Embroidery of the Hutsul Region, Part 4a, Kosiv

Hello all,

Today I will continue talking in more detail about the embroidery of the Kosiv region of Hutsulshchyna. This is located in the northeast part of the Hutsul lands, for more detail see my previous article. I will cover some of the more typical embroidery styles, moving from north to south.

The shirt at the head of the article is definitely from this region, but the exact village of origin is unknown. The shoulder inset is executed in cross stitch, and the sleeve in counted satin stitch.

Yabluniv Яблунів

In Jabluniw, cross stitch seems to be most common, although I only have a couple of examples of the embroidery. The upper sleeve is gathered in the typical zigzag method of the Hutsuls, and the shoulder inset embroidery does not overlap onto the sleeve. The sleeve is embroidered with a separate area design.

Akreshory Акрешори

This village lies north of Kosmach in the westernmost part of this region. I have only been able to find one piece of embroidery that is confirmed to be from this village. It seems to be a modified Kosmach design.

Pistyn' Пістинь

This village lies in the northeast of this region, between Jabluniw and Kosiv. It has a rich embroidery tradition, based on cross stitch and nyzynka.

Here are a couple of shoulder insets, showing characteristics typical of the region. Ustawka embroidery not extending beyond the seam, zigzag gathering on the upper sleeve, bands of embroidery along the side seams, and spot designs on the upper part of the ustawka.

Here are some examples of nyzynka from this village. Note that these also feature embroidery along the seams of the body, as in Kosmach.

A third type of embroidery typical of Pistyn' is red and black cross stitch on both the shoulder inset and the sleeve. Note that the upper sleeve is not gathered in this particular example.

But here is an isolated sleeve from my personal collection that was gathered.

More miscellaneous photos from Pistyn'

This shoulder inset is done in a technique called 'pysanyj' three different stitches, cross stitch, braid stitch, and 'kycheryavyj' stitch, which is more typical of Verbivets'. These motifs consist of a center of cross or other stich, which are surrounded by stem or chain stitches, forming little circles. This is the only example of this style of embroidery which I have found from Pistyn'.