Applied art. Embroidery.  embroider with a cross. Decorative - applied direction

Ukrainian folk embroidery is one of the most common and accessible types of folk art. It has been improved over many centuries and has come down to us in the form of wonderful various ornaments, seams with which they are made, interesting color combinations of threads.

Samples of ancient folk embroidery amaze us with their simplicity and conciseness, diversity and artistic skill and serve as an inexhaustible source for the development of Soviet arts and crafts.

Since ancient times, hand embroidery has been used to decorate a variety of products that people need in everyday life. Embroidery is popular today. Modern products decorated with Ukrainian folk embroidery are beautiful and original: napkins, tablecloths, towels, panels, blouses, men's shirts and other types of clothing.

In modern Ukrainian embroidery, the color and the seams with which the patterns are made are gradually changing. Traditional ornaments are enriched with new elements and interesting compositional solutions. Designing products based on folk motives, modern craftsmen preserve the centuries-old traditions of folk embroidery, use color schemes, ornaments, and performance techniques that are typical for certain regions of Ukraine.

The process of making embroidery is fascinating. Embroidery develops aesthetic taste, instills accuracy, perseverance, industriousness, a creative attitude to work, forms certain skills and abilities in schoolchildren that will be useful to them in practical activities.

Types of ornaments

Creating ornaments for embroidery, artists at all times turned to nature, but not just copied it, but processed it, simplified it in stylization, preserving the most characteristic. In Ukrainian folk embroidery, there are floral, geometric, floral-geometrized ornaments, ornaments with images of animals, ornaments with emblems. In the embroidery of towels, panels dedicated to significant dates, emblems of the state are used. Floral ornaments consist of stylized (simplified) flowers, leaves, buds, stems. Geometric ornaments consist of a variety of geometric shapes: triangles, rhombuses, squares, stars, etc. In the embroidery of towels, napkins, tablecloths, panels, stylized animals, birds, insects are found in ornaments. Plant-geometrized ornaments consist of geometrized, simplified flowers, leaves, buds, stems.

Types of seams of Ukrainian folk embroideries

The seams of Ukrainian embroideries are divided into basic and additional. The main seams, in turn, are divided into countable and decorative. Counting stitches are called such seams, for the execution of each stitch of which it is necessary to count the threads of fabrics. Counted seams perform geometric or floral-geometrized ornaments. Counted seams include: straight satin stitch, oblique satin stitch, lowering, set, bottom, cross, grain output, gouging, cutting, tops, various types of hemstitches. A variety of ornaments is achieved by combining several types of seams in one pattern. So, the pattern can be made: with a straight satin stitch, cutting out, punches, grain output, retyaz, double-sided beading. In decorative stitches (they are also called free stitches), embroidery stitches are made along the drawn outline of the ornament. Therefore, decorative stitches are used to embroider floral ornaments. This is a double-sided smooth surface, Poltava smooth surface, artistic smooth surface, towel stitches. Simple decorative stitches: stitch, stalk stitch, chain stitch or tambour stitch, as well as rocking stitch, which are used to make geometric and plant-geometrized ornaments. Additional seams include: edge seams, which decorate the edges of napkins, towels; connecting seams (adjacent), which can be used to connect individual parts of such products as blouses, dresses, skirts, etc .; notching - seams that form the edges of cuffs, sleeves, collars in products, as well as assembly on a thread - puffs. In order for the work on embroidery of Ukrainian folk stitches to bring creative satisfaction, one must from the very beginning try to do everything clearly and accurately. The beauty of Ukrainian folk counted seams depends on the accuracy of counting the threads of the fabric. Floral ornaments must be embroidered exactly along the contour of the pattern.

Decorative and applied art implies a wide section of art, which covers various branches of creative activity aimed at creating art products with utilitarian and artistic functions. Collective term conditionally combines two broad types of arts: decorative and applied. Unlike works of fine art, intended for aesthetic enjoyment and belonging to pure art, numerous manifestations of arts and crafts can have practical use in everyday life.

Works of arts and crafts meet several characteristics: they have an aesthetic quality; designed for artistic effect; serve for decoration of everyday life and interior. Such works are: clothing, dress and decorative fabrics, carpets, furniture, art glass, jewelry and other art products.

Embroidery is a common type of arts and crafts in which patterns and images are made manually or by machine on different fabrics, leather, felt and other materials with linen, cotton, silk, woolen threads, as well as beads, pearls, precious stones, sparkles, etc. .

The historical roots of the art of embroidery go back to the mists of time. Obviously, we will never be able to find out who and when for the first time in history guessed to embody the beauty of native nature, their experiences and sensations into a patterned motif, because due to the fragility of fabric and thread, science is unable to accurately determine the time when this art appeared. After all, samples of the most ancient embroidery in European museums date back to the 5th century BC. n. uh..

