Volyn embroidery

Oh, is it so red, in which country,
Like here, in our native Volyn!
Lesya Ukrainka

Volhynia is an ancient Russian historical region in the basin of the southern tributaries of the Pripyat River and the upper reaches of the Western Bug River in northwestern modern-day Ukraine. It is located between Podillia in the south and Polissya in the north, the Western Bug in the west and the upper Teterev and upper reaches of the Uzh River in the east.

Volhynia encompasses the modern Volyn and Rivne regions, the western part of Zhytomyr, and the northern parts of Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions. In a somewhat broader interpretation, Volhynia can include the southern part of Brest Oblast in Belarus and the eastern part of the Lublin Voivodeship in Poland.

Poetics of ancient art

It seems as if time has stopped to enjoy the centuries-old grandeur of these places. Centuries-old forests, blue-eyed lakes and lush meadows have inspired more than one generation of Ukrainian artists. Volyn has become a real cradle of Western Ukrainian culture, a whole treasury of customs, traditions, crafts, etc. A whole galaxy of famous Ukrainians, including Lesya Ukrainka, Ulas Samchuk, Mykola Kostomarov and others, drew inspiration from these lands.

The territory of the modern Volyn region was originally inhabited by the tribes of Dulib, Volyn, Buzhan, Luchan, and Berest. Their civilization left behind unsurpassed folklore, architectural achievements, and some handmade products.

One of the most interesting archaeological finds in Volyn and Polissya can be considered carved wooden ornaments, which are attributed to the Neolithic era (5000-1800 BC). Pieces of ceramics found in these regions are also generously decorated with quite characteristic ornaments. And all this echo of ancient cultures has found a very broad reflection in more modern finds - half-decayed pieces of clothing. Therefore, such patterns as "herringbone", "rhombus", "triangles", "crosses" have become ancient messages to descendants.

"Vysyvankov" language

All this could not but be reflected in the costumes of Ukrainians of the post-Russian era. Thus, Volhynians decorated themselves with characteristic ornaments both during the time of the Lithuanian principality, and under the Polish nobility, and even under the Muscovites. Our people were able to preserve these ancient authentic signs and always understood their meanings. Thus, a few centuries ago, clothing easily replaced a passport for a Ukrainian. The nature of the outfit and the ornaments on the shirt unmistakably indicated the social and property status of a person, her narrow regional affiliation. Moreover, they say that by the pattern on the vyshyvanka it was easy to determine whether a woman was married, how many children she had, whether she had a good husband, and whether she had a large household. Often, women deliberately tucked the hem of the plakhta a little so that the ornaments on the bottom of the shirt could be seen. Firstly, it was a way to characterize yourself as a good craftswoman, if the shirt was embroidered very nicely, and secondly, it allowed others to read the incredible code embedded in the pattern.

For centuries, folk craftsmen have created our genetic code and successfully used a kind of sign language. All types of ornaments had their own execution technique. To develop and perform these techniques, you need to be able to apply the pattern in relation to the fabric, its density, the size of the canvas, etc. Also, the choice of the rhythm of the ornament, the frequency of alternating stripes and the ratio of the ornaments to each other and to the background of the product can be called a whole art.

The main place in the ornamental art of Volyn people is occupied by symbols of water, earth and sun, which form a life-giving trinity. Also considered traditional are images of Berehyna - the patroness of life; the tree of life, on the branches of which birds are symmetrically located - symbols of the human soul; plant motifs.

The beauty and symbolism of Volyn embroidery inspired the outstanding writer Lesya Ukrainka. It is a little-known fact that at the age of six, the then future poetess learned to sew and embroider, and began to embroider a shirt for her beloved father. Spending her childhood in Kolodyazhne in Volyn, Lesya Ukrainka loved to wear folk costumes and various embroidery. Her love for embroidery was also shared by the poetess' mother, Olena Pchilka. It was she who was the first in Ukraine to publish a collection of embroidery patterns from Polissya, which was published in 1877.

Men's and women's uniforms

It is worth dwelling in more detail on the general image of Ukrainians of that time in order to paint a complete picture in the mind.

Volyn men wore brown coats and red belts. A coat is a simple peasant garment, similar to a caftan, made of coarse unbleached sheep's wool. These coats were trimmed with red cords around the collar and pockets. Cloth or sheepskin hats were decorated with the same decoration. The coat was also equipped with a hood - the ancestor of the modern hood - for wearing in rainy weather. Volyn men wore boots.

The Volyn people wore a linen or hemp shirt and linen trousers. The trousers were distinguished by an interesting cut and a woven ochkur, stretched at the waist. Somewhat later, it was replaced with a colored border.

The outerwear for Volyn people was the syryk – a kind of retinue made of white sheep wool, the back of which was pleated. The collar, cuffs, belt and pockets of such clothing were embroidered with black woolen threads, and over time with colored ones, and the syryks were fastened with homemade wooden buttons.

Men's fur coats were sewn in the same way as syriaks, only their hems were detachable at the waist, rather than one-piece. They were white or brown in color with large curly black wool collars. Fur coats were also embroidered with embroidery on the collar, cuffs, pockets, armpits, and belt. The eyelets were often decorated with colored pompoms. syriaks were usually sewn by tailors, and fur coats from skins treated to white were made by furriers. Embroidered coats and trousers were made at home.

