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Kashubian Embroidery
Classics in many forms
In Kashubian embroidery there are seven main colors light blue, medium blue, dark sapphire, yellow, red, green, black.
Each school has a slightly different set of colors. The Wdzydze school used the most colors, with up to seventeen colors appearing in their embroideries.
The motifs can be divided into those native to the region, such as bluebells, cornflowers, forget-me-nots, lilies, roses, pansies, carnations, and daisies, as well as those that came from distant countries: tulips, pomegranate fruits, and acanthus leaves. Associated with decorative symbolism, they were initially used by nuns, and over time also found their important place in colorful Kashubian embroidery.
Tuchola School. Embroidery: Danuta Landmesser
Kashubian embroidery - Wejherowo school. Photo: Tomasz Słomczyński/Magazyn Kaszuby
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Podhalan Embroidery
Tradition cultivated to this day
Everyone knows the embroidery of highlanders from Podhale. Rarely is tradition so carefully cultivated as in this region. Passed down from father to son, it concerns not only the costume but is expressed in the preservation of dialect, dances and songs, as well as the cultivation of characteristic architectural and decorative art.
Thanks to the still living tradition, we can immediately envision a highlander in a hat with a feather, a highland woman in kierpce (traditional leather shoes), in an embroidered corset and a floral skirt.
Embroidery in Podhale is an important element of folk costume. Multicolored flat and bead embroidery adorns women's corsets, and beautifully embroidered are also shirts. In men's costume, embroidery appears on the vest and shirt, but the most beautiful is that from the highland cucha and portki. The most commonly used stitches in Podhale embroidery are: chain stitch, Zakopane stitch, stem stitch, and satin stitch.
In Podhale embroidery, especially in floral motifs, a rich color palette is used.
However, when it comes to parzenice, which are most associated with embroidery on traditional Górale costumes from Podhale, they are usually maintained in three main colors: black, red, green.
Initially, mainly geometric patterns were embroidered, and floral motifs only appeared in the 20th century. Roses, marigolds, cornflowers and daffodils (golden-headed lilies) found their place on corsets and cuchas.
Kohuty (a motif in the shape of a drop with a slightly doubled top used in white embroidery).
The most popular motif in Podhale embroidery
What is PARZENICA anyway?
The name parzenica referred to wooden molds for pressing cheese and carpentry decorative elements in the shape of a heart. As an embroidery pattern, it most likely came to Poland from Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century. Now embroidered parzenice decorate highland trousers.
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Kurpie Embroidery - Green Forest (Puszcza Zielona)
Part 1 - Green Forest (Puszcza Zielona)
Delicacy that enchants
The Kurpie embroidery can be divided into two regions - one characteristic for the White Wilderness and one for the Green Wilderness. Both captivate with their harmony and delicacy. It was created by people living in forest areas in the north-eastern Mazovia region.
The Kurpiowski embroidery technique doesn't require complicated stitches - the motifs are simple, based on back stitch, chain stitch, stem stitch, eyelet stitch and of course kurpie zigzag stitch.
Although after World War II colored flat embroidery began to appear in Green Kurpie embroidery, looking deep into the history of this region, we can recognize that the traditional colors are white and red.
Left image: Pattern from woman's upper sleeve.
Right image: Pattern from woman's shirt collar.
From Niedźwiedź in Ostrołęka district.
The motifs of traditional Kurpie embroidery are distinguished by simple patterns repeated next to each other, giving an effect of regularity and harmony. Initially, these were mainly geometric trails and small English holes. In later colored embroideries, rhythmic arrangements create small flowers. The elements of geometric trails had their own names:
1 - kulasy, kulasiki, 2 - gziozdki, 3 - choinka, 4- proski, 5 - scyty, scyciki, 6 - panienki, 7 - łapki.
Decorative embroidery motifs were usually not drawn on the fabric. Kurpie women embroidered them "freehand". For this reason, the choice of proper fabric was essential - linen with a simple, clear weave worked best, where warp and weft intersect at right angles.
