Local tatreezer builds community through Palestinian embroidery [Video]

Israa Alsaafin’s face lights up as she drapes her silky thobe — a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress — onto a chair for her former students to admire.

The four women compliment its soft pink colour and intricate tatreez, or Palestinian embroidery design. It’s an inspiration for the group, who gather to weave needles through cotton canvases, filling the room with conversation and laughter — a stark contrast to Alsaafin’s early days learning tatreez alone through online classes.

For artist Israa Alsaafin, teaching the traditional cross stitching art has helped her through loss and with building community.

Though Alsaafin grew up in a Palestinian home filled with tatreez decorations, she only became interested in learning the craft in her 30s, after a trip home in 2022 to Gaza.

“For me it was like, that’s the old ladies’ art. My mom tried to teach me, but I didn’t learn,” she explained.

Since …