Sleeve Embroidery, Podillia, Moldavia, Moldova

Hello all. I have been working a lot and have limited time, but i wanted to put a short post in. I talked in my first post about the three-part embroidery on the sleeves of traditional chemises from Podillia, Bukovyna, Moldova and Wallachia. I have here three examples. Often charted or painted examples do not bother to explain the arrangement on the sleeve of the three motifs.
This first one is Ukrainian,
from the Khmel'nytsky oblast [administrative region]. Which is part of Eastern Podillia, the section which was under the Muscovite rather than the Austrian Empire. The upper portion of the embroidery is done in flat stitch, also called counted satin stitch, in white thread on off white linen. Between the motifs are diagonal lines of outline/holbein stitch also in white, over 4 threads, most likely. The outlines are composed of braid or long legged cross stitch, with a wave design in between also of outline or Holbein Stitch. There are large cross stitches in red and black seperating the areas of flat stitch. The second design, which occurs at the level where the sleeve is no longer stiched to the body of the shirt, but to the piece of cloth which forms the inside portion of the sleeve, is usually somewhat longer. In this case, with black and white flat and outline stitches with accents in red and yellow, echoing the upper design. [for the cut of the chemise, see my first blog enty, Podillian Pillow Embroidery]
The vertical stripes, which continue down to the wristband, are composed of a black outline stitch design.
Ukrainian shirts of this type often have 3 completely different designs, whereas Romanian shirts often have the top and bottom designs based on the same motifs.
This design is published in the book 'Ukrainske Narodne Dekoratywne Mystetsvo' 'Ukrainian Decorative Folk Art' subtitle 'Dekoratywne Tkanyny' or 'Decorative textiles' Head Editor V. Zabolotny, Kiev, 1956.
There is an old tradition of artists painting designs like this, i assume because the available photographs were black and white, and of very poor quaility up untill quite recently. The Artist who painted this image was V. Kasian. Many older books, and even some recent ones, are full of Artist's images like this. It is an art form in and of itself.

This second image is of the sleeve embroidery of a chemise from the Brichany district of independant Moldova. All three designs are almost completely executed in cross-stitch, reflecting the simplification of design which occured in the 20th cent. This again was painted by a textile artist, the individual stitches being depicted as tiny pyramids. The round objects are flat metal sequins, quite common in this type of embroidery, at least in some regions. They would normally be without the cup that sequins in America usually have. The oulines in the upper part are depicted as elongated cross stitches, which i assume would be the braid or long-legged cross stitches as shown in the first image. At the bottom is a narrow design to be used on the wristban, collar and the front opening of the chemise, the stripes would also continue the length of the sleeve, as in the upper design. This image is taken from the book 'Moldavian National Costume' by V. Zelenchuk, Kishinev, 1985. In Romanian, the upper part of the desing is called altita, 'upper part', the middle design is called incretul [insert?], and the bottom stripes are called riurile.

This third design is not an actual painting of the embroidery, but just a charting of the stitches. The upper and lower designs are based on the same motif, in black and red cross stitch and holbein stitch. Notice that there are two different desigs which alternate for the lower sleeve stripes. These stipes do not continue around the sleeve, but are only executd on the outer portion. Again there is a border design shown at the bottom for wristbands, collars and front opening. The central design, you will notice is not shown by stitch. This may be done in cross stitch, but more traditionally would be executed in flat stitch, adding variety to the finish of the stitching. Again this is the somewhat simpler design typical of a later period. The boutique blouses sold today executed on cotton gauze might well feature this design. This design is from the town of Pipirig in the district of Neamt, in Romanian Moldavia.
The chart is from the book 'Broderii Traditionale si Artizanale Moldovenesti' by Ibrian and Dunare, Bucarest, 1984.
Happy stitching, i hope this inspires some of you.


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. I also choreograph and teach folk dance.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Pillow embroidered with Podillia chemise design, Ukrainian

I decided in my first blog to talk about the piece that i chose as the background of my screen. This is the piece in full.

