Embroidery from the east

Of course, more and more Ukrainians, who can be found anywhere, prefer national clothing. And why not? It is not only fashionable and stylish, but also great for both everyday and holidays. In addition, it has been believed since ancient times that embroidery is a powerful talisman that carries strength of spirit, ancestral memory and sanctity. They accumulated the energy of the masters who made them. That is why it is important when choosing an embroidered shirt to buy it from a kind person with an open heart who created the item with special care and love.

Embroidery from the east

As you already learned from the previous article about the history of embroidery, this art was spread for many centuries. Embroidery methods and ornament styles were passed down from generation to generation, new ones were created and existing ones were improved. All nuances made sense: the location, type, colors of the picture had their own meanings and magical properties.

As a result, over many years, many techniques and styles peculiar to individual regions have emerged throughout the territory of Ukraine. Below we will familiarize ourselves with the peculiarities of embroidery in the eastern part of the country.

Luhansk embroidery

In the embroideries of the eastern region, preference is given to geometric patterns in the form of plants. The relief and visual volume of the ornament was achieved by cross-stitching using a coarse thread, or a combination of threads with different textures. In addition to cross-stitch embroidery, plain and half-cross embroidery was also popular in the Luhansk region. Men's vyshyvankas, like women's, were woven with lace from the bottom along the edges, but more geometric.

The Luhansk style of embroidery, unlike the others, was quite multi-colored.In addition to the usual red and black ornament, it was not rare to find even a combination of red and blue. This women's craft, complex and charming, has been passed down from generation to generation. And from a very young age, girls were taught the secrets of this ancient form of art.

Donetsk embroidery

In Donetsk region, they also liked to decorate the bottom of shirts with netting. Patterns were often made by the method of cutting on fabric. The usual combination of red and black was preferred, but warm sunny red was more dominant. That's why the embroidered shirts here were brighter, special attention was paid to the sleeves, and then to the collars. With such a design, shirts were made on white fabric for both women and men. Sometimes you could find white embroidery on dark cloth, as well as embroidery with gold, silver, blue and green threads.

In most cases, the theme was also vegetable, or rather, floral: stylized geometric flower buds, rich bouquets, or even trees with lush crowns (oaks or willows). Birds were often depicted: storks, peacocks, pigeons or roosters. They were considered symbols of fabulousness, magic and charm. Elements of nature were also used, such as the stars, the sun and the moon, elements with folklore and mythical parallels.

The most diverse methods of embroidery were used in this region, with the exception of nizinka and yarivka. In fact, there was no special Donetsk embroidery, but there was a whole all-Ukrainian collection of embroidery styles. And this was precisely the biggest feature of this region of the country.Therefore, it is a mistake to think that the Donetsk region has never had a bright national color - it can easily be found in the examples of embroidery distributed in this territory even 100-200 years ago.

Slobojan embroidery

It was in the Kharkiv region that embroideries were decorated with relief embroidery using thick, coarse thread. This was a distinct feature of the ornament of the Slobojan embroideries. But unlike the Luhansk ones, which used a rather rich palette of colors, the Kharkiv polychromy of men's shirt embroidery was limited to red and black colors on white fabric. Women's clothes, on the contrary, were embroidered in brighter colors. An even more ancient and characteristic method of embroidery for the Kharkiv region is the white-on-white technique. White color was considered a symbol of spiritual connection with ancestors and the dead. Later, they began to add and combine other colors.

The most common embroidery technique in Slobozhanshchyna was a cross or half-cross. They also performed embroidering on the fabric - this is a technique of applying a pattern to the fabric with the help of various types of paints and some chemicals. Of course, as in other eastern regions, openwork hems made using the netting or cutting technique were also popular here.

Collars, which were present on both men's and women's shirts, were a feature of the embroideries of this region. An obligatory moment was the decoration of these details with embroidered patterns.

Also interesting are the themes of the ornaments used by the craftsmen from Slobojan. Among the great variety of motifs, one of the most common are trees, as symbols of life and fertility, and birds, as the personification of freedom. The magical themes of the World and the Antiworld contain images of triangles that touch each other at the corners.

A surprise will be the rather frequent use of the swastika as elements of patterns in embroidery. It remained from pagan times, it meant the Sun, warmth, family hearth and was considered a talisman against evil dark forces. Brides' dresses were almost always decorated with swastikas, which were supposed to protect young women from the evil eye.