Niz (nyzynka, nizzya) is one of the most famous counted stitches in Ukrainian embroidery. The basis for the niz is the “forward needle” technique, and the embroidery itself is done from the bottom (from the inside out). The very name niz is due to the fact that the stitch is embroidered from the bottom of the canvas. This technique is most characteristic of Podillia and the Hutsul region, but it is also quite common in Bukovina, Pokuttya, Boykivshchyna, and Volyn Polissya.
General features of the technique
The bottom creates clear diagonal lines, so its patterns are very geometric and characteristic, unlike a cross, for example. The bottom has several varieties in terms of technique and execution direction: simple and castle, longitudinal and transverse, turned bottom and “jump”. The texture of the embroidery is absolutely unique precisely because the bottom is sewn on from the underside of the canvas. The dense pattern of the bottom is almost impossible to embroider “from the front”, because nothing is visible. On the other hand, everything is visible from the wrong side and it is easier to embroider.
Polychrome ornaments are embroidered in several stages. First, the main pattern, called a “divorce”, is embroidered. After it, colored embroidery is embroidered. Colored decoration can be done using various techniques from the front side of the canvas or again from the bottom.
Usually, you can embroider low without a hoop, holding the fabric in your hands. But sometimes, for example, when embroidering thin fabric, a hoop can make the work much easier. So, in general, this is not a fundamental issue.
Sometimes you can find large fragments in the pattern, but it is not advisable to embroider them in their full length, so such an ornament is usually divided into smaller elements, which are embroidered in turn.
Simple bottom
The bottom is embroidered using the “forward needle” technique: the required number of threads of the canvas is typed onto the needle and the required number of threads are passed through.
To embroider the bottom, the thread is fixed in the upper right corner of the canvas. Embroidering begins from top to bottom, directing the thread from top to bottom. The needle is directed vertically downward between the warp threads and each time the number of threads of the canvas, determined by the pattern, is counted.
In terms of its geometry, the thread is usually odd - the number of threads is one, three or five - in the case of a simple thread. And more than five - in a castle thread. When the embroidery reaches the end of the row, the needle is turned over, pointing upwards and inserted through one vertical thread of the canvas. Then the embroidery is continued according to the pattern. In this case, the canvas is not turned over, but simply the direction of movement of the needle is alternated - up and down. When embroidering with thread, it is very important not to tighten the thread too much, but to lay it gently, so that the embroidery pattern turns out to be somewhat voluminous and convex. It is especially difficult to start an ornament with thread, and after a few rows, the ornament itself will prompt the number of threads of the canvas and you will no longer be able to count the threads so carefully.
Often, a dense, monochromatic ornament with a “nizz” (“divorce”) is complemented by embroidery in other techniques and colors – smooth, floor, chain, etc.
Castle bottom
Usually, the bottom is embroidered by combining different lengths of stitches. And when the length of one exceeds five threads of the canvas, then the castle bottom comes into play. The fact is that a stitch thread that is too long can sag, cling and eventually break. To prevent this, the castle bottom was invented - when the stitch of the embroidery thread is attached to the base of the canvas with transverse stitches-loops. These loops are called castles, and hence the name of the bottom - castle or twisted. And a characteristic feature of the castle bottom is a certain "curlyness" of the texture of the ornament and wide lines of the pattern.
Of course, five is a conditional number, because in addition to the stitch length, it is worth considering the density of the fabric and the thickness of the embroidery threads. However, as a rule, the lock stitch is located on every fourth thread of the fabric, and sometimes it is embroidered selectively - becoming a separate element of the ornament - the lock can change its location to form beautiful symmetrical lines.
Due to the technical features of the execution, the bottom is a diagonal embroidery, and the ornaments embroidered with the bottom are nothing more than equally inclined lines on a flat canvas (the angle of inclination is usually 45 degrees). Therefore, the locks on the rolled bottom are also made diagonally. The exceptions are the horizontal arrangement of the lock lines.
Double bottom
Double low stitch ("double", "double belt") - the technique is very similar to the first, simple, low stitch. But each row of such embroidery is doubled, that is, repeated twice. This technique is convenient for embroidering cross-stitch patterns.
Transverse bottom
Depending on the direction of embroidery, the bottom can be longitudinal or transverse. The transverse bottom is embroidered across the pattern, also alternating the direction from top to bottom and vice versa, and the embroidery thread is placed parallel to the threads of the base. This type of bottom was most often embroidered on the insets of embroidered shirts.
Longitudinal bottom
The longitudinal bottom is embroidered horizontally along the ornament, and the embroidery thread is placed parallel to the weft threads. This type of bottom was most often used to embroider the bosoms of shirts.
Regional features
The most widespread niz was in the Hutsul region and Eastern Podillia. However, in other regions of Ukraine, niz is quite common in clothing embroidery. For example, in the Carpathian region, the niz is two-color - red and black, and it is used to embroider 5-6 cm wide inserts. In Pokuttya, red niz is used to decorate the cuffs of embroidered shirts, which are decorated with white. Here, blue, green, purple, black and pink colors are added to the red niz.
Podolsk Lowland
In Eastern Podillia, you can most often find a black or red castle lowland, or a combination of both. Castle lowland is also often combined with a plain one.
