Rekko costumes of the Karelian Isthmus and Ingria

Hello all,
 Today I am going to talk about a type of costume which was found in the southern and western parts of the Karelian Isthmus. The Finns call this type of costume 'Rekko', after the particular kind of embroidery done on the chemise. This embroidery is done on the front just under the collar and results in the opening being on the side, as you can see in this image above.
Karelia is a contiguous region, but references to it are complicated, as it is divided into three parts politically. Here is a map showing the various regions of Karelia.

 

The regions of South Karelia [Etelä-Karjala] and North Karelia [Pohjois-Karjala] are within the current borders of the Finnish state. The regions of White Karelia, Olonets Karelia and Ladoga Karelia are within the Karelian Republic of Russia. This also includes the region of Zaonezhia, which lies east of Lake Onega and which is populated solely by Russians, so as to dilute the percentage of Karelians within the Republic. The Karelian isthmus [Karjalankannas] is currently part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia, along with Ingria.

The famous Kalevala was written in Karelia.

The Karelians are closely related to the Finns, speaking a family of dialects which are considered to be Finnish or a closely related language, Generally, the areas east of the border and Lake Ladoga are considered to speak Karelian, while the areas in Finland, the Karelian Isthmus and the region north of Lake Ladoga are considered to speak Karelian dialects of Finnish. There is also a community of Orthodox Karelians living in Tver' Oblast in Russia. They moved there to escape religious persecution by the Lutherans, but unfortunately they have mostly been assimilated by the Russian population.
The Karelian isthmus, along with a strip of territory north of Lake Ladoga was annexed by the Soviet Union from Finland in the 1940's. This land is still shown on Finnish maps. The costume which I will be addressing today was found in various versions in the southern part of the Finnish Karelian Isthmus, together with communities of Ingrian Finns including Tuuteri [Tuutari] in Ingria, which is south of the previous border. This costume is still maintained by the small community of Karelians and Ingrian Finns which remain in the area, as well as by many who now live within the current borders of Finland.
 
The history and ethnogeography of this region is rather complicated, including, besides the Finns and Karelians the Votes, Izhorians, Ingrian Finns, Veps, Swedes, and Russians. For more information see these articles.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelian_Isthmus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelia

As you can see from this map, besides Tuuteri, costumes with the rekko are found in the districts of Koivisto, Kuolemajärvi, Uusikirkko, Muolaa, Äyräpää, Kanneljärvi, Valkjärvi, Kivennapa, Rautu, Sakkola, and Metsäpirtti. These have, of course. now all been given Russian names. There are differences of detail between the costumes of the various districts. This costume was also found south of the border in some parts of Ingria, particularly in districts north of St. Petersburg, like Miikkulainen, and Vuole, but also in the district of Skuoritsa, which borders Tuuteri on the southwest, and the district of Tyrö on the Baltic coast to the north and west of Tuuteri [Tuutari].

Here is a photograph of the rekko paita or chemise. This particular example is from Sakkola.

The rekko is a center piece in the front of the chemise which is gathered into tubes as for smocking. Embroidery is done across these tubes and onto the neighboring piece of material Here is a schematic of a rekko chemise. Unlike English smocking, the gathering threads are left in place, and the result is not elastic.

The design, color and extent of the embroidery varies by district. Here is a closeup of a rekko from Valkjärvi done in orange, blue and white wool. Apparantly the original color of rekko embroidery was golden yellow. Some shade of yellow/orange still seems to generally be the primary color. The side opening is held closed by an engraved silver or pewter brooch, smaller for single girls, and larger for married women. This is the size of brooch which would be given to a girl by her fiance.

Here are a few images I took from a Finnish woman's blog showing how she made a rekko from Kivennapa, step by step. She is an amazing seamstress and makes Sarafans as well.
Her name seems to be Soja. Here is a link to her blog.It is very inspiring to see her work.
http://soja.blogit.fi/tag/rekko/

Here are a couple of closeups of a rekko from Kuolemajärvi.

