The Art of Shisha Embroidery

When I was a little girl my mother had this amazing textile that I loved to just sit and examine. I had no idea where it was from or what it's purpose was, only that it had these amazing little mirrors embroidered into the fabric along with rich lines and blocks of colour. One of my strongest memories from when I was little is sitting on a big, comfy chair and looking intently at this (what seemed to me then) huge blanket with this incredible design, and those mirrors. Ever since then I've snatched anything I could find that had those little mirrors embroidered into it - my collection is small and only really contains that blanket (which is actually more like a table runner), a pillow cushion, and a beautiful skirt that I picked up for $2 at the Sally Ann.

Up until quite recently (I still had no idea what the art of embroidering those little mirrors into textiles was called or where it really came from, but my love for them has been renewed because of another interest of mine: tribal fusion belly dancing. I absolutely love the costumes that these chicks concoct; the rich fabrics, textiles, ornamentation, etc. There are so many influences in there that each little embellishment and touch can tell as much of a story as the dancing itself. When looking through some pictures of Zoe Jakes, I came across one of her wearing a bra completely embroidered with my little mirrors - so awesome! I've been keeping my eyes out for them ever since.

Not satisfied with just appreciating their beauty, I decided to try and figure out what the embroidered mirrors were called and how you could make them. In a brain break from doing database work yesterday, I did a bit of googling and found out some really interesting stuff about them.

The technique of embroidering mirrors into fabrics and textiles comes from India and it has a long standing tradition that dates back hundred and hundreds of years. The mirrors themselves are called shisha, and so the technique has been named after the mirrors. Pre-1500, the art of embroidering cheap, shiny decorations into clothing was developed by the lower classes throughout India as a way of imitating the upper class fashions that were embroidered with precious metal threads and jewels. After the 1500s, mirrors replaced some of the cheaper materials used and the technique quickly spread throughout regions such as the Middle East and even England. Because of their reflective quality, the little embroidered mirrors, or shisha, were thought to have the power to deflect evil away from the wearer.

Okay, that ends my poorly written history lesson. :P So anyway, I found out that really neat and interesting history, and along with that I finally found out how to make shisha! It seems fairly straightforward and along with a handy dandy how-to tutorial I should be able to crank them out. I'm so excited - I love being able to make my own beautiful things.

So, when I finally make my way down to the local Michaels to pick up supplies for my flower hairpiece, I'm going to have to pick up an embroidery kit and some cheap knock-off circular mirrors to play around with.