Tatreez Circles

Reclaiming tradition through thread, resistance, and community.

Since 2022, Al Sumoud Center has hosted free, twice-monthly Tatreez Circles to teach, preserve, and expand the practice of Palestinian embroidery as a form of cultural resistance, storytelling, and intergenerational memory.

Tatreez is not just an art form; it is a visual language of survival, a cultural practice that links our ancestors to our movements today.

  • Free community sessions, twice a month

  • All supplies provided: threads, fabric, needles, and instructional materials

  • Teaching led by local artists and knowledge keepers

  • A welcoming space for conversation, storytelling, healing, and rest

  • Open to all skill levels, with an emphasis on cultural accessibility, not perfection

What We Offer

as a natural extension of our circles, the Tatreez Community Library is a living archive of:

  • Stitched pieces created in our sessions

  • Patterns and design references from Palestine and the diaspora

  • Community-contributed reflections, oral histories, and stories tied to each piece

  • Books, zines, and digital resources that preserve and contextualize this cultural work

The library is intended to be open and accessible to community members, researchers, and future generations, to protect and grow the knowledge we've inherited.

Tatreez Community Library Project (Launching soon)

Program Leadership

Starting May 2025, we will be welcoming Mara as our Tatreez Circle Coordinator.

She now leads circle facilitation, supports community learning, and helps organize the Tatreez Library. Mara receives a monthly stipend in recognition of her cultural labor part of our broader commitment to resourcing local artists and preserving SWANA traditions.

Future Vision

As part of our capital campaign, we envision a dedicated Tatreez & fiber arts studio inside Al Sumoud Center—equipped with:

  • Materials for teaching and stitching

  • Space for community circles and guest artists

  • A permanent home for the Tatreez Community Library, housed and led by the community

  • Midwest Tatreez Retreat

Tatreez is memory. Tatreez is resistance. Tatreez is ours to protect—and to pass on.