Here is a closeup of a rekko from the district of Tyrö in Ingria.

Sometimes you will see one of these costumes made with a fake rekko, substituting it with a patch just sewn onto the chemise, like this example from Tuuteri. This photo is from a catalog of a company that makes mass produced costumes. It is much easier to do this.

Here is a closeup of the rekko embroidery from Metsäpirtti.This photo looks like the embroidery was originally done over the smocking and then was cut off and sewn onto a newer chemise.

The photo was taken from this webpage, which shows every detail of the Metsäpirtti costume and has detailed instructions on how to make it, in Finnish, [Karelian?]. The images are not of the best quality, but the information is still very valuable and interesting.
http://www.metsapirtti.net/perinne/metsapirttipuku/luku6.htm

Besides the rekko, embroidery is done on a narrow band or stand-up collar, on the cuffs, and in Tuuteri, Skuoritsa and Tyrö on the shoulders above or below the sleeve seam.  In the area from Sakkola to Vuole, a colored strip of printed cotton cloth was sometimes inserted in this seam. See the image above. Here is an example from Miikkulainen. In Ingria, the sleeves are often gathered at the top of the shoulder.

This is the collar to the Kivennapa chemise that Soja shows on her blog.

On the Karelian isthmus, sarafans were worn in the east and south, and skirts in the north and west. The Rekko costumes are of either type, depending on district. This map shows the sarafan-wearing area shaded and stippled.

There are two similar cuts used for the sarafan in this area.

Examples from Sakkola

An example from Miikkulainen.

In Tuuteri and Skuoritsa the upper part is ornamented.

On the west side of the isthmus, a skirt is worn, either of a single color, as in Muolaa, or plaid with striped broadcloth sewn onto the bottom hem, as in Koivisto and Kuolemajärvi.

In Ingria the rekko costume is also sometimes worn with a skirt.

Aprons are either wool or linen, usually with woven in designs, and/or embroidery. 

The linen aprons often have nyytinki bobbin-lace inserts and/or edging, like this example from Sakkola.

Tan leather shoes are worn which are typical of Karelia, and are similar to those worn by the Saami [Lapps], but shorter. They have a distinctive pointed toe.

Girls wear a headband or ribbon around the head. In Ingria in particular this was often highly ornamented with beadwork and metal plates. Here is an example from Tyrö.

While married women wear a headdress called sorokka, which is made of cloth with embroidery and/or appliqued ribbon, and ties around the head. Here are a couple of examples.

Here is what the two constituent pieces look like

Here are some more examples of the embroidery on the sorokka.

 

 I will close with some photos showing the various forms of this costume in the various districts.

Koivisto

Kuolemajärvi

 

 Uusikirkko and Kanneljärvi

Muolaa

 

 Äyräpää

Kivennapa

 Valkjärvi

Sakkola and Rautu

 Metsäpirtti

Miikkulainen and Vuole

Tuuteri

 
Skuoritsa

 Tyrö

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. I find this type of embroidery to be fascinating.  I hope that some of you will find a way to adapt this idea and make something beautiful to enrich the world.

Here is a Finnish website where you can order some of these costumes
http://www.kansallispuvut.fi/puvut/koivisto_np.htm 

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:

Ildiko Lehtinnen, 'Rahwaan Puku Folk Costume', Helsinki, 1984

Leena Hokkanen, 'The Bobbin-Laces of Karelian National Costumes', Saksa, Finland, 1991

Sylvi Kauhanen, 'Kansallispukuja', Helsinki, 1952

Ritva Somerma, 'Kansallispukuja', Lahti, Finland, 1991

Ritva Somerma, 'Finnish National Dresses', Lahti, Finland, 1987

Viola Malmi et al, 'Kostium i Prazdnyk', Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 2008

T. Jashkova, 'Kostium Karelii', Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 2009

Also the website of Finnish Museums online, which has remarkable images of items from various collections.

