The surpan is a married Chuvash woman's head-cloth: a long strip of thin homespun, left plain through the middle and worked hard at both ends. The ground is unbleached hemp — the yellowish white of the canvas itself, never dyed.

Everything on top is counted. Stitches run at 90° and 45° only, the work is dense and knotless, and the ornament reads the same on both faces because the cloth is worn folded and seen from either side. Red carries the pattern; green, blue and straw appear in small quantities, and nothing curves.