Embroidered djallabas-Djellabas brodées

Amal, the Moroccan angel who watches over the house when I am not there, has a whole wardrobe of djellabas. Intricate embroidery adorns the garments and she always wears scarves to match.

Amal, l'ange marocain qui surveille la maison lors de mes absences, possède toute une collection de djellabas plus belles les unes que les autres. Des broderies délicates ornent ces vêtements et elle a un foulard qui va avec chaque robe.

This young lady wears her everyday djellaba and a beautiful smile to go with it.

Cette jeune fille porte une djellaba de tous les jours et l'accompagne d'un beau sourire.

The djellaba below is one of Amal's most beautiful and is worn on special occasions only. The egg-yolk yellow velvet is embroidered with egg-plant silk thread and tiny pearls.

Cette djellaba est une des plus belles d'Amal. Elle est réservée aux grandes occasions. Le velours jaune d'oeuf est rehaussé de broderies couleur aubergine et de perles.

All the embroidery is done by hand by a friend of hers including each small yellow button. Weeks of work.

Toute la broderie, y compris les petits boutons jaunes, est faite à la main par une de ses amies. Des semaines de travail.

Even her everyday djellaba has hand-made tassels on the arm and embroidery along the seams.

Même sa djellaba de tous les jours est ornée de glands faits à la main et de cordons tout le long des coutures.

Machine-made embroidery on a plastic lady in Asilah.

Broderies à la machine sur une dame en plastic à Asilah.

The embroiderer in the Kasbah prepares a Djellaba for Eid el Adha.

Le brodeur de la Casbah prépare une djellaba pour l'Aïd.

Each loop is made from silk string. The tiny buttons on the other side will also be made by hand.

Chaque boutonnière est faite d'un cordon fait main. Les minuscules boutons de l'autre côté seront également faits à la main.

Images: Joelle Desparmet

The colours of Tangier: blue

Blue, the colour of the sea and the sky that surround you in Tangier but also random splashes of blue here and there and everywhere.

Indigo dyed garments worn by the Tuareg nomads....

...the pale blue flowers of plumbago coming out of a retaining wall.

A plastic covered school chair in the weaver's shop.

A quiet sun-drenched alley in Asilah on a lazy afternoon.

A white and blue striped fouta (Abanja) on a lounger at the L'Océan beach.

A striking blue djellaba on a dignified and elegant old man at the Grand Socco square.

Images: Sylvie Pellet, Joelle Desparmet

The colours of Tangier (2)

Moroccans love colour. No subtle beiges or ecrus, no perfect greys here. Colour reigns, taking cues from nature and translated into rugs, textiles and every day objects. 

When you see the city from the ferry as you arrive from Spain, it seems uniformly white-washed but as soon as you land you are thrown into a land of bright colours.

Deep reds, bright oranges and fluorescent greens jump at you outside the carpet shop.

More bright tones for these plastic inside/outside floor coverings

Vibrant colours that have inspired painters through time: bright spring flowers surrounding a baby palm tree. 

A simple ground-level vegetable "stall" becomes a colourful work of art.

In a shop, perfectly stacked sabra synthetic silk...

...that was probably used to sew these djellabas in bright primary colours with gold or silver trim and matching babouches.

Even cars get the colour treatment.

The balloons of the vendor on the Place du Grand Socco, the main square of the old part of town...

...are echoed by the buoys on the fishing boats at the wharf.

The peacefulness, the stillness of the water in the sun, the hard-earned rest of the boats after the harvest of the sea's bounty.

Photos: Sylvie Pellet, Joelle Desparmet, pinterest

Moroccan embroideries

The art of embroidery is very alive in Morocco. Women learn to embroider at a very young age and some embroidery is so intricate it takes months to do and costs hundreds of dollars. 

Below are typical embroideries made in Fez. The "Fez stitch" is a very fine mix of cross and straight stitches that often covers the cloth entirely.

Antique embroidery from Fes in a purple border.

Photo: IDPCM

Antique pillow in Fes stitch.

Photo: McCann

A tablecloth in Fez stitch 

The women don't mark the cloth. Positioning of the stitch is done by "eye" at an incredible speed.

photo: J R Pelmont

More to the south is another type of traditional embroidery from the area of Rabat, the Moroccan capital. This type of stitch is often done in silk, gold or silver thread and gives a beautiful shiny aspect. It is a very rich embroidery and is used on garments as well as cushions and bed covers.

These traditional embroideries are used by contemporary designers as in this superb room photographed  for the magazine "Coté Maison" by Bernard Touillion.

Some embroidery is now done with special sewing machines. That makes embroidered garments affordable. 

This proud tailor made the embroidered caftan below for a friend in just three days. We bring the fabric, choose the style of embroidery and thread colour and he starts working.

Djellabas are often elaborately embroidered and worn with co-ordinated scarves and babouches.

The main diffference between a caftan and a djellaba is that a djallaba has a hood while a caftan does not and a caftan is often worn for special occasions and sometimes heavily embroidered. 

The linen chambray caftan I wear for lounging at home:

Simpler hand embroidery on a blouse by Ludovic Petit, a french designer  in Marrakech.

Hand embroidered placemat and napkin by abanjà. This pointed example is called the "dars" stitch and is traditional moroccan embroidery. 

Dark brown hand embroidered velvet cushion by Abanjà...

 ...and olive green linen with chartreuse and silver embroidery by Ludovic Petit for abanjà.

Photos: Sylvie Pellet, Jeanne-Aelia Desparmet-Hart, Joelle Desparmet and others as sourced.