There is a similar placement and quantity of embroidery on the back of the garment. The embroidery on these garments is dense on both sides and sometimes it can be hard to see which is the outside and which is the inside of the garment.
The dress sections are normally first embroidered and then sewn together. In general the embroidery is carried out in white cotton thread, with areas of the design highlighted in green, red, and yellow perlé cotton. The embroidery stitches used are chain stitch, couching over two rows, with overcast stitches, herringbone stitch, Roumanian couching, stem stitch, detached diagonal filling stitches worked in groups of three; and diagonal filling stitches making a row of connecting V-shaped stitches.
The main patterns used for Jebel Sabir dresses are based on circles, diamonds and small dots of various forms, all of which are worked in lines of varying sizes. Often the sleeves of these garments are folded back. As a result the seams associated with the sleeves may be on the outside of the garment, rather than the inside. This seam placement is deliberate and not due to ‘sloppy’ sewing.
Sources:
- MAURIÈRES, Arnaud, Philippe CHAMBON, and Éric OSSART (2003). Reines de Saba: Itinéraires Textiles au Yémen, Aix-en Provence: Édisud.
- RANSOM, Marjorie and Gillian VOGELSANG-EASTWOOD (2016). 'Embroidery from Yemen,' in: Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood (ed.), Encyclopedia of Embroidery from the Arab World, London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 520-559, esp. pp. 551-552.
- STONE, Francine (1985). Studies on the Tihamah: The Report of the Tihamah Expedition 1982 and Related Papers, London: Longman.
GVE