Folk Costume and Embroidery of East Mulgimaa, Estonia.

Today I will continue my coverage of the traditional attire of Mulgimaa by covering the eastern parishes of Paistu, Tarvastu and Helme. 

I covered some basic information about the Mulgi in my previous article. 

The image above is from Paistu parish. 

The chemise, särk, in this region, in contrast to West Mulgimaa,  has basically the same cut as in Võrumaa. It is made from linen, has a narrow shoulder yoke, and sleeves set in at a right angle to the body. 

What appear to be older examples show white on white embroidery on the collar, epaulettes, and cuffs. The stitch used is what in Ukrainian is called верхоплут, verkhoplut, which translates as 'topwinder'. This stitch is found across Eastern Europe. I have not been able to find an Estonian or an English name for this stitch. Here are some examples from each of the three Parishes. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

Helme

What I believe to be later examples of chemises are embroidered in red in topwinder, satin stitch or cross stitch, with ancillary stitches. Again, examples from the three parishes. 

Paistu

Tarvastu

I have seen reconstructions where the seam is placed at the peak of the shoulder, this is incorrect, the seam should fall on the upper arm. Doing so makes the body of the chemise too narrow. I suspect that this is done simply because modern set in sleeves sit at this point, and the sewer does not know that it was done differently in the past. 

This is wrong:

I have only found evidence of the dark wool wrap skirt in Eastern Mulgimaa, with just the braided edging, or with the bronze wire ornament. The red and white wrap skirts are not in evidence. The silver plate ornament likewise is lacking. These examples are from Paistu Parish. 

Paistu

Paistu

Paistu

The apron, põll, was often white and embroidered. Some had old style Mulgi embroidery, based on circular and other free-hand motifs. 

Paistu

Later, refined embroidery, including openwork that was common on household linens also came to be used on the aprons. 

Tarvastu

Helme

Whereas in West Mulgiamaa  married women put up their hair and tied a plain white linen rectangular piece of cloth over it, in East Mulgimaa they ornamented this cloth with embroidery. At first they just placed Mulgi style embroidery on the two shorter edges. The older päärätt.

This embroidery gradually changed. First, the bands on the ends became geometric, and spot designs appeared on the corners, these stuck out and were visible when the garment was tied at the back of the head. Again, remember that the hair should have been put up first. 

When kerchiefs generally came into fashion, replacing ancient headdresses all over Europe, they were tied over the top of the traditional garment in this region.

The above examples are from Paistu. The following are from Tarvastu.

Unfortunately kerchiefs replaced this wonderful garment later on. 

Or of white wool with Mulgi embroidery. Examples from Paistu.

Or plaid wool, as in this example from Tarvastu. 

White wool stockings were also worn here, as in West Mulgimaa, but here the knitted in design was much wider. In the past, women would also wrap footcloths around their legs to make their calves look thicker. 

Moccasins of leather, pastlad, were worn over these. In dry snow, these might be replaced by footwear woven from birch or linden bark, viisud. Both were held on by laces wrapped around the legs. This type of footwear was very common in Eastern Europe. 

Braided garters were used to hold up the socks. Not all of them had colored ornament. 

Silver annular brooches, larger brooches, and various types of necklaces were worn. 

Vests or short jackets were worn in Tarvastu. 

And Helme, but images of these are rare. 

Examples from Tarvastu. 

Here is a well known photograph showing a man from Tarvastu wearing a long city style overcoat [note the collar, lapels and buttoned overlap] over the kasuka. Note that boots or leather shoes were worn by those who could afford them. 

Men wore shirts similar in cut to the womens' chemises, but shorter. Shirts for special occasions might be embellished with hemstitching and simple embroidery.

Helme

Pants were of a simple cut, and of sturdy plain linen or wool. The full seat is visible here too. 

Plain dark wool socks were worn, the pants being tucked into them, and the whole held in place with braided garters, as is the case for the women. Moccasins or birchbark shoes were worn by the poor, and boots by those [not many] who could afford them. 

The pair on the left in this image were made in the old way, woven on a wooden form. This was done before knitting entered the area. This technique lasted much longer in the neighboring Slavic countries, which never used knitting. 

Just a few more images of this attire.