a beautiful gift

A lady from my biblestudy group recently went to Turkey to visit relatives of hers. Before she went, I jokingly said “bring me something back from the textile markets!” And of course, I thought nothing more of it.

But, she did think more of it.

Yesterday she was back at biblestudy, fresh from her trip. She deposited a black plastic bag in front of me with a wry smile and walked off to get a cuppa. I opened it, and pulled out the most beautiful scarf.
The colours are gorgeous, and it is made of an interconnecting web of ribbony braid things. It is beautiful!

She told me that it was from Istanbul (no, its Constantinople…), but didn’t come from a shop that tourists would normally go into. She had to enter the shop past two “gentlemen” who made her feel very nervous and very pleased that her husband was with her.

I feel very special, and very spoilt. She said that she enjoyed shopping for it, as it gave her a purpose for her shopping.

Thank you so much, Gillian. Now I need to come up with a suitable thank you…

Elmsley Rose

May 29, 2010 at 7:32 am

Wow, that scarf is really cool!

Marysia Paling

May 29, 2010 at 4:56 pm

Hi Yvette,

You lucky lady! Yes Istanbul has some amazing textiles and some inventive ways of working with them, as your scarf shows.

Istanbul is 13hour ride away for me ( one way) or a one hour flight. There is a textile district and they sell fabrics specially made for the top Couturiers ……….cost a lot of money, but they are stunning. Its a shame though, for those of us that live here, that in the main they export the majority of their beautiful embroidered fabrics. The shops I love gazing at are in the main out of my league…………..£150-250 per metre!! Again, interesting that I spot Harris Tweed from Scotland, Beautiful Lace fabric from France, Embroidered tulle like you have never seen……..Just stunning to look at. Perhaps I will treat myself to some before we leave and return home to the U.K.

Your friend may have felt uncomfortable but they wouldn’t have done anything……….I am used to it now. LOL I think its a ploy to make sure you dont leave until you have bought something!! When they tut, we have learned you just tut back…….