Kurpie Embroidery - White Forest (Puszcza Biała)
Part 2 - White Forest (Puszcza Biała)
The charm of zielko and kółko
red - main color for embroidery on linen
black - color for emphasizing details
white - color for embroidery on tulle
Embroidery from woman's shirt shoulder piece (ziela, półkola)
On linen were made among others:
ziela (zielka) [herbs]
koła i półkola [circles and semicircles]
Some geometric motifs were common for the entire Kurpie region:
kulasy (zigzags)
scyty (triangles/peaks)
One of the most popular patterns used in White Kurpie embroidery represents a stylized plant, and is used in embroidery as well as in folk paper cutouts.
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Kuyavian Embroidery
White impressions
Similar to Kurpie embroidery, in Kujawy embroidery adorned elements of women's costume: mainly bonnets and aprons, but also skirts and shirts. Unfortunately, nowadays Kujawy embroidery is no longer so commonly used on costumes, although it is very recognizable among Polish regional embroideries.
The most commonly used stitches were stem stitch, satin stitch with padding, as well as laid work, buttonhole stitch, eyelet stitch. An important aspect in the technique of this embroidery is that its elements created raised patterns on the smooth fabric.
Kujawy embroideries are usually made with white thread - however, the fabric on which they are made can have various colors. Red and blue colors dominate, sometimes green or pink fabric can be found.
In Kuyavian embroidery, floral motifs dominate (including daisies, sunflowers, roses) and other plant motifs with various, unique shapes (mainly leaves, but also grape vines or grain ears).
Take a photo of how you use motifs from the pattern book and tag @szkolahaftu in your social media. Add hashtags #regionalnyczwartek and #wzornikszkolyhaftu. Let's discover together the beauty of regional embroidery!<Interesting Fact: The oldest artifact of Kujawy embroidery (dated to around 1860) can be seen in Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Museum of Ethnography. It is a kopka (workowaty, round bonnet), dated to around 1860.
Lowicz Embroidery - Ruskie Stitching
Ruskie Stitching
The embroidery has changed over time with different fashions and trends. One of the techniques used in the Łowicz region was cross-stitch called "Ruskie stitching". This type of embroidery became widespread at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It came to Łowicz with men returning from service in the tsarist army, which is where its name comes from.
For making embroideries, the proper (regular) cross-stitch technique was used - it is created by two equal threads intersecting at right angles (on a square plane). Interestingly, the embroideries were made on linen, not on canvas. One can imagine that counting threads required considerable precision and concentration. Especially since Łowicz women did not use ready-made patterns previously drawn on the fabric, but most often embroidered "freehand".
Russian sewing includes embroideries with a rich color palette, so it's difficult to distinguish all the colors in which the patterns were embroidered. However, red, violet, yellow, and green can be conventionally chosen as the dominant colors.
Embroidery on men's shirt front.
Although geometric motifs initially dominated in Russian sewing, floral motifs very quickly gained the greatest popularity: pansies, roses, or entire bouquets of flowers.
Blue embroidery on a woman's shirt, interwar period.
Homespun linen shirts decorated on shoulder pieces, made and worn in the priestly village at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Kociewie Embroidery
Like a phoenix from the ashes
Kociewski embroidery is one of the types of folk art heritage that was almost miraculously saved from oblivion. Thanks to the persistence of two Kociewie women, however, this art was revived and today the patterns are widely known, and Kociewski embroidery constitutes an element of regional identity of Kociewie people to a similar degree as costume and dialect.
In the 1980s, it was officially recognized and got published in the form of pattern tables. Interestingly, both embroiderers came to slightly different conclusions regarding composition and colors, which is why today we can observe Kociewski embroidery in different versions.
Kociewski embroideries are largely based on flat embroidery, which is used for flowers and grain ears. The second main stitch is the cord stitch - it is used for stems and flower outlines. In some patterns, other stitches are also introduced: chain stitch, Janina stitch, and sometimes satin stitch.
