The first sample panel

The Women’s Child Care Society in Beit Jala Bethlehem has stitched the Nativity Story panel measuring 85cm by 50cm.

The women who worked on the panel are Suhair Handal, Marcel Rabie, Randa Abu Ghattas, and the designer is Hamada Atallah

This panel is of raw silk and is stitched using the ancient Tahriri method of stitching (couching) unique to Bethlehem.  In order to create the colour and texture of the rock cave, Hamada instructed the women to first wash the raw silk, and then dye it in dark tea. It has been hand stitched onto the panel using thick gold thread.