This beautiful Ottoman entari is in the archives of the Clothworkers Centre, London and I had the chance to examine it closely and to make notes about its size and construction.

The main fabric appears to be of cotton with stripes of soft yellow motifs and darker black floral motifs woven into the fabric on a cream background, further embellished with hand embroidered chain stitch flower and leaf motifs in several shades of green, blue, soft brown and pink/red.

The lining is a deep blue fabric with a woven floral pattern

Scalloped edges are embellished with a gold coloured braiding

Garment measurements:

The sleeves are over long and shaped beautifully towards the cuff

Neck line detail – a scalloped edge and no buttons or evidence of closure

Finishing – to finish the edges of the entari I could see that the top striped fabric was hemmed at the edges – turned in together with the blue lining and hand stitched with whip stitch. The braiding was then stitched along the edges of the top fabric. I could not see any facings or interlinings.

Braiding is attached to the top striped fabric along the scalloped edge:

The Clothworkers Centre, London