Depending on whether we are talking about the Morzeszczyn or Pączew school (that is, about Maria Wespowa's or Małgorzata Garysz's embroideries), the colors differ slightly.
Maria Wespowa, the reconstructor of Kociewski embroidery, distinguishes 8 colors: red, yellow, white, green, brown, violet, garnet, and orange.
Meanwhile, Małgorzata Garysz used up to 13 colors in her embroideries: white, orange, light brown, dark brown, red, burgundy, yellow, lilac, violet, pink, green, light blue, and medium blue.
Embroidery definitely reflects the nature of the region. The most popular motifs are tulips, cornflowers, daisies, poppies, chamomiles, marguerites and ears of grain.
In the 19th century, the industrial revolution halted the development of handicraft and crafts, and that's when Kociewski embroidery began to disappear. "Urban" products gained popularity. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that Kociewie remained in the shadow of Kashubia - while Kashubia was being studied extensively by ethnographers, Kociewie didn't receive as much attention. Fortunately, there were people who wanted to rebuild this part of the region's cultural heritage, and today we can admire beautiful Kociewie embroidery not only in the few museum exhibits!
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Upper Silesian Embroidery
Rosy madness
For many years in Upper Silesia, little attention was paid to decorating costumes with embroidery, and their attractiveness was mainly determined by the cut and type of fabric.
"Jakle" were an important element of the costume and took two basic forms - black decorated with lace or white - hand-embroidered (often with cross-stitch) in a striped pattern.
In Upper Silesia, mainly cords, mouline or silk threads were used. The most commonly used stitches were: satin stitch, stem stitch, backstitch, cord stitch and cross-stitch.
Festive aprons, which were also worn to church, were sewn from printed fabric with so-called blue stripes. White decorative ornaments were embroidered at the bottom using flat stitch. Aprons were most often embroidered with rose motifs.
Silesian embroidery could be single-colored or multicolored. Single-colored embroidery was done with white or black thread. White decorations were used on white or light blue fabrics in light stripes, while black ones were used on dark and smooth fabrics. Colorful embroidery was done on white or light fabrics.
The embroidery mainly used floral motifs, and their arrangement most often took the form of stripes on the edges of the decorated part of the costume. The rose motif was very popular. It appeared in embroidered bouquets and striped ornaments.
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Rzeszów Embroidery
Decorative red-blue embroidery
In the Rzeszów area, embroidery was used to decorate both women's and men's costumes. A whole wealth of forms was used - from white embroidery, through colorful satin stitches to coral decorations. Often the form could indicate the social status of the person wearing the costume - the richest maidens wore costumes embroidered with corals.
In Rzeszów embroidery, many different stitches were used, and embroiderers didn't shy away from more difficult stem stitches (usually used for finishing material edges), openwork, satin stitches, or from simpler techniques such as back and front stitches. White embroidery particularly required considerable skill, so costume elements were ordered from village tailors and embroiderers. Simpler colorful embroidery was often done independently by many women.
In this region we can distinguish different trends - white embroidery done with white thread on white fabric, single-color embroidery - red or brown, and multicolored embroidery that had no color restrictions (this is how bodices were made using thread and corals).
Bonnet scarf, Staromieście, early 20th century
Floral motifs were most commonly embroidered, and their level of simplification varied depending on the type of embroidery. The plant patterns were accompanied by geometric compositions.
The pioneering description of regional costume and Rzeszów embroidery was made by Franciszek Kotula. He was an outstanding ethnographer and storyteller. From his youth, he had a collector's passion, and when in 1935 he was asked to create the Regional Museum of Rzeszów Land, he donated his own collections to it. He wrote books about the region and gathered numerous notes, records, drawings, photographs, and tape recordings. For years, he studied the history of the region. He traveled to people and places - this was the foundation of his thorough research.
