ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –– Hamdiya Ezzadin is an 80-year-old woman living in Erbil. 

She has been making traditional Kurdish handicrafts since she was 11.

"I wear traditional clothes wherever I go. When I'm in public, people take pictures with me. This means that Kurdish clothes are elegant and are a source of pride,” she told Rudaw. 

Ezzadin has turned one of the rooms in her house into a gallery space for her products, which include pillow covers, bread covers and loofahs.

While she doesn't rely on her crafts as her livelihood, she has a lot of customers, usually relatives and friends who recommend her to other people.

“My aim with this craft is not to earn money. I am interested in it. Since I have so many of them, I usually sell them to people overseas. I have my own clients," said Ezzadin.

In order to preserve the tradition, Ezzadin spends some of her time teaching other women.

Translation by Sarakwt Mohammed