
Embroidered National Costumes of Ukraine
Embroidery has a tradition in Ukraine that stretches back centuries. Excavations of ancient sites reveal that even before recorded history, Ukrainians were embroidering shirts; an embroidered shirt is called a ‘vyshyvanka’ or ‘sorochka’. The story of vyshyvanka goes back centuries, but no one knows exactly when the first one appeared. It is a traditional item of clothing, usually a shirt or a blouse, made from linen and decorated with embroidered patterns. The original meaning of vyshyvanka was symbolic, with colors and decorations differing from region to region and even village to village. Red and black acorns are usually embroidered in Kyiv and its surrounding area, green and orange patterns are …