Stitches of Palestine by Salua Qidan and Laila Mushahwar

Stitches of Palestine is a deeply researched and visually rich study of Palestinian embroidery, dress, and material heritage, written by Salua Qidan and Laila Mushahwar. Created through years of close study with the Widad Kawar Collection, one of the most important collections of Palestinian and regional dress, the book documents the stitches, structures, materials, and regional traditions that give the Palestinian thobe its identity. It moves beyond embroidery as surface decoration, revealing tatreez as a language of place, skill, memory, and women’s inherited knowledge. Across more than 300 pages, Stitches of Palestine brings together detailed dress analysis, geographical context, technical stitch instruction, and over 500 images of historic textiles, embroidery details, and garments. It explores embroidery traditions across Palestine, from Ramallah and Bethlehem to the Galilee and Bedouin communities, offering readers a grounded understanding of how stitch, colour, structure, and region come together in Palestinian dress. At a time when tatreez is gaining wider visibility, this book is especially important. It helps protect the depth and specificity of the craft from being flattened, diluted, or separated from its origins. For makers, designers, historians, museums, cultural institutions, and anyone drawn to Palestinian heritage, it offers both a practical guide and a careful act of preservation. More than a textile book, Stitches of Palestine is a work of cultural documentation. It honours the technical brilliance of Palestinian embroidery while placing each stitch within a wider story of village life, identity, continuity, and the women who carried this knowledge across generations.