so that half the width of the tape is on the fabric, half off the edge. Fold the tape down along the edge and press to adhere to the back of the fabric. Repeat on all four sides of the fabric.
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3
Draw a design for the embroidery onto the fabric. Traditional suzani layouts include a large central motif with a four-cornered symmetrical border around it to evoke the layout of a courtyard garden. Blossoms, vines, and fruit designs are common in both traditional and contemporary suzanis.
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4
Mount the fabric into an embroidery hoop or frame. Be sure not to draw the fabric so tightly in the hoop that the weave is pulled askew. If you are using narrow lengths of fabric that you joined together, unpick the stitching and separate the pieces of fabric to embroider separately.
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5
Embroider over the design you have drawn. Often, couching is used to fill large areas and chain stitch used to outline motifs or for vines and other narrow lines. You can also use chain stitch spiraled from the center outward to fill areas of the design.
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6
Remove or trim away the masking tape binding on the edges of the fabric. If you are using multiple pieces of fabric, stitch them together with a very short whipstitch, matching up the embroidery designs. Hem or finish the edges of the suzani as per your project design.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a fine-tip colorfast marker to draw the design, so that you can stitch over the top of it and the lines will become invisible under the embroidery.
If you are making a pillow sham or another project that will be handled, make sure that both the ground fabric and embroidery floss can be washed or dry-cleaned safely. Many hand-dyed flosses are not colorfast.
References
Resources
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