MOROCCAN EMBROIDERY IS ALWAYS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

An ancestral art

Moroccan embroidery, called "Tarz" is an ancestral art in Morocco and has been passed down from generation to generation for several centuries. If precision is essential, it allows you to express your creativity and personalize many media. It offers many possibilities of patterns that are found in all Moroccan families. Traditionally, the sheets of the bride's trousseau or the birth of large families were personalized with Fassi embroidery. A distinctive sign of refinement and luxury, embroidery has always remained up to date and has even experienced a craze in recent years.

The different types of Moroccan embroidery

I will quote in this article the most widespread embroidery:

fez embroidery, flap embroidery, tetouane embroidery

 

Fez embroidery

 

Tarz el fassi or tarz El Ghorza (the fez embroidery)

 

It is a counted thread embroidery based on the diagonal line point called nasriya, horizontal and vertical called ghorza.

The ancient embroidery of Fez is monochrome. It is made on fine fabrics, linen or supple and shiny cotton with particularly fine threads.

This embroidery is performed on a low loom, rectangular in shape called mrama, made of a wooden frame mounted on four legs. This monochrome embroidery is often done in blue, bright red, garnet or black. The decor is generally composed of:

- a small border decorated with tiny geometric floral or arborescent motifs.

- a fairly wide band with a good composition, generally arborescent and floral. It is a very geometric vegetation, based on a broken line.

- A terminal frieze often in a pyramidal pattern called mkibat, delimiting the terminal frieze. In addition to these elements, other small errech patterns that embellish the rest of the fabric.

The decor can be applied both to interior decoration items: tablecloths, doilies, sheets, cushions, mattress fronts and curtains as well as to items of adornment and feminine accessories (scarves, headscarves, veils, handkerchiefs and trouser belts known as tekka ).

Rabat embroidery

 

 

TArz Rbati

 the new flap embroidery

In the new embroidery of Rabat, a low loom is used to stretch the fabric properly. This loom can be replaced by a simple heavily stuffed cushion. This embroidery has a double-sided character, contrasting with the image of flower gardens, drawing different multicolored bouquets where brown, pink and garnet mingle with mauve and violet. The backing is usually a sheer muslin, light brocaded cotton or silk. This new embroidery is made in feather stitch and flat stitch for the execution of horizontal lines going from the right side to the wrong side in order to fill in the patterns drawn in pencil. The repertoire of this embroidery is very diverse. In addition to the works produced from the old embroidery of Rabat, it includes pieces of decoration of the various furnishings: tablecloths and doilies for different uses, fronts of mattresses, pieces devoted to adornment and women's costume, namely mharmat scarves, so-called tekkat belts, the bride's veils and trousseau.

The old embroidery of Rabat

The rbati is an embroidery with a traced pattern. The ancient technique was executed freehand by a light line on the base fabric. The embroiderer followed the traced pattern covering it with the throwing stitch. The fabric attaches with large stitches to the frame of the embroidery frame. It is a low, rectangular-shaped loom, quite comparable to that of counted thread embroidery. The embroiderer could also make do with a heavily stuffed cushion held on her knees, on which the piece to be adorned is fixed on three sides. The backings were almost all white damask cottons, thick or thin, shiny and grained. The points used are the braided point and elongated line, the flat point and simple line. These points have a double face since it is a question of filling the decorative motif on the right side and upside down. In these old embroideries of Rabat, monochrome is de rigueur. Many are the pieces in a single red or dark blue tone. Some pieces have three colors with a predominance of dark carmine red, dark blue and old gold yellow. The decorative motifs used are often architectural, vegetal or even based on sticks or scrolls. The works produced are extremely varied: wedding curtains used to decorate the reception rooms, cushions, fronts of mattresses as well as other pieces intended for furnishing and feminine adornment of which the mchata headdress is the element major.

Tetouan embroidery

 

Tarz tetouani (tetouan embroidery)

This is traced pattern embroidery. The realization of this embroidery requires a heavily stuffed cushion held on the knees of the embroiderer. As she exercises her work, she keeps the embroidered part of the piece rolled up and wrapped with a cotton batiste in order to better preserve it. The supports used in Tetouan embroidery are often precious supports: stamens, fine linen or even natural silk. The stitches used are generally the massaged line stitch, the throw stitch, the bias stitch and the stem stitch. The execution of the embroidery is generally done with natural silk threads. In the embroidery of Tetouan, a game of polychromy is required: the strong tones are generally intended for the filling of the masses while the soft tones are used for the execution of the contours and the secondary elements. The embroidery covers only the extremities. The decoration generally includes: an airy central band with a pyramid-shaped floral component, a fairly thin frieze of rosettes, a border filled in flat satin stitch, a terminal frieze in small jagged motifs called mnichrate embellished with small upside-down flowers. This embroidery also produces different hangings, mattress fronts and interior decoration pieces of the living room and the bridal room.

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