The Handkerchief Club

shahida_needleworkIn old times women used to get together and embroider. This was an intimate ‘Club’. A place to speak, listen, laugh and cry. This slow quality time between women has long gone, together with one of the most beautiful, romantic products ever to exist: The hand embroidered handkerchief.

The Handkerchief Club initiative wishes to revive this intimate product, while providing an ethical income for women in need.

It also wishes to bring back the personal touch that used to be a part of trade. A tiny print is made on each handkerchief. It tells you the name of the woman who embroidered it for you.

All of the embroideries are handmade in Bulgaria. I Work with each embroiderer individually, at her own home. We embroider, we talk, I taste their unique dishes, and hear their stories about their life, their culture, the homes they left behind… This is the favourite part of my work.