12 Books Every Tatreez Artist Should Have in Their Library
The question I get asked all the time…where do you get your designs?!
Nowadays I like to create my own compilations and designs so I find myself sourcing most of my motifs from Tirazain because it’s easier to filter and scroll through different motifs and then have them ready to design in a design tool I use called Macstitch (Macstitch uses a particular file type but when the motifs are easily downloadable in that file type it makes designing incredibly simpler).
HOWEVER, books are the OG way of finding inspiration and different designs and honestly, is there anything better than the smell when you open a brand new book for the first time and flip through its pages?
The answer is no. It’s just so incredibly dreamy.
There’s also just something special about the physical presence of a book next to your threads and fabric that will forever hold a special place in my heart.
With that said, I felt it would be useful to share a list of tatreez-related books that I’ve added to my tatreez library!
Each one has something special to offer, but I’ve tried to split them up into the following categories in case you have more self control than me around your book budget:
For History
Traditional Palestinian Costume - Origins and Evolution by Hanan Karaman Munayyer - also a great coffee table book, incredible photos
Palestinian Costume by Shelagh Weir
The Art of Palestinian Embroidery by Leila El-Khalidi
Traditional Palestinian Embroidery and Jewelry by Abed Al-Samih Abu Omar
For Motifs
5. دليل فن التطريز الفلسطيني by Nabeel Anani and Suleiman Mansour
6. Spring is Here: Embroidered Flowers of the Palestinian Spring by Tania Tamari Nasir
7. التطريز الفلسطيني ؛ 'غرزة الفلاحي' التقليدية by Tania Tamari Nasir and Widad Kamel Kawar
8. The Journeys of Motifs: From Orient to Occident by Margarita Skinner
9. Palestinian Embroidery Motifs by Margarita Skinner
For History + Motifs
10. Thobna by Wafa Ghnaim
11. Tatreez and Tea by Wafa Ghnaim
Last, but not least, for Technique (A MUST!):
Seventeen Embroidery Techniques from Palestine: An Instruction Manual by Tania Tamari Nasir, OmarJoseph Nasser-Khoury, Shirabe Yamada, with Widad Kamel Kawar. A Sunbula production.
I hope this helps you find your next tatreez book(s) and please do let me know if any of the links no longer work or there is another book that isn’t listed that should be added. You’ll be helping me expand my own library so I would be forever grateful!
Happy reading & tariz-ing :)
