Custom Order: 20 Red/Black Tatreez Table Runners, 48 Inches Long

This listing is for 20 x 48-inch table runners using red/black embroidered tatreez fabric. the fabric is approximately 12.5-13 inches wide, including the serged edges. The length will be 48 inches. The table runners will be unbacked, with a single-fold hem. The finish will be a 48 x 12.5-13-inch rectangle table runner.

For 20 units, we will use 27.5 yards of fabric:

Calculation is 49-49.5 (with hem allowance) x 20 units = 990 inches/36 inches (1 yard) - 27.5 yards. 27.5 yards x $15/yard = $412.50 + 20 x $2/each for hemming and materials = $452.50.

The tatreez is made in Jordan using embroidery machines and it is hand-finished. The fabric is a polyester fabric similar to that used for thobe dresses.  There is an interface  fabric used in the embroidery process to stabilize the stitching.

Tatreez is Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery distinguishable by its luscious color schemes and elaborate patterns. This textile art emerged in the Middle East nearly 3,000 years ago. The tradition was passed down orally from mother to daughter, from generation to generation. The embroidery stitching is its own language using symbols to tell stories of one’s nation, village, family, and heritage. The symbols, thread, and cloth colors represented different communities in Palestine. Women in Jericho, near the Dead Sea, stitched colorful floral patterns.  Women of Hebron used blues and stitched moons while women in Ramallah would use red thread to stitch palm and cypress trees.  In the mountainous regions, women would use black fabric as the background while women in the north, traditionally used white fabric. 

Tatreez became a dying art form at the end of the 1940s as women were displaced, families dispersed. Two decades later, a tatreez revival saw the transformation of traditional stitching to one’s expressing opinions, sharing stories, and even documenting oppression, occupation, and resilience.