Materials Fabric: A strong, firm fabric of reasonable weight, or a lighter fabric that has been backed, e.g. with a medium weight linen or pre-shrunk calico. Needle: Chenille No. 7, or crewel needle (dependent on choice of fabric & thread Honing Stone: Hone or lightly sand the shisha edges to ensure they are smooth before stitching. Frame: Essential to have your fabric in a frame or hoop for shisha and metal thread embroidery. Threads: Rajmahal Art Silks, Cords, Sadi and Metallics can all be used in shisha work for a wonderful effect.

As you go, experiments with different stitches, most can be based on a shisha frame. The tension of your frame stitches is important as the frame will be pulled out towards the edge of the mirror by the decorative stitches. Firm tension allows less mirror to be displayed, lees tension shows more mirror. To decorate, bring thread to the right side and use the frame as a base to attach e.g. buttonhole, twisted chain, French Knots, cretan stitch, fly stitch......the only limit is your imagination. There are lots of variations on frame techniques too, like using Rajcord to attach the shisha which can then be woven in a cord spiders web, or attach using metallics, or threaded sadi thread.

Note:Always smooth shisha with honing stone or sandpaper

Tic Tac Toe Application

To start, place the shisha on the fabric. (Use a piece of double-sided tape if needs be-after you have stitched on a few shishas you won't need this!) Secure art silk or metal thread and bring needle through from the back of fabric. Stitch a parallel stitch from 12 o'clock (A) to 6 o'clock (B) so that thread lies across the shisha, then take another parallel stitch right next to A, across the top of the shisha and down close to B. Take a small back stitch behind shisha to secure thread firmly, then stitch 2 horizontal stitches (9 o'clock to 3 o'clock) in the same fashion. It is important that the horizontal stitches go over and under the vertical stitches on the top of the shisha, as per diagram below. The shisha will then be secure, and the inside square of the frame will provide the base from which you can work decorative stitches