The women's shirt was cut the same as the men's, but slightly longer, to the ankles. The women's embroidered shirt was decorated with a "zavoloch", which was sewn from the outside or back. The inserts and sleeves, and sometimes the collar and bosom, were necessarily decorated with embroidery. The embroidered shirts near the collar and on the sleeves were embroidered in white, blue or red colors. On holidays, a cloth bekesha was also worn over the usual dress.

In the Volyn part of Ukraine, women's embroidered vyshyvankas were tightly gathered around the neck, decorated with authentic jewelry - corals, beads, dukachs, hryvnias, and necklaces.

As outerwear, women also wore suits and coats of the same cut as men. The inserts, sleeves, and sometimes the collar and bosom were embroidered. Skirts were homespun - they were woven from cloth of one or two or three colors. Such skirts were called "litnyk". They were in a checkered pattern of green, yellow or red. Often, instead of a full skirt, two sheets were worn: one at the back and one in front. Aprons for such skirts were made of linen, interwoven with red threads at the bottom.

Girls wore flowered heads, and married women wore a colorful scarf (ochepok) or a namitka decorated at the ends. Later, square scarves were worn, which were also embroidered at the ends, and so-called bublyachy (similar to buttons) were sewn to the scarves. Later, woolen "thorns" were worn on top of homespun scarves, which were twisted and sewn one after another "bublyachy" on them, which generally looked like a wreath on the head. As for shoes, Volyn women wore boots or sapyantsy with high heels in red or yellow.

Details of the cut and lace of embroidered dresses

Volyn embroidery, as we have already said, was originally famous for its originality, laconicism and restraint. The vast majority of embroidered shirts were cut with a knife. The cut of women's and men's embroidered shirts was almost the same.

The embroidered shirt had the following parts: waist, sleeves, inserts, rivets (blades under the sleeves), collar, covers. Waist length – 85 cm, sleeve length – 57 cm, width – 32 cm, collar – 38 cm, insert length – 24 cm, width – 12 cm, cover width – 4 cm. The collar in the shirts was fastened with a homemade tin button with a glass, with a “zhychka” – a cord made of colored wool or with a button made of raw yarn. Boys’ embroidered shirts had lace on the collar, bosom, and covers. The cut of women’s embroidered shirts differed from men’s only in length – to the ankles. Inserts, sleeves, and sometimes the collar and bosom were embroidered.

For the Volyn region in general, a rhythmic alternation of geometric shapes is common: stars, rhombuses, broken lines. Small details, inscribed in each other, intertwining, form a single ornament. The most common technique is zanyzuvannya - a very ancient embroidery that imitates shuttle weaving, creating dense, laconic and at the same time elegant compositions. In this way, a pattern is created that resembles the picturesque Volyn reliefs.

As for the color scheme of the shirts, the patterns were dominated by red , and they were also embroidered with blue and black threads. The product turns out very beautiful if embroidered white on white with silk threads. True, this is difficult, because, as the craftsmen say, silk threads cut the hands very much.

In the southern regions of Volhynia, floral motifs predominated in ornamentation. Shirts near the collar and sleeves were embroidered exclusively with light threads. However, a distinctly Western Volhynian feature was the location of a narrow strip of embroidered ornament on the cuff.

Names of Volyn patterns: flowers, hops, hops, hops, hops, hops, grapes, hops-berries, buckwheat crosses, crosses, endless, heaps, corn, cucumbers in two halves, stars, baskets, basket-shaped rose, fork, ram's horns, targachiki, rutka, marigolds, eye, berries, cymbals, curls, full rose, wedge-shaped rose, periwinkle rose, full rose, rose, axes, hooves, hoof, broken crosses, crosses, oak leaves, two-half-leaf clover, cream, cross-leaved rose, polonychnik.

Modern Volyn embroidered shirts

The First World War, unfortunately, also had a significant impact on culture. As a result, the Volyn folk costume, which had been preserved for centuries, could not withstand the onslaught of European culture, which gradually began to supplant traditions. The ancient zavoloch was replaced by the Bavarian cross, the Hungarian smooth surface, and the Parisian Richelieu technique. Geometric ornaments were replaced by floral ones, and in some places birds began to be embroidered. The color scheme of embroidery also underwent changes - the traditional red color was replaced by black. Over the embroidered shirts, people began to wear primitive vests and fur coats without any decorations. Skirts and aprons began to be made of cut fabric and, in general, greatly simplified the appearance of the national costume. As some ethnographers say, the Europeans spoiled the taste of the Volyn people.

Today, it is undoubtedly very difficult to find a real Volyn embroidery, but our culture, like a phoenix, is reborn from the ashes, and therefore many Ukrainian craftsmen reproduce the unsurpassed techniques of decorating shirts from grandmother's chests. Volyn motifs are no exception. Modern rethinking of traditions in combination with ancient ornaments gives rise to new things that are easily integrated into the pace of the 21st century.