This is done by laying dyed fleece in the required pattern on a background of natural fleece, and the whole thickness is rolled up and felted together. Designs are also made when different colours of fleece are layered and felted, then cut through to reveal the colour below. Patterns made by this reverse applique technique are usually simple and geometrical, for example a saw-tooth edging, or diamonds and squares. The final touch is traditional embroidery, which not only decorates the finished item but also helps to strengthen the fabric. The urge to decorate a plain surface of fabric with embroidery satisfies the deepest creative urge in man and nowhere is this more evident than in Central Asia where embroidery skills are embedded in the culture of the many tribes.
Embroidery is solely the craft of women, who thereby preserve the traditional motifs of the tribe.
A woman, whether she is Khirgiz or a member of any other tribe, whether she lives in a house or a tent, learns embroidery in childhood from her mother. A guest will often be offered a piece of embroidery as a token of friendship, bringing a lively and colourful extravagance to a way of life that is otherwise quite rigid. Although there is a strong tribal individuality in the type of stitch used, which to a large extent dictates the style of pattern, whether free-flowing or geometric, many patterns would seem to have changed little over the centuries. Patterns of the Kirghiz, even today, are very similar to those revealed after more than two thousand years of burial at Pazyryk. Over the millennia, nomadic tribal groups and settled populations have evolved and perfected a variety of methods of weaving on a tensioned warp, finger manipulation of yarns, or the use of tablets and hooks or needles to construct a fabric spun yarn.