Embroidered Women's shirts from Luhansk, Ukraine, part 2

 

Hello all, 

This is a continuation of my last article, examining the embroidery of women's sorochky in Luhansk more closely. 

И

This is another shirt completely worked in white on white with cutwork. The designs on this one rely more on counted satin stitch, with the cutwork forming small crosses at the intersections of the design. The shoulder embroidery forms a dense net with large stars, while the sleeve embroidery forms elongated rhombic shapes, multiple trees of life forming a network. The cuff embroidery is difficult to see, but is also based on rhombs. 

І

This shirt is executed in red and black cross stitch. The shoulder has a rather modest rose pattern, while a large baroque floral scroll runs down the center of the sleeves. The cuff has a small band of embroidery as well. 

Ї & Й

I will present these two together as they lie right next to each other and appear in the same photos. The first one is gaily embroidered in red and blue cross stitch, with a band of full roses on the shoulder, clusters of poppies scattered on the sleeve, and a cuff design which echoes that of the shoulder. The second is embroidered in white on white, again with a different reticulated design on the sleeve. Unfortunately the shoulder embroidery is not well visible.  

These are my attempts at graphing the designs. The geometric ones I am confident about, the poppies may be slightly off, adjust them if you like.

К

This is another shirt with the typical Luhansk feature of a colored embroidered strip on the back of the sleeve, this time a rather modest one in red and blue cross stitch. The sleeve and shoulder seem to be cut in one piece in this one as well, there being a wide cutwork band across the shoulder area. The front of the sleeve is plain, but there is a band of counted satin stitch embroidery in red and blue on the cuff. 

Л

This shirt has a band of rose embroidery on the shoulder, three different rose patterns scattered down the sleeve, and a band of embroidery on the cuff, all in blue and red cross stitch. The shoulder design is the lowest of the three sleeve designs turned 90 degrees with the stem removed, so as to form a denser design. 

M

This shirt is done in white on white cutwork with particularly gleaming satin stitch.

H

This shirt is done in simple red and black cross stitch. 

O

This shirt is also done in white on white cutwork and counted satin stitch. This composition features a short tree of life design. 

П

This is another shirt with black and red cross stitch, with a symmetrical floral design on the sleeve. 

Р

Another similar shirt with a different design. This one has the sleeve smocked in the center for extra fullness. 

С

Another shirt with red and black embroidery. On this one the sleeve embroidery is almost symmetrical. 

I will close with some closeups of other embroidery, some of which likely belong to the shirts above, but I have no way of knowing which. 

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative, and that you use some of these designs for your own projects, to keep the Ukrainian culture of Luhansk alive. 

Roman K

email: rkozakand@aol.com