We agree with William Morris, who famously said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Suzanis—large, gorgeous, hand-embroidered textile—are both useful & beautuful.

For centuries, women have stitched together long strips of cotton and embellished them to form blanket-sized panels that became the workhorses of nomadic households in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian countries. These “suzanis”—named after the Persian word for “needle”—were used as bedcovers, prayer mats, rugs in yurts, and blankets to wrap goods for moving. A few, special suzanis were woven of silk.

Because suzanis were so fundamental to a home, girls worked from a young age with their mothers to craft them for their trousseaus. Often an especially beautiful suzani was chosen as a wedding canopy to protect the newlyweds during their first forty days of marriage, when lore had it the couple was especially vulnerable to the evil eye. 

Each panel on a suzani is generally woven on a narrow loom then sewn together, allowing more than one person to craft a suzani at a time. This “naked” suzani is then dyed, most often with natural dyes, including indigo, saffron, iron oxide, and pistachio nuts. Then, using only four basic stitches, women work symbols of properity, luck, and health into each suzani’s pattern, including vining flowers and leaves, medallions, and stars. Tradition demands that each suzani contain a small mistake or unfinished area to show that man isn’t perfect.

Today, suzanis bring texture and color to your home, and they still make wonderful bedspreads. We love them as wallhangings, too. A suzani draped over the back of a couch takes the stuffiness out of a room, and brings antique interest. And who doesn’t need a little protection from the evil eye?

Shop our one of a kind vintage Suzani here or come into Cargo 7 days a week, 11am-6pm.