The Ethnographic Museum now bears his name, and on his 120th birthday anniversary, a commemorative mural was created in Rzeszów.
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Przeworsk Embroidery
In white and in color
Various head coverings were long used in the region, one of them was the "rańtuch" - a shawl. It was 80-90 cm wide and 240 cm long. It covered not only the head but also the shoulders. Most often it was decorated with geometric flat embroidery.
Although women from Przeworsk used various techniques - from openwork white embroidery through flat stitch to coral embroidery, they mainly used the following stitches: satin stitch, blanket stitch, back stitch.
Different color schemes were used depending on the technique and embroidery. Coral embroidery - decorations were often embroidered with black corals. White embroidery - was done with white thread. Satin stitch embroidery - was done with threads of many colors. Like in the Rzeszów area, red-blue embroidery also emerged. However, they had a different character.
Wedding dress, silk embroidery with thread
Plant and floral motifs dominated in white and flat embroidery. Some were more abstract (like those found in coral embroideries, resembling palm leaves in shape), others more realistic, e.g. bouquets composed of various flowers in colorful flat embroideries. White embroidery typically featured geometrized motifs arranged in stripe compositions. In this region, the paisley motif also appeared (pronounced "paisley") - an almond-shaped fruit pattern, similar to those known from Oriental patterns of the Middle East or India.
In 2021, the "Przeworsk Pattern Book" was published on the initiative of the Museum in Przeworsk. It contains examples of embroidery, but not only. Information available on the Museum's website.
Show the world that it's worth knowing regional traditions.
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Opoczno Embroidery
All colors
Embroidered decorations were an inseparable element of Opoczno culture - they were an integral part of both costume and interior decoration in Opoczno homes. Therefore, both women's and men's shirts were embroidered, as well as scarves, tablecloths, towels, and pillow cases.
The type of embroidery performed in this region changed - originally the most common were: stem stitch and backstitch, simple counted stitches, interwoven stitches called "petanka". Over time, these were replaced by cross-stitches, which later shared their popularity with satin stitches. However, cross-stitch embroidery in striped patterns remains the most associated with Opoczno.
Although embroidery in this region had limited colors in its early development phase, over time there was an explosion of colors both in the fabrics used and in the embroidery. As a result, residents of neighboring regions say about Opoczno costumes: "all colors go".
Regardless of the technique, the embroidery had a striped arrangement, and individual motifs even gained their own names. And so: "kapliczka" is two triangles placed side by side with a cross at the top. "Pieski" is a repeated S letter, and "gołąbek" is a geometrized bird.
Opoczno girls embroidered handkerchiefs for their suitors - as an expression of sympathy, and even hidden love. On one or all corners, they decorated them with "lelijki" (lily) embroidery, with a monogram or dedication added.
Show the world that it's worth knowing regional traditions
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Kashubian Embroidery - Borowiacka School
Forests at sunset
The history of Kashubian embroidery is complex and was influenced by many factors, but at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, thanks to Izydor and Teodora Gulgowski, the colorful embroidery we know today was created. From 1906, Teodora organized courses for girls. She taught embroidery from basics. She prepared patterns herself, based on motifs from bonnets or folk furniture. She also drew color schemes from Kashubian furniture. These were the beginnings of the currently known colorful embroidery in Kashubia. Over the years, different styles called schools emerged.
Although the Borowiacka school belongs to the general collection of Kashubian embroidery, the embroidery of Bory Tucholskie differs enough from other schools that it's worth paying attention to. The embroidery of this region can be divided into the Tuchola school and the Borowiacka school, and we'll take a closer look at the latter now.
Schools from the Bory Tucholskie area reflect amber, earth, and forests. The Borowiacka school has seven colors, as these are equivalents of Kashubian embroidery colors. The colors transition from light yellow through gold, orange, to brown, creating a unique characteristic color palette: light yellow, sunny yellow, darkened gold, golden brown, olive gold, orange brown.
