Look at this little tasseled ornament! It’s cross-stitch from Tajikistan, and is another example from Dr. Shirazi’s collection (see bottom of post for details on collection).

I like the design – very bright and geometric. Finishing the edges with beaded tassels and a crochet border on the bottom is a nice touch. Here is a photo with the tassels laid out better, but slightly worse lighting:

I’ll just finish with a few closeups, and a picture of part of the back (it’s lined, but the lining came loose in a few places).

This is one of a special series of posts based on the embroidery collection of Dr. Faegheh Shirazi, from The University of Texas at Austin. Her research is on “textiles, dress, gender identity discourse, and material culture in the Middle East; the meanings of veiling; rituals and rites of passage as they relate to material culture.” Over the years she has collected a number of examples of embroidery from around the world, and has very kindly allowed me to photograph them for my blog.