The lowland of Eastern Podillya is often embroidered in a checkerboard pattern, alternating black and red colors. Sometimes Podillya lowland patterns are surrounded by “distributions” of other colors. The black distribution is red, and the red is black. This technique is called “blooming” in Podillya, and “outlining” in Rivne region.
A little over a century ago, this technique was called “nizia” in Podillia, and it had a huge variety of variations: “round nizia” (embroidery is performed with two parallel lines instead of one), “lysa nizia” (the areas of embroidery and the unstitched background are equal), “strapata nizia” (teeth are present in the ornament), “nizia z razlika shita” (performed from the face, in fact, transverse nizia), “slipa nizia” (the gaps in the unstitched background are very small), “dribna nizia” (performed with small stitches), as well as “tsvetkova”, “shyva”, etc. The ornaments themselves in Eastern Podillia were called: “ram horns”, “combs”, “dorivska niz”, “drymba”, “drymby”, “crooked Ivanko”, “krivy”, “kupchaky”, “chicken foot”, “curlers”, “lyres”, “lyra”, “little Ivanko”, “butterflies”, “eagles”, “eagles flying”, “butterfly eagles”, “poddovki”, horseshoes”, “half of the endless”, “crabs”, “rep'yashok”, “saiinska niz”, “saiinska niz is grafted”, “saiinska zozulka”, “seven-horned”, “crosses”, “tail”, “crosses”, “sewn whole”, etc.
The bottom was mostly used to decorate clothes. In women's embroidered shirts, the bottom was used to embroider the "ustavka" - a rectangular fragment of the top of the sleeve (it could be a separate element of the cut or continuous with the sleeve), the collar, cuffs, bosom, and "pogrudki" - vertical stripes on the front of the chest.
On men's shirts, the collar, "sleeve", and cuffs were embroidered with thread.
Hutsul lowland
Jean-Paul Vézian, the French Ambassador to Ukraine, noted: "Hutsul embroidery is characterized by the magic of demanding art, the perfection and sophistication of sewing techniques, the aesthetic pleasure of the radiance of colors, the meaningful perfection and integrity of the composition. It unites all who share its essence, the knowledge of the protective role of these embroideries."
Hutsul lowland was most often plain, black, polychrome. Sometimes the lowland could be and could be cherry-colored. Castle lowland was not very characteristic, so it can be found only in the Kosiv district and in the Bukovyna Hutsul region (Vyzhnytskyi district), where such lowland was called “u strit”.
Among the folk names of the lowland, we see the following: “barankovy”, “zvunkovy”, “sternovy”, “klyuchky”, “katyechi pawky”, “leafy”, “boxy”, “bean”, “chichkaty”, “brushy” and others.
Just like Podolsk, Hutsul nizh was used mostly to decorate underwear – men's and women's shirts.
On women's shirts, “ustavka”, collar, cuffs (they were called “dudy”, “bratsary”) were usually embroidered at the bottom. The bosoms were often not embroidered, because women wore a silyanka, corals, zgardy and other decorations. And only in the Vyzhnytsia district were “pogrudki” embroidered.
In some areas of the Hutsul region, shirt sleeves were embroidered entirely with lace. For example, not far from the same Vyzhnytsia, it was customary to embroider diagonal stripes on shirt sleeves with a rolled (castle) lace, mostly in red colors. In the Kosiv district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, wedding or simply festive shirts called “sleeves” were often made, in which the entire surface of the sleeve below the “set” was filled with small lace in a checkerboard pattern.
Instead, on men's shirts, the bosoms were embroidered with lace - they could be in the form of a wide bib, or the usual stripes on both sides of the fastener. On men's shirts, the collar and cuffs were also embroidered with lace, and sometimes the inset (narrower than women's) was also embroidered with lace.
A women's embroidery on a shirt almost always has three parts at its core: the main rectangular pattern, "strings" - the outer rows of stitches that look like chains, or "pereshivka" - a narrow ornament along the edge, and "pokrynytsia" - the upper and lower edges of the embroidery of the embroidery, which often have the shape of teeth or horns.
Speaking about the hems of women's Hutsul shirts, it is worth noting that they were the widest in Verkhovyna . They were as wide as a “foot” – the distance between the extended index and thumb. This explains why women's hems were wider than girls'.
The color scheme of the Verkhovyna embroidery is cold. Blue, purple, and azure colors are common here. This embroidery goes perfectly with Verkhovyna keptars (sleeveless fur coats), zapasoks, and kresanivs.
In the Yaremche region, medium-width ustats are common. There are usually three “snurki” – one “translated” and 2 cherry ones. Often, the patterns are not limited to “snurki”, but only decorated with “pereshki”. “Pokraynytsia” are embroidered only along the upper edge of the embroidery. Ancient women's shirts of this region had an embroidered rectangular bib with a pattern identical to the ustat. As for the color scheme, it is worth noting that it was different and matched the traditional keptars – in a warm range for Yasin and in a cold one for Vorokhta.
In the Naddvirnian region, the bottom was embroidered with a very thin woolen thread – “matsidanka”. The main characteristic colors were pink and dark inky blue shades. A characteristic feature of women's shirts of this region was the hem with the upper “border” higher than the lower one.
Today, there is a real revival of forgotten and half-lost Ukrainian traditions. Masters do not ignore embroidery. There are many master classes on embroidery techniques, including nizzyu, on the Internet. Therefore, if you have a desire to join our cultural heritage, do not be shy, be interested, try, search and you will definitely succeed!
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