Motifs in Borowiacki embroidery are drawn from the Żukowo school, therefore they are counted among Kashubian embroidery. There are plenty of tulips, cornflowers, sunflowers, forget-me-nots, buds, oak leaves, hearts, and bells. At the same time, this school enriches patterns with filigree, intersecting lines of stems and whiskers.
The basic stitches are satin stitch, cord stitch, knots, and grids secured with yellow stitches. The edges of napkins were finished with crocheted brown teeth, openwork or crochet lace in the color of the fabric.
Embroidery: Anna Ledwożyw, based on Honorata Bloch's design
Mrs. Honorata Bloch, who co-created the Borowiacka school, recommended laying satin stitches from right to left. Light should fall from the right side. When elements were divided, one should first complete the left part, and after turning the work - the remaining parts of the element.
Mrs. Honorata Bloch had many artistic achievements in her career. Embroidery was her whole life. In 2002, she was honored with the Oskar Kolberg Award for her contributions to Polish culture.
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Greater Poland - Snutka
Lace side of embroidery
In Adam Glapa's text from 1955, one can read that lace embroidery derives from Renaissance lace. Inspired village women adapted the openwork form of crowns to their own capabilities. They transformed it and translated it into the language of embroidery.
Danuta Wróbel from Golina.
According to tradition, lace should be made with white threads on white cotton fabric. However, it's worth noting works that add new colors to lace, although they go slightly beyond the canon of original, folk works.
Openwork embroidery forms repeated, traditional elements. Some of them have their own names, such as: old woman, fly, bee, heart, peacock's eye. Among the motifs there are many references to the plant world: flower, mertka, sunflower or daisy.
drawing the pattern on fabric
sewing the outlines of motifs with running stitch
weaving strong thread between motifs
sewing elements with buttonhole or eyelet stitchbr> cutting out the fabric where the drawn threads are
washing, starching and ironing the work.
Pre-war lace, Golina
Helena Moszczeńska played a special role in the history of snutka. As the owner of an estate in Golina at the end of the 19th century, she noticed this beautiful art form was disappearing and made every effort to preserve the tradition of this embroidery. She gathered young girls and encouraged them to make lace for their own use and for local churches. Thanks to this initiative, large works, tablecloths or albs were often created.
Take a photo of how you use motifs from the pattern book and tag @szkolahaftu in your social media. Add hashtags #regionalnyczwartek and #wzornikszkołyhaftu.
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Learn more about snutka from the excellent publication by Magdalena Wieczorek "Snutka, the folk embroidery of southern Greater Poland" available online in free pdf version.
Podhalan Beaded Embroidery
Corsets from the mountains
Beads could be the only form of decoration, or they could be adjacent to thread embroidery. Beads of various sizes were used in embroidery. Most often small, made of glass. Sequins became popular a bit later than beads, they were metal, hence the name glitter.
Embroidery and photography: Anna Rzepka
Beads and sequins used to decorate corsets could be either silver or gold. Other colors, sometimes even bright ones, were also used. The embroidery was mainly done on red velvet (the color of girls' corsets) and burgundy. Green, navy blue and black materials are also popular.
Podhale corset with a traditional rose motif.
Embroidery and photography: Anna Rzepka.
In beaded embroidery, floral motifs reign supreme, and the most common ones include: carline thistle, lily, as well as rose and edelweiss.
Poronin, Zakopane district, around 1957 | Odrowąż, Nowy Targ district, first half of the 20th century.
Dziewięciornik, or dziewięćsił, is the Polish name of the Carline Thristle flower. It is one of the most popular motifs appearing on highlander women's corsets. Interestingly, this motif was introduced to the Podhale ornamentation by Stanisław Witkiewicz.
Carlina acaulis is a plant from the aster family, whose feathery, thorny leaves form a rosette, in the middle of which there is a large silver-white, open flower.
