Embroidered Abayas

Embroidery is the middle ground between a plain abaya and a party one — enough that the piece is clearly not plain, not so much that it can only come out for an occasion. The work here runs down the front panel and along the sleeve, in thread and DMC. On black it is usually tonal, so it reads as texture until you are close; on colour it is a contrast and is meant to be seen from across a room. In nida and tiktok, both of which take the stitching without puckering.