In many Moroccan villages, girls often drop out before middle school and can get married as young as fourteen. Embroidery is a way for women to earn money for themselves and their families without ever having to leave the house.  Nzala has garnered a reputation throughout the village for paying fairly and always on time. Many of Nzala’s 30 artisans are divorced or widowed single mothers.

As Nzala succeeds, it provides girls and women in the community a chance to earn an income and gain a much deserved independence, while also keeping alive an incredible art form.

Fessi embroidery is known for its intricate designs that are created by meticulously counting stitches with no printed patterns as a guide. In fact, the artisans not only count their own embroidery stitches, they count the miniscule gaps between the warp and weft of the fabric to create each stitch.

Each Fessi pattern has a specific name and their counting schematics are dutifully memorized by the artisans. Fessi designs are also known for being identical on both the face and the back of the fabric. To achieve this, the sewing is done in a continuous loop so that it’s nearly impossible to distinguish where the thread begins and ends.

It makes the work beautiful, but extremely difficult—if a mistake is made and caught late, the entire work must be unraveled. This detailed work is perfectly symmetrical, reversible, and extremely durable, able to be machine-washed and ironed.