Folk Costume and Embroidery of East Mulgimaa, Estonia.

 

Hello all, 

Today I will continue my coverage of the traditional attire of Mulgimaa by covering the eastern parishes of Paistu, Tarvastu and Helme. 

I covered some basic information about the Mulgi in my previous article. 

The image above is from Paistu parish. 

The chemise, särk, in this region, in contrast to West Mulgimaa,  has basically the same cut as in Võrumaa. It is made from linen, has a narrow shoulder yoke, and sleeves set in at a right angle to the body. 

What appear to be older examples show white on white embroidery on the collar, epaulettes, and cuffs. The stitch used is what in Ukrainian is called верхоплут, verkhoplut, which translates as 'topwinder'. This stitch is found across Eastern Europe. I have not been able to find an Estonian or an English name for this stitch. Here are some examples from each of the three Parishes. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

This stitch is somewhat similar to Marash work, in that ground stitches are laid parallel to each other, and then a second journey is made winding the thread around the previously laid stitches. Here is a schematic showing how to do this stitch from "The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery" by Olena Kulynych-Stakhura. A good explanation can also be found in "Ukrainian Embroidery Techniques" by Tania Diakiw O'Neill, pgs 47-49. I have also found mention online. 

Here is an example of a chemise with satin stitch whitework from Paistu Parish. The cuff still has a border design in topwinder. 

What I believe to be later examples of chemises are embroidered in red in topwinder, satin stitch or cross stitch, with ancillary stitches. Again, examples from the three parishes. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

I have seen reconstructions where the seam is placed at the peak of the shoulder, this is incorrect, the seam should fall on the upper arm. Doing so makes the body of the chemise too narrow. I suspect that this is done simply because modern set in sleeves sit at this point, and the sewer does not know that it was done differently in the past. 

This is wrong:

This is correct:

Over the chemise, a wrap skirt was originally worn, greatly resembling that of West Mulgimaa. 

I have only found evidence of the dark wool wrap skirt in Eastern Mulgimaa, with just the braided edging, or with the bronze wire ornament. The red and white wrap skirts are not in evidence. The silver plate ornament likewise is lacking. These examples are from Paistu Parish. 

A type of skirt seemingly found only in East Mulgimaa is the pallapuul. It is woven of linen in twill, and has a band of woven in ornament at the hem. The designs are similar to those woven into the sashes, but generally seem to have black on the edges and red in the center. This garment seems to have been especially common with unmarried girls, and would not have been worn in cold weather. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Later the skirts, seelik,  were woven from wool in stripes or plaids, as in the rest of South Estonia. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

The hip apron, puusapõll was worn here as well, especially with the wrap skirt or the linen skirt. This garment was white, and embroidered with typical Mulgi embroidery on the ends. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

The apron, põll, was often white and embroidered. Some had old style Mulgi embroidery, based on circular and other free-hand motifs. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

As this last example shows, cross stitch also came to be used on the aprons. 

Later, refined embroidery, including openwork that was common on household linens also came to be used on the aprons. 

The lower body garments were held in place by pick-up woven sashes, vöö, long and with impressive designs. These resembled those from other parts of the Baltics.

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

As in West Muligmaa, unmarried girls held their hair back with a braided cord, often with a tassel attached to the back. 

Whereas in West Mulgiamaa  married women put up their hair and tied a plain white linen rectangular piece of cloth over it, in East Mulgimaa they ornamented this cloth with embroidery. At first they just placed Mulgi style embroidery on the two shorter edges. The older päärätt.

This embroidery gradually changed. First, the bands on the ends became geometric, and spot designs appeared on the corners, these stuck out and were visible when the garment was tied at the back of the head. Again, remember that the hair should have been put up first. 

Later, spot designs appeared along the long edges, as you can see in this last image above. 

These grew in prominence as the edge designs changed, becoming denser, essentially keeping a design only in texture. A this point beads were attached on top of the band embroidery. The päärätt was tied in such a way that not only did the corners stick out, but the edges were turned back, and the spot designs embroidered on the back became a major ornamental feature of this garment. 

When kerchiefs generally came into fashion, replacing ancient headdresses all over Europe, they were tied over the top of the traditional garment in this region.

