Assiut Cloth

I don't know what to write, but I want to share what I found in Istanbul.  I was trying to research nalbinding while we were overseas for my husband's sabbatical.  I did not find any nalbinding in Turkey, but I found some other exciting and high-quality crafts.  One amazing craft that I found is called Assiut Cloth in English, and it's called tel kırma, or Asyut, in Turkish.

I found a fantastic needlework school, just by chance while I was wandering Istiklal Caddesi.  There was a piece of embroidered net/tulle fabric in their shop window, and I eventually figured out that it's Assiut Cloth.  I think that Interweave Press is getting ready to publish a book on the subject.  This could become a new trend in American crafts.

Assiut cloth is very beautiful.  It's sparkles.  It looks to me like it's meant to be worn by fairy-princesses and ballerinas.  But the only references to it that I can find in English say that it is for belly-dancing.  I found it strange that the women who make Assiut Cloth in Turkey seem so respectable.  There must be something here about Turkish culture that I do not understand.

I want to contribute an article to Piecework Magazine about Assiut cloth.  But I do not write.  I mean, I can write but I just don't want to.  I'm not sure if I would even write to save my life.  Mikdat Kadioglu says that I am lazy.  I do not write because I am still angry inside, many years after battles with my parents about homework.  It would be lovely to overcome my emotional problems.

The magazine article is due before 15 December 2012.  I hate deadlines.  I am not writing this article!  But maybe a friend will write something.  I will help translate it.

Assiut cloth is one of several techniques for making cloth of gold.  I used to think that cloth of gold was only in fairytales, but in Turkey it is quite real.