In 2006, a student of Chernivtsi National University, Lesya Voronyuk, suggested to her colleagues to celebrate the Embroidery Day. This idea quickly spread among students in Chernivtsi and later to other cities. Today, this folk holiday (as it originated without any state involvement) is celebrated throughout the country and in Ukrainian diasporas abroad.
Embroidery Day falls on the third Thursday of May. This year (2018) it is on May 17. Thousands of Ukrainians around the world wear embroidered shirts, thus demonstrating their dedication to millennia-old traditions.
Name
The word "vyshyvanka" has firmly entered our everyday life. However, strangely enough, it emerged quite recently. It appeared in literary works and everyday life only in the 20th century. Previously, this item of clothing was called an embroidered shirt, koshulya, or shirt.
No shirt, nowhere!
For a long time, the shirt was one of the mandatory elements of traditional Ukrainian clothing. Since for many people it was often the only clothing, it was made long enough to cover the entire body. The cut of traditional shirts was very simple. The fabric was not cut or tailored to the figure. The shirt was sewn from strips of fabric that were produced by weavers at that time. In different regions of the country, the width of these strips varied. In the west, it reached 50 cm. In the eastern regions, it was somewhat larger.
The second mandatory element of traditional Ukrainian attire was the belt. Therefore, when going out into the yard, a man had to put on at least a rope as a belt.
Egypt and Sofia
The tradition of decorating clothing with embroidered patterns appeared in ancient times. In particular, fragments of embroidered fabrics have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. In Ukraine, centuries-old samples of embroidery have not been found because the humid climate cannot preserve fabric for centuries.
However, numerous archaeological finds testify to the existence of clothing embroidery traditions. In particular, human clay figurines of the Trypillia culture, Scythian stone babas, and jewelry from various eras depict people adorned with ornaments.
One of the first purely Ukrainian testimonies of the popularity of embroidery is St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. In the mosaic created in the 19th century, Mary Oranta is dressed in a long shirt with embroidered sleeves. An embroidered handkerchief hangs from the Mother of God's belt.
The chronicles also mention the opening of the first embroidery school in Rus in Kyiv in the 19th century. The founder of the institution was the sister of Volodymyr Monomakh - Hanka.
Symbolism
Embroidery on shirts was traditionally considered not only an ornament. It was attributed with magical properties to protect against various evil forces. For this reason, embroidery was primarily applied to the collar, chest cut, hem, and cuffs, i.e., the "entrances" through which something undesirable could penetrate under the clothing.
Film and Marriage
In films, from time to time, one can see how Ukrainian peasants plow, reap, or forge while dressed in richly embroidered shirts. One can understand the filmmakers' inclination towards beauty, but such attire was never worn for work. On weekdays, people chose coarse shirts, albeit embroidered, but very simple. And richly embroidered shirts were worn on festive days. First of all, on Sundays, when they went to church. On this day, one was expected to dress up from early morning. "A folk proverb said that if you put on a shirt in the morning, it is for God. If you dressed up at noon - for people. And if someone went out in an embroidered shirt in the evening - it was to dress up for the devil," - said Halyna Bezkorovainaya, Deputy General Director for Scientific and Educational Work and Public Relations of the National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art.
Embroidered shirts were also worn on other festive occasions. They were worn for weddings and for christening children. Also, elderly people kept their best shirts for when the time came to embark on their last journey.
Technique and Patterns
The variety of sewing techniques found in Ukrainian clothing is striking. Specialists count over a hundred different embroidery techniques (low, lace, cutwork, weaving, etc.). Most of them are no longer used. However, there are enthusiastic masters who carefully preserve these ancient methods.
The cross-stitch, which is now the dominant embroidery technique, was not found in Ukrainian embroidery until the late 19th century.
There is also an enormous variety of patterns. In ancient times, there were no ready-made embroidery schemes as there are now. Therefore, each craftswoman invented her own patterns. And if she did replicate ready-made samples, she often incorporated her own elements. Thus, among the embroideries created before the 18th century, it is practically impossible to find two identical ones.
Embroidery had very few colors since there were no factory threads, and dyeing them had to be done manually at home. Therefore, the most common colors were white (for which the threads were not dyed at all), red (obtained from beets or other fruits), and black (the threads were dyed with soot).
In the 19th century, when factory fabrics and threads appeared, Ukrainian embroidery underwent significant changes. And a decisive role in these changes was played by ... French cosmetics.
"Brokar Patterns"
In the 19th century, products from the famous "Brokar" company, founded in Moscow by French perfumer Henri Brokar, enjoyed great success in Ukraine. This company offered a range of inexpensive products accessible to the underprivileged population - soaps, powders, perfumes, etc. The company's success was also aided by successful advertising campaigns. In particular, the founder's wife, Charlotte Brokar, suggested printing small embroidery schemes on soap wrappers.
They became hugely popular in Ukraine and instantly transferred to shirts. It was then that richly embroidered shirts, particularly women's, began to feature large naturalistic images of flowers. The spread of Brokar's schemes led to the cross-stitch becoming the main technique for embroidering shirts in Ukraine. At the same time, thanks to the development of the light industry, the color palette was also enriched.
For a long time, scholars refused to consider "Brokar" shirts as folk products. Because of this, an entire century had to be erased from the history of Ukrainian embroidery when these schemes nearly displaced all the designs that existed earlier. However, scholars' opinions have now changed - they consider them a significant phenomenon in the development of national Ukrainian clothing.
Favorite Garment
With the revival of the Ukrainian state, the popularity of embroidery skyrocketed. It became an integral part of festive and official attire for Ukrainians. The vast variety of fabrics, colored threads, and pattern schemes allows for the creation of true masterpieces. There are even mathematical models of patterns and computer programs that allow for the creation of original schemes.
Embroidery Templates from TM Kolorova