Embroidered Pillow Cover - Saru, Brown & Blue

The village of Surif (pop. 15,000) is located in a beautiful hilly region between Bethlehem and Hebron. About half the population of the village are refugees from the 1948 Nakba.

In 1950, a group of Mennonite volunteers came to the village to establish the Palestinian Needlework Program, in order to give the refugee women an opportunity to supplement their family income and to enhance their own self-reliance through empowerment.  In 1979, the village women took over the responsibilities to run the project, which, after a period of intensive training, was reborn as Surif Women's Cooperative, in 1983. 

Surif's Women's Cooperative is known for their distinct style, using cream-colored 'mansouri' cotton fabric instead of the popular 'eitamin' cross-stitch canvas. The embroidery patterns are produced by a system of counting threads, a method that gives the embroidery its striking and exact appearance on both sides of the fabric.  Surif's designs are adapted from traditional Palestinian dresses and reflect the heritage from different regions of Palestine.