The above examples are from Paistu. The following are from Tarvastu.

Unfortunately kerchiefs replaced this wonderful garment later on. 

Rectangular shoulder wraps were also worn in this region. Some were of dark wool with simple embroidery and woven ornamentation. These examples are from Helme.

Or of white wool with Mulgi embroidery. Examples from Paistu.

Or plaid wool, as in this example from Tarvastu. 

White wool stockings were also worn here, as in West Mulgimaa, but here the knitted in design was much wider. In the past, women would also wrap footcloths around their legs to make their calves look thicker. 

Tarvastu.

Paistu

Moccasins of leather, pastlad, were worn over these. In dry snow, these might be replaced by footwear woven from birch or linden bark, viisud. Both were held on by laces wrapped around the legs. This type of footwear was very common in Eastern Europe. 

Braided garters were used to hold up the socks. Not all of them had colored ornament. 

Silver annular brooches, larger brooches, and various types of necklaces were worn. 

Vests or short jackets were worn in Tarvastu. 

And Helme, but images of these are rare. 

The long jacket, pikk-kuub, is also worn here. In contrast to West Mulgimaa, in this region the jacket is highly embellished with red cord. 

Examples from Tarvastu. 

Paistu

 Long Sheepskin coats, kasuka, were also worn. 

Here is a well known photograph showing a man from Tarvastu wearing a long city style overcoat [note the collar, lapels and buttoned overlap] over the kasuka. Note that boots or leather shoes were worn by those who could afford them. 

Men wore shirts similar in cut to the womens' chemises, but shorter. Shirts for special occasions might be embellished with hemstitching and simple embroidery.

Examples from Tarvastu. 

Paistu

Helme

Pants were of a simple cut, and of sturdy plain linen or wool. The full seat is visible here too. 

Plain dark wool socks were worn, the pants being tucked into them, and the whole held in place with braided garters, as is the case for the women. Moccasins or birchbark shoes were worn by the poor, and boots by those [not many] who could afford them. 

A leather belt with attached bag was worn, as seen above. 

Later, knickers and a more urban style vest, as seen in northern Estonia, were sometimes worn. 

Hats made of straw, felt or fur were worn according to season.

In Helme, the men's overcoat was plain and held closed by a woven sash, as in West Mulgimaa.

In Paistu and Tarvastu, however, the men's long coats were ornamented similarly to the womens'. They could be belted with woven or braided sashes or with a leather belt. 

Knitted mittens were worn by all, and often tucked into the belt or sash to show them off when not being worn. 

Paistu

Helme

Tarvastu

The pair on the left in this image were made in the old way, woven on a wooden form. This was done before knitting entered the area. This technique lasted much longer in the neighboring Slavic countries, which never used knitting. 

Just a few more images of this attire. 

Paistu.

Helme

Tarvastu

This concludes my survey of the costume and embroidery of Mulgimaa. I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. The embroidery, knitting, and other ornament of this region could enrich your own life. Try some ideas out! let us honor this part of the artistic heritage of humanity. 

Roman K. 

email: rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:

Tiina Jürgen, 'Mulgi Rahvarõivad', Viljandi, 2015

Reet Piiri, 'Suur Mutsiraamat', Healugu, 2017

Eevi Astel, ';Eesti Võõd', Tartu, 1998

Reet Piiri, 'Eesti Talurahva Ülerõivas 19. sajandil' Tartu, 2007

Melanie Kaarma et al, 'Eesti Rahvarõivad' Tallinn, 1981

V. Belitser et al, 'Eesti Rahvarõivad XIX Sajandist ja XX Sajandi Algult', Tallinn, 1957

Maret Tamjärv, 'Eesti Rahvarõivad', Tallinn, 2001

A. Üts et al, 'This Beautiful Land is my Native Country', UNRRA, 1946

Reet Piiri, 'Rahvarõivad Eesti Rahva Muuseumist', Tallinn, 2006

Reet Piiri, 'Rahvarõivas on Norm', Tartu 2002

Olena Kulynych-Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996

Tania Diakiw O'Neill, 'Ukrainian Embroidery Techniques', Mountaintop, PA, 1984