http://suomenmuseotonline.fi/en

Rushnyk embroidery of southern East Podillia

Hello all, 
today I will talk about another Ukrainian embroidery tradition, used on rushnyky of the southern part of East Podillia. A rushnyk is a ritual cloth used in the celebration of Baptisms, Funerals, and especially Weddings. They are also used to honor ikons in the house and often in Church as well. They are not unique to Ukraine, they are also used by Russians, Karelians, Bielorussians, Romanians, Moldovans, Bulgarians, Slovaks, Sorbs and other east European peoples under several names. They consist of one loom width of cloth 3 m long or so, highly decorated at both ends with woven or embroidered ornament. The length varies quite a bit, depending on the intended use. These are sometimes translated as 'towels', but to call them that loses the ritual importance which they have in Eastern Europe.
This particular method of embroidery is called in Ukrainian 'kachalochka' and consists of squares or rows of embroidery executed in counted satin stitch, accompanied by Holbein or outline stitch. It is executed in many colors.

This technique results in motifs which form a large grid with square pixels, similar to cross stitch, but larger, and with a very different texture.
This type of embroidery was very popular in the middle ages, and examples of this stitch may be found as far away as Iceland.
In Ukraine it forms a distinct style of embroidery which was originally found only in a narrow strip perhaps 20 miles wide along the Dnister, in southern Vinnytsia and northern Odessa oblasts, the southeast edge of the region of Podillia. I suspect it may also be found on the other side of the river in Moldova. This embroidery is never used on clothing, only on rushnyky, handkerchiefs and house linens. This type of embroidery is now done over a wider region of Ukraine because of its beauty and uniqueness.

 The example above shows all the stitches going in the same direction, but this is not always the case. Often the stitches run in both directions.

Usually the motifs are accompanied by an outline or secondary motifs in Holbein or outline stitch, often in two colors, black on the first journey and red on the return, for example.

The motifs are overwhelmingly geometric, but a small number feature human and/or animal figures. These examples are given disproportionate coverage in publications. One example is the woman with peacocks shown in the first image. Here is another.

Sometimes motifs are made with angled edges, instead of just square ones.

 The Holbein or outline stitch may sometimes give up its secondary role to become a major part of the embroidery, like this example from around Balta in Odessa Oblast.



And occasionally the embroidery is made completely of outline stitch. This is found in many other places in Europe and Asia as well.

The number of colors used varies from two to a dozen or more.

 The compositions used form an amazing and very imaginative variety. 

Some of the motifs are asymmetrical, and resemble those of the Balkans.

Motifs may be outlined to give greater clarity and emphasis.

Zigzag lines are sometimes used to frame motifs.

Remember to always plan your project and measure it before starting.

Often a variety of colors forms a harmonious whole.

 Occasionally the color combinations are quite unfortunate, including eye-searing shades of pink which should be illegal. Unfortunately, folk artists do not always display good taste. These examples tend to be of more recent production.

 But subtle subdued colors are used as well, although I believe the blue in this example has washed out or faded.

 The possibilities of composition are almost endless. I will finish with a few more examples showing the range of different motifs.

Thank you for reading, I hope you have found this interesting and inspiring.
These types of embroidery designs are perfect for any project in which bold bright designs would be helpful, such as a wall hanging or shopping bag, or even a rushnyk. Bring a little piece of old Podillia into your home or life.

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:
Yevhen and Tetiana Prychepiy, 'Embroidery of Eastern Podillia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007
Tetiana Kara-Vasylieva, 'Ukrajins'ka Vyshywka', Kyjiw, 1993
Nonna Kiseleva et al, 'Khudozhni Promysly Ukrajiny', Kyjiw, 1979
V. Zabolotnyj et al, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Dekoratywne Mystetstvo', Kyjiw, 1956
N. Rossoshynska et al, 'Derzhawnyj Muzej Ukrajins;koho Narodnoho Dekoratywnoho Mystetstva URSR', Kyjiw, 1983
V. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrajins'ske Narodne Mystetstvo - Tkanyny ta Vyshywky', Kyjiw, 1960