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Kraków, White Embroidery
Intricate cutwork
Although the first association with Krakow embroidery for many of us is richly decorated corsets, one cannot forget about the exquisite white embroidery on shirts, bonnets and aprons.
The effectiveness of white Krakow embroideries results not from the use of complicated stitches, but from the intricate arrangement of patterns. Usually, backstitch, buttonhole stitch and satin stitch are used here. Openwork English embroidery was enriched with motifs of intersecting hemstitch.
Krakow embroidery has many faces, and although in this edition we focus on white embroidery (white canvas and white thread), it is worth mentioning the openwork embroidery on scarves from the Zalipie region, which was made with red thread.
As in many other folk embroideries, Krakow white embroidery is dominated by plant and floral motifs. The so-called palmettes and the tree of life are frequently recurring motifs. A feature that distinguishes Krakow white embroidery is the characteristic finish of the decorated elements of the costume in the form of scalloped edges.
Seweryn Udziela (1857-1937) - ethnographer, researcher and popularizer of folk culture of Małopolska. From early youth he was interested in the world near and far. He worked in education, made contacts, observed everyday life. He conducted field research and constantly took notes. After moving to Krakow in 1911, he undertook to create the Ethnographic Museum. Right from the beginning he had collected almost 2000 objects. His publications paint a picture of Galician villages, describe clothing and embroidery. He left his successors, as if in his will, the courage to act and an open mind.
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Ukrainian Embroidery
Photo: Ukrainian fashion week.
The appearance and number of elements of the costume were greatly influenced by the geographical location of the region. Men's costumes were quite similar across a large area. Women's costumes were distinguished by embroidery and component parts, but for all regional varieties the basis was a richly embroidered shirt – sorochka.
Embroidery was dominated by techniques strongly related to the structure of the material - counted embroidery and hemstitching. Various cross stitches, backstitching and flat satin embroidery were used. Weaving embroidery also appeared. This is not a typical embroidery, because the decorative band of decorative, geometric patterns is created during the weaving of the canvas.
In terms of color, Ukrainian embroidery can be divided into single, two, or multi-color. In many embroideries, red, blue, or black dominate.
The most popular are geometric patterns creating various compositions. The motifs often have their symbolic meaning or refer to Slavic mythology. Stars symbolize order and harmony, and crosses are protection against evil and bring success. Flowers and leaves are associated with prosperity and swallows mean good news.
In the past, the girl who had the most beautifully embroidered pillows, covers or shirts was the best candidate for a wife. There was even a custom for a boy to show interest by giving a white shirt to his chosen one. Embroidering such a shirt meant consent to marriage.
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Sieradz Embroidery
prążeczka, drobecka, krzywicka i gzygzok.
The region is located west of Łódź, bordering on Greater Poland, and the largest river in the area is the Warta. Due to labour migrations at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, urban costumes began to replace folk costumes. Only in some places, until the 1950s, women wore folk costumes on special occasions. The women's costume did not have a corset, well-known from other regions, but a lace sewn to the woolen skirt, fastened with buttons. It was decorated with numerous pleats, darts and decorative haberdashery.
Sieradz embroidery, although much less known than the neighbouring Łowicz embroidery, is definitely worthy of attention. It was made primarily on aprons (which we will focus on) and tulle bonnets.
Sieradz sewing on display at the District Museum in Sieradz. The exhibition is the result of a project popularizing folk embroidery from this region.
The oldest aprons are made of black wool, embroidered with woolen thread. Wool was replaced by cotton fabrics, white or in colored stripes and cotton embroidery threads. The basic stitches are satin stitch, stem stitch and a buttonhole stitch called zodziżg or obołka in the region.
The yarn-embroidered aprons came in a limited range of colors: magenta, red, green, white, blue and yellow. Later satin embroideries are multi-colored. White embroidery was also used on fabrics with colored stripes.
