Prigorje embroidery, Croatia

Hello All,

Today I am going to present a number of embroidery designs from Prigorje, which are done on the man's shirt, and woman's blouse, jumper and apron. For a description of this costume see my previous posting. The designs are mostly cross stitch in red with a small admixture of blue, with some supplemental stitches. White on white [or white on ecru] embroidery is also sometimes done on the collar and cuffs of the men's shirt.
Here are some of these designs:

The men's shirts sometimes have more subtle stitching, as in the following two examples from the area of Medvenice.

The apron, the jumper, and the collars and cuffs are smock-gathered. Sometimes these gathers have embroidery done on them, especially above the cuffs. Here are two examples, the first is a collar, the second a cuff.

The narrow stripe on the woman's apron is usually woven in, but is occasionally embroidered, as in these two examples.

Here are some patterns presented by Ruzmarinka on her blog. I thank her very much for her gracious permission to use her material. Please visit her blog for more information and photos of her region. She may even be willing to make items on commission.

http://ruzmarinke.blogspot.com

Very pleasant designs and easy to execute. I think that these could have many applications for bringing a little bit of old Croatia into your home. Be creative and make the world more beautiful by making something of beauty.

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals.

Roman K.
mailto:Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:

Nerina Eckhel, 'Narodna Nosnja Prigorja', Zagreb, 1984
Ivankovic & Sumenic, 'Croatian National Costumes', Zagreb, 2001
Vladimir Kirin, 'Narodne Nosnje Jugoslavije - Hrvatska', Zagreb, 1986
Mary Gostelow, 'The Complete International Book of Embroidery', New York, 1977
Ribaric/Szenczi, 'Vezak Vezla - Croatian Folk Embroidery', Zagreb, 1973
Jelka Ribaric et al, 'The Folk Costumes of Croatia', Zagreb, 1975
Vjekoslav Majer et al, 'Zagreb and its Surroundings',Zagreb, 1975
Walter Kolar, 'Croatians - Costumes they Wear', Pittsburgh, 1975
Nikola Pantelic, 'Traditional Arts and Crafts in Yugoslavia', Belgrade, 1984
Vladimir Salopek, 'Folk Costumes and Dances of Yugoslavia, Zagreb, 1987
Postcards in personal collection
National Geographic Magazine