Whitework embroidery of Vinnytsia region, East Podillia, Ukraine

Hello all, 
Today I will talk about another tradition of whitework in Ukraine, around Vinnytsia in Eastern Podillia. Here you can see a man's shirt embroidered in this technique.  As in Sniatyn, the main feature of this embroidery are the eyelets, 'nightingale eyes'. The distinction is that in this region the eyelets are always square, and even when they form groups, they never share stiches. This gives them a distinctive look, quite different from the work of Sniatyn.

As in most whitework, a combination of stitches is used, faggot stitch, reverse faggot stitch, counted satin stitch, hemstitch and others. On men's shirts these were used on the front placket, cuffs and collars. 

 These make for very elegant designs.

 Here you can see the overall cut of the man's shirt.

Usually the composition is based on diamonds, some larger, some smaller.

As in Sniatyn, different subtle shades may be used. Yellow is often added. This collar and cuff feature a surface stitch which in Ukrainian is called Verkhoplut.

 

Women's chemises were also embroidered using this technique. Here is a shoulder inset from one such chemise.

 

Here is an example of a chemise made with the sleeves and shoulder parts cut out of a single piece of cloth.

 

Another chemise with much yellow in the embroidery and scattered motifs down the sleeve.

 Some of these are made with an unusual cut, A rectangular yoke, called koketka forms the top of the chemise from shoulder to shoulder, with a circle cut out for the neck opening.

 

 These not only have a wide band of embroidery across the end at the shoulder, but often a narrow band the length of the yoke from side to side.

 A darker color may be added, as in this man's shirt.

 

Or this yoke of a woman's chemise.

Perhaps the most unusual variant is adding beads of various colors as accents.

 

This is found on men's shirts as well as on women's chemises.

 

One of my readers in Ukraine wrote in to share a couple of photos which she took of this type of embroidery. She goes by the name of 'Mawka Lisova'.

 

You can see more of her photography at her website.
https://plus.google.com/photos/115068169732517408090/albums?banner=pwa 

  This is not the only kind of embroidery found in this area, and eyelet embroidery is also found in other parts of Ukraine as well.
 Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. This kind of embroidery could be used for many different projects of your own. I will close with some closeups.

 

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

email




Source Material:
Liudmyla Bulakova-Sytnyk, 'Podil's'ka Narodna Vyshywka', Lviw, 2005
Yevhen and Tetiana Prychepiy, 'Embroidery of Eastern Podillia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007
E. Hasiuk and M. Stepan, 'Khudozhnje Vyshyvannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1986
   

Rhaetian costumes, part 3, Friuli or Furlan

 Friuli

Hello all, today I will speak about the costumes of the Friuli people, also called the Furlan. This is the third of the Rhaetian / Romanic languages still spoken today. They occupy the northeastern corner of Italy, bordering German speaking areas to the north, Slovenian speaking areas to the east and Venetian speaking areas to the south. Here is a linguistic map of northern Italy. Friuli is shown in turquoise, Ladin in darker blue, German in dark purple, Slovene in orange, Italian dialects in various shades of green.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friulian_language

 
The Friuli region is divided into three provinces, Pordenone, Udine and Gorizia. There are some Friuli speakers in the Trieste Region, which is very mixed ethnically.

 

The best known folk costume in the Pordenone Province is that of Aviano, which is kept alive by the local Folklore Group. In fact, there are two costumes, as you can see from this photo.

The one looks very alpine in character, with soft embroidered slippers and both men and women wearing small shoulder shawls.

The other looks older, with some similarity to balkan costume, being based on homespun wool and having conical straw hats.

The northwestern part of the Province of Udine forms the region of Carnia. This borders on Austria to the north and the Province of Belluno to the west, and lies north of Aviano.

Notice that this woman is wrapping her headdress in the same manner as they do on the Croatian Island of Krk [Veglia], which is not that far away. 

One of the local Folkloric groups is Sot la Nape.

 

 There are several groups from around Udine, Often the scarf here is folded or pinned back onto the head forming wings.

 Here is the costume of Ciconnico.

This is the Folklore Group Pasjan de Prato.

 

There is a significant Slovene Population in the eastern valleys of Udine province, Most famously in Val Resia, [Rezijanska Dolina]. The Slovene groups also participate in the local festivals. The dialect spoken in this valley is so distinctive that it is sometimes considered to be a separate language of its own.

 

In the Province of Gorizia [Gorica] there are also many Slovenes. The costume here shows influence from Venice and the coastal regions.

One of the local groups is Lucinico. They do presentations in the everyday work costume as well as the dress up version.

Another group in this region is Santa Gorizia. They are well known for their elegant costumes and dancing.

http://www.santagorizia.it/costumi/index.php?action=costumi

 On the borders of Trieste is the town of Monfalcone.

 
  Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this overview of Furlan Costumes. I feel like I need more information to do a more systematic job, but this is the material which I currently have. You can see more images and local groups on this website which shows pictures taken at a Friuli Folklore Festival.

http://www.folklorefriulano.it/9giornata.html


Here are a couple of videos of Friuli groups dancing. 

This is the group Pasjan di Prato doing Torototele
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g61PCYYCWy4

Here is the group Santa Gorizia doing La Vinca.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SffVIVAxa64

 The same group dancing  Mazurka and another dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU91B1X4nM4 

A Slovene Group from Val Resia [Rezija] dancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=qddorb41XGo

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

email


Source Material:
Emma Calderini, 'Il Costume Popolare in Italia', Milan, 1953
Most of this material i found on the web, especially on the websites of the various groups which keep the Furlan traditions alive.