Costumes of India and the World

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 …

Embroidery of India includes dozens of regional embroidery styles that vary by region. Designs in Indian embroidery are formed on the basis of the texture and the design of the fabric and the stitch. The dot and the alternate dot, the circle, the square, the triangle and permutations and combinations of these constitute the design. The most ornate and tedious form of Indian embroidery is the Zardosi workmanship. This form uses metallic thread instead of the usual silk or rayon. The craftsman marks the fabric, usually silk or velvet, with the pattern, embroiders with metallic thread, and embellishes with stones or beads. Many rich women from the late 16th century …