Sources of Inspiration - Textile Arts of Central Asia

I like my embroidery to be practical and Central Asian embroidery is very practical. Many examples of this type of embroidery are on everyday objects, from doors, to pouches, to clothes. Some great examples are found at the site, To Have and To Hold. This is an exhibition by The New England Rug Society. This exhibition displays a large collection of Central Asian embroidered bags.

The following site also looks at bags from Central Asia - LAKAI The Bad Beys of Central Asia again looks at bags, while Turkoman Embroidery and Women's Magic looks at a variety of objects created by Turkoman women, it specifically looks at only a single element of their embroidery tradition, the protective and magical functions of embroidery in birth, childhood and marriage.

The Renaissance Tailor has a great tutorial on how to make a central asian hat for winter and some examples of very bright embroidery for decorating them.

This site, Textile Arts of Central Asia, is a site at the Powerhouse Museum, set up to help Year 12 HSC (Higher School Certificate) students with their studies.