The motifs were based on decorative, factory-made ribbons. Most often, they were roses surrounded by small flowers and leaves. A rhythmic embroidery pattern decorated the 3 sides of the apron. As in other regions, some elements had their own names, e.g.: prążeczka, drobecka, krzywicka and gzygzok. The names mean a straight line, a wavy line and a zigzag.
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Warmian Embroidery
Only for festive days
Specific historical and economic conditions meant that traditional folk costumes in Warmia ceased to be used at the end of the 19th century. They were replaced by cheaper factory-made fabrics and costumes inspired by European models.
The most valuable, richly decorated, and worn for longer periods were women's caps called hard caps (mycka) or galonik. They consisted of an embroidered bottom piece, a narrowing rim, and ribbons.
According to the 1694 law, festive headwear could only be worn by married women. The ban was not strictly enforced, and unmarried women wore caps with narrower ribbons. The cap was not one of the typical rural head coverings worn daily for work - white kerchiefs were used for that.
The embroidery used couching stitches, padding embroidery and sequins, additionally sequins and colored spangles. The caps were made by nuns who specialized in embroidery. Over the years, colorful embroidery on hard bottoms in the shape of a horseshoe was also made by secular girls, students of the nuns.
Symmetrical floral motifs were made with gold thread, silver thread, or colorful silk threads on damask, silk, and velvet. One of the recurring motifs is probably the flower and fruit of the dyer's crocus.
The skill of sewing Warmian caps, through the efforts of Mrs. Izabela Treutle and Krystyna Tarnacka, was inscribed on the national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2021.
The skill of sewing Warmian caps, through the efforts of Mrs. Izabela Treutle and Krystyna Tarnacka, was inscribed on the national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2021.
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Podlasie Embroidery
accompanies life's journey
Historical Podlasie encompasses the central and southern part of Podlaskie Voivodeship, the northeast and north of Lubelskie Voivodeship, and the eastern edge of Mazowieckie Voivodeship. Various ethnic and religious groups lived in this area for years. Even the changing fates of borders and difficult moments in history did not interrupt the ongoing traditions of weaving, embroidery, and rituals.
The folk towel was an inseparable element of life in this area. It was passed down from generation to generation and wasn't used for hygienic purposes. It accompanied the most important moments in life. It was used to decorate rooms by hanging decoratively around icons, and every maiden should have several in her dowry, preferably hand-embroidered.
Ceremonial towels were made from homespun linen and were initially decorated only with patterns selected during weaving. The most traditional embroidery technique was cross-stitch. Later, flat stitch embroidery became widely popular.
Colors had symbolic value. The earliest towels were embroidered with black and red thread, occasionally with blue. Other colors were introduced along with the satin flat stitch technique. Several colors were selected from the basic set.
Geometric, cross-stitch patterns were dominated by plant motifs such as roses, carnations, cornflowers, leaves, and grapevines. Animals were also embroidered, mainly birds. Some craftswomen included monograms and dates.
Prayers and thoughts were often symbolically "woven" into the embroidery of ceremonial towels. Many beliefs were also associated with these towels. For example, a towel made in one night by unmarried, young girls was believed to bring protection against lightning, diseases, and war.
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Agnieszka Jakubicz
Most often it was created as part of a dowry and played an important ceremonial role during marriage.
A girl herself was supposed to make several towels.
Sometimes the long time needed to make towels was an excuse before a quick wedding. Girls, often teenagers, were already beautifying their own towels with needle and thread.
They often borrowed and traced them, invented their own by observing flowers in meadows and gardens.
Mrs. Olga Dmitruk from Gregorowce recalls that she used her mother's pattern notebooks.
The towel "went" with the newly baked wife to her husband's village.
Older towels were decorated with cross-stitch, but by the end of the 1920s, in the 1930s and 1940s, flat embroidery began gaining more popularity, only to surge in prominence after the war.
Unfortunately, not long after, in the following decades, the towel was forgotten, cut up - keeping only the embroidered motif - or thrown away completely as useless. Fortunately, the admiration for them is returning.
