Mother’s Day: Felt Flowers That Last, Crafted by Syrian-Armenian Women Artisans in Armenia
Posted by MADE51 Team on
This Mother’s Day, MADE51 shares a collection of handmade felt flowers created by Syrian-Armenian artisans living and working in Armenia.
Displaced by the war in Syria, they are now rebuilding their lives in the country of their ancestors. Today, they work through MADE51’s local social enterprise partner HDIF, contributing their skills to produce design-led products for international markets, with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The collection brings together two techniques: hand-felting, often using locally sourced wool, and Marash embroidery, a centuries-old Armenian art form that many inherited from their mothers and grandmothers. While embroidery reflects long-held tradition, felting was developed after arrival in Armenia, showing how skills continue to adapt in new contexts.
From Syria to Armenia, their ancestral homeland
The Syrian-Armenian women were born and raised in Syria, where Armenian communities had settled generations earlier after fleeing targeted persecution and violence during the early 20th century. Over time, cultural traditions, especially artisanal skills, were preserved and passed down within families.
Following the outbreak of war in Syria in 2012, more than 22,000 people of Armenian heritage sought safety in Armenia, the homeland of their ancestors. They arrived with limited resources, needing to re-establish their lives, livelihoods, and professional identities.
For this group, craft has been a way to continue working with existing skills while adapting to new materials, techniques, and markets. With support from UNHCR and the Armenian government, many Syrian-Armenians have been able to regularise their status, and some have since acquired citizenship, offering a more stable foundation to move forward.
Meet the artisans behind our felt flowers for Mother’s Day
Created by hand, these felt flowers are designed to last, carrying the skill and time of the artisans who made them.
Meet Houri
“Look at these flowers, words cannot capture what I feel when I create them. They are so elegant, beautiful, and dignified, just like our mother, and like mothers everywhere,” Houri says, admiring the flowers in her hands.
Houri was born and raised in Aleppo, where she lived with her mother and twin sister. In 2015, when the war in Syria reached their neighbourhood and disrupted their lives, they fled to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Known for her embroidery skills, Houri had already built a strong reputation before displacement and was known as one of the “queens of embroidery”. Needlework and embroidery have always been her passion, and she continues to draw on the rich heritage of Armenian craftsmanship. In Armenia, she has further developed her work, combining traditional techniques with new materials and approaches.
While Houri works directly within the production group, her sister contributes from home while caring for their mother, maintaining a shared role in the work.
“We have dedicated our lives to creating traditional Armenian ornaments, nurturing our talents, and continuously developing new skills, such as the felt technique we learned here in Armenia, which allows us to transform crafts into true works of art,” Houri says proudly.
Meet Maral, the team leader
“It was not easy at first. Losing everything and starting from scratch was a real challenge. But I found the strength to move forward and to invest my handicraft skills into supporting my family, turning them into a source of entrepreneurship, teaching, income, and indescribable inspiration for myself and my family, my local friends and customers in Armenia and around the world.”
Maral was also born and raised in Aleppo, where she lived with her husband and their three sons. In 2015, the family left Syria and sought safety in Armenia.
In Syria, her work was focused on her household. In Armenia, she has taken on a leadership role within the artisan group. She coordinates production, supports quality control, and works closely with partners to organise orders and timelines.
Alongside this, she shares her skills with others in the group and leads training sessions, contributing to both the creative and organisational side of the work. She continues to work closely with her mother, Lousin, maintaining a connection to the techniques passed down within her family.
“Combining my embroidery heritage with felt work learned from friends in Armenia has resulted in something truly beautiful. I am delighted to create these beautiful flowers, symbolising peace, everlasting beauty, harmony in the world, and motherhood, the start of all life.”
Meet Koharig
“This work inspires me and gives me wings to grow as an artisan and entrepreneur. Felting and needlework are also very calming, they fill me with positive and encouraging thoughts.”
Koharig arrived in Armenia in 2016 with her husband and two children, leaving behind her home, extended family, and community in Syria.
Before displacement, she had not worked professionally. Through UNHCR and MADE51, she discovered a new path, which opened a new door for social support. The work provides a source of income as well as a structured environment and connection with others. Felting and embroidery have also become a steady part of her daily routine.
Meet Zabel
“I owe it to my grandmother and mother. They were the ones who taught me needlework and shared the secrets of embroidery with me.”
Zabel left Syria with her husband and children and settled in Armenia, where they began to rebuild their lives. Like others in the group, she brought with her skills learned within the family, particularly in embroidery, passed down across generations.
In Armenia, she has continued to apply these techniques, adapting them to new product designs, materials, and production standards required for larger orders. Working as part of the artisan group, she contributes to shared production while maintaining a consistent source of work that supports her household.
Through this work, she remains closely connected to her craft, while applying it in a structured, market-oriented setting.
For Zabel, embroidery and felt work are both enjoyable and empowering. They help her build friendships with other displaced and local women in the group, earn an income, support her family, and share her craft with the wider world.
“On the occasion of Mother’s Day, I wish all women, and especially refugee women and girls, a life enriched with optimism and eagerness to learn and create while sharing the knowledge and skills they bring with them as they build new beginnings in new lands.”
Through traditional craftsmanship, these artisans are building new lives in Armenia while carrying forward the skills, stories, and cultural heritage passed down through generations. With the support of UNHCR, MADE51, and HDIF, their work is recognised, valued, and reaching people around the world.
Shop our Mother's Day Collection now.
This story was developed with reporting and interviews from Anahit Hayrapetyan, UNHCR External Relations Associate in Armenia.
Imagery by ©UNHCR/Haig Siserian