Embroidered Cloth from Azimur

The Zemmour (Azimur/Morrocco) tradition of embroidery has particular designs which can be also found in south Italian and Balkan embroideries.The principal motifs are the fat bird, the opposed birds set on each side of a fountain, the skirted lady and the heraldic beasts. These embroideries are worked in monochrome silk, with shades of red being the most common. Zemmour work also uses an outlining stitch in black. The stitch used is a small tight stem or seed stitch lay in two directions, making it appear like a small cross stitch. The stitch is sometimes worked very thickly to make a raised surface on the fabric.