Kashubian Embroidery - Wdzydze School
History of the beginning
At the beginning of the 19th century, Wdzydze was a small, poor village, and finding occupation, especially in winter, was quite difficult. Teodora, using her artistic skills developed in Berlin, began creating embroidery patterns, providing practical occupation and income for local girls.
The stitches used in embroidery include stem stitch, satin stitch, cross-stitch, Arabic stitch (looks like a brick), knots, "Janina" stitch, and thrifty stitch and chain stitch.
Teodora was inspired by patterns from painted furniture and Kashubian items collected by her husband. She also drew motifs from gold-embroidered Kashubian women's caps and church embroidery. Hence the rich motif of roses and pomegranate fruit. Additionally, tulips, stars, cherries, leaves, hearts, ears of grain, forget-me-nots, bells, and unnamed motifs build colorful compositions.
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Pyrzyce Embroidery
Flowers embroidered with wool
The most colorful part of the costume was the shoulder scarf. Embroidery decorated socks, bags, sashes with cockades, gloves, and scarves worn in muffs. Embroidery was not only found on clothing. In museum collections, there is a sewing kit that is also decorated with embroidery.
In the Pyrzyce costume, embroidery was done using flat and couching stitches. Cross-stitch was also used. It was used to embroider batiste and tulle scarves, bags, as well as monograms and dates. Colorful flat embroidery was usually done with wool on velvet and woolen fabrics. Patterns on the richest housewives' costumes were embroidered with silk thread.
The most common motifs are stylized tulips, large round flowers in the shape of daisies or roses. Smaller branches, bells, and forget-me-nots complete the composition, often arranged in a bouquet. The tree of life motif and geometric, symmetrical patterns on socks also appeared in the embroideries.
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Opole Embroidery
On shirts and opleceks
The oldest shirts in white - white embroidery plus red and black thread.
Caps - colorful or gold embroidery.
White English embroidery and flat stitch were used on: shirts, opleceks and caps. Gold embroidery - for caps. Half-crosses and crosses complemented the composition or decorated ribbons sewn onto the shirt collar. The technique and pattern of embroidery were adapted to the part of clothing on which they appeared. Cotton threads or cord were used for embroidery on linen and wool.
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Krajna Embroidery
Symbol of local community
Museum examples confirm the presence of embroidery in interiors and on clothing. The oldest preserved exhibit is a halka fragment from the village of Skica from around 1910. Copies, reconstructions, or documents from the beginning of the century concern napkins, aprons, and decorative belts (kajnt) attached to furniture shelves.
The motifs are highly stylized. The mesh pattern in poppy and pomegranate represents numerous seeds. Scattered grains appear in patterns as rhombuses or small dots around the ears of grain. The lily motif was combined with the pomegranate motif, referencing symbolism borrowed from church embroidery. Larger compositions are built around the pomegranate, which is the largest and centrally positioned motif. The basis of ornamentation and composition is symmetry and rhythm.
In Krajna embroidery, black and shades of blue are used, e.g., navy, cornflower blue, light blue. Tendrils and vines are made in black, in other motifs the embroiderer chooses shades following the principle of contrast.
The basic technique is flat embroidery, satin stitch. Tendrils are made with cord. The mesh pattern consists of threads interwoven crosswise. In one of the oldest works, the mesh pattern was secured with single diagonal stitches.
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Hazacki Embroidery
"by the river Orla
Forest dwellers lived"
The most common was white embroidery on canvas and on thick cotton tulle.
Plant motifs emphasized the bond with nature, these were wild flowers, hawthorn fruit, leaves, buds, twigs. Geometric patterns such as rhombuses, circles, dots, stars, pine trees, zigzags and lines were also embroidered on tulle. When arranging striped and central compositions, symmetry was usually maintained.
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In 2019, the Rawicz Land Museum published the Catalog of Embroidery Patterns from the Hazy region. It contains patterns collected by Franciszek Brzeskot. Some of them have not been published before.