It is a case for a decorative sofa pillow, embroidered in cross stitch with herringbone stitch for the edges. It was embroidered by my mother in 1957, and she finished it about the same time as i was born. Embroidery is extremely important in Ukrainian culture, even today. You can see the detail of the stitching at the edges of this page. Here is a graph of the design.
There is a Ukrainian Women's Magazine called 'Our Life' out of Philadelphia to which many people subscribe partly because they feature an embroidery design on the back cover of each issue.
This design was originally used as part of a rectangular shaped piece of embroidery done on the top of  woman's sleeve, on the shoulder-upper arm area in Podillia. Traditionally, a design such as this one is repeated horizontally, seperated by embroidered lines, and also edged on the vertical sides with lines and often a small embroidered motif such as that at the top of this one. The main ground color is usually black, and the design is usually very densely worked, if not covering the entire ground of the cloth. here are a couple other examples of such designs. The ones i have chosen for today are done in cross stitch, but other stitches are also used.

Under this patch of embroidery, there is most typically a wide horizontal stripe of embroidery in a different design, most commonly in a completely contrasting color, and often in a completely different stitch or stitches. this hangs on the sleeve somewhat above the elbow. The rest of the lower sleeve is covered with embroidered stripes, either vertical or diagonal. Here are just a couple examples.

The sleeves for this chemise are cut in one piece, which is unusual for Ukrainian Women's Costume.
The shoulder pieces are usually cut out seperately, and are almost always the focus of the embroidery.
The cut for Podillia is this.
The seams shown on the body of the garment are
determined by the width of the looms in the peasant houses. If one is making such a garment today there is no reason to be restricted in the placement of the vertical seams on the body. The chemise, or Sorochka, is the base garment for all Ukrainian costumes. As you can see, the garment covers the body roughly to the ankles or somewhat above. Unusually for Ukrainian costumes the bottom hem is not embroidered. Starting around the 1950's or so, women would often make the chemises in two pieces, to make the equivalent of a blouse and a slip, so that it could be worn with modern skirts or even pants, but originally it was one long garment. The cuffs are often finished by gathering into a wristband, rather than gathered into a frill, as shown.
This is one of the 5 main types of Ukrainian costumes, [about which i will compose a blog later], the costume with the Obhortka. The Obhortka is one of the overskirt types used in Ukrainian costume. The word Obhortka means 'that which is wrapped around' It consists of a rectangular piece of cloth, woven from wool,
heavy and stiff with narrow stripes or designs at both ends, and a border, like so.
It is wrapped around the hips so that the ends overlap in front, and secured with a wide wool sash, wrapping twice or more around, the ends of which hang down in back. This costume is most unusual in that it is not normally worn with an apron.The garment is also called the Horbotka, as a result of dyslexia, i assume, or the Fota, which is the Rumanian word for the garment.

This basic costume is worn in Podillia, Pokuttia, and Bukovina, and the same basic costume is also worn in Moldova, the Romanian province of Moldova, and Wallachia. There are differences in the colors and designs of the embroidery, the designs woven into the obhortka, the overall length, and other details.
Most commonly, one of the front corners is lifted and tucked in at the waist, for ease of walking. Sometimes both corners are tucked up. The completed outfit is worn like this.

For the benefit of those who are wondering where Podillia is, here is a map of the western part of Ukraine.
Podillia comprises the two areas labelled as II-4.
 This map is from a new book called "Traditional Ukrainian Clothing" vol 1 by O. Kosmina, printed by Baltia Druk in 2008. A wonderful and useful book.

This completes my first blog. I am open to what people would like to find out, and i am always willing to do research on a specific topic. Thank you for reading and please give me feedback.

Roman K.
Rkozakand@aol.com


Source Material:
K. Mateyko, 'Ukrainian Folk Costume', Kiev, 1977
L. Dachenko, 'Ukrainian Folk Art' Leningrad 1982
O. Kubayevych, the chapter 'Embroidery' in 'The State Ethnographic Museum Applied Art of the Ukrainian SSR', Kiev 1976
T. Kara-Vasylieva, 'Ukrainian Embroidery' Kiev, 1993
V. Bilozub et al. 'Ukrainian Folk Art - Weaving and Embroidery', Kiev 1960
V. Bilozub et al. 'Ukrainian Folk Art - Clothing', Kiev 1961
Also images from my  personal collection.