Archaeological excavations, testimonies of historical chroniclers and travelers allow us to assert that the art of embroidery originates in ancient times and its development has never stopped - from time immemorial to the present day.

A historical fact - the clothes of the Scythians, the inhabitants of the Black Sea steppes, were decorated with embroidery. This is evidenced by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. In history, there are many archaeological evidences of the antiquity and prevalence of the folk custom of embroidering clothes. In with. Martynivka, Cherkasy region, a treasure dated to the 6th century was found. n. e. Among other things, silver plates with figures of men dressed in wide shirts with embroidery on the chest were found here - until recently peasants dressed like this. Plates similar to those found in Martynovka, were discovered in Thessaly, in the Balkans. Historians and scientists believe that they were brought there by the Slavs from the middle Dnieper. On the Thessalian plaques, the image of a warrior is so expressive that an embroidered insert is visible on the shirt.

Another historical fact - the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan (X century AD) in his story about the Russians notes that they wore embroidered clothes.

In the historical era of Kievan Rus, the art of artistic embroidery was highly valued. Vladimir Monomakh's sister Anna-Yanka organized a school in Kyiv, in the Andreevsky Monastery, where young girls learned to embroider with gold and silver.

Archaeological excavations confirm the widespread use of embroidery in antiquity: on brooches and silver bracelets of the 13th century. Figures are depicted in shirts with wide embroidered shirt-fronts. The Ipatiev Chronicle of 1252 tells a story about Prince Daniel of Galicia, who, during a meeting with the king, was dressed in a casing trimmed with gold flat hemstitches.

The people created, found and asserted their own original style. Unknown craftsmen painstakingly developed a variety of established embroidery techniques, which, thanks to the persistence of tradition, have come down through the centuries to the present day. Of course, over time, the skill of embroidery improved. Folk experience has preserved the most typical, most expedient, ornamental patterns marked by high artistic taste, their colorfulness, and embroidery techniques.

The Italian traveler Gilbert de Lanois recalled that Russian mittens and hats were embroidered. In the drawings and icons of that historical period, we see images of people in embroidered clothes, with their patterns not much different from modern ornaments characteristic of a particular area. It should only be noted that ancient samples are more reminiscent of a woven ornament, more geometrized than embroideries of later times. Collectors and ethnographers are beginning to be interested in artistic embroidery, through the efforts of which the first exhibitions of applied art and handicrafts are organized.

Artistic embroidery - one of the most common types of folk art, which embodies the best traditions of the people - brings and will bring joy to thousands of its admirers.

By the nature of the patterns and the methods of their implementation, Russian embroidery is very diverse, in terms of its technique, one is not like the other. It is known that each region, and sometimes even a region, has its own embroidery techniques, its own ornamental motifs, and color schemes, which are common only here. This was largely determined by local conditions, way of life, customs, natural environment. In connection with the prevailing features of embroidery in various regions, territories and republics, embroidery usually bears the name of the places where it originated or from the technique of its execution. This is how well-known embroideries can be called: Nizhny Novgorod guipure, nizi, Vladimir verkhshov, Krestetsko-Valdai stitch, Oryol scribbles and stamps, Kaluga color interlacing, workshop white smooth surface, Alexander colored smooth surface, Vologda seam according to the letter, etc. .

Russian embroidery differs from the embroideries of other peoples. A large role in it is played by geometric ornament and geometrized forms of plants and animals: rhombuses, motifs of a female figure, a bird, a tree or a flowering bush, as well as a leopard with a raised paw. In the form of a rhombus, a circle, a rosette, the sun was depicted - a symbol of warmth, life; a female figure and a flowering tree personified fertility, a bird symbolized the arrival of spring, a hooked cross - a wish for good and mutual understanding.

The most common motif in the ornament of folk embroidery is the "rhombus". In the embroidery of different peoples, it looks different and has different meanings. A rhombus with hooks in embroidery is considered as a symbol of fertility associated with the idea of ​​a mother - an ancestor - the immediate beginning of all births on earth. Rhombus - "burr" in folklore is compared with oak, a sacred tree of many peoples, and is a metaphor for the heavenly "color" - lightning that strikes demons, protects livestock. Among the favorite motifs was a "rosette", consisting of eight petals - blades connected in the center. It acts as a symbol of the feminine, fertility.

Among the motifs of floral ornament, a prominent place is occupied by the "world tree" - the tree of life. A common motif in facial embroidery is a stylized female figure. She can perform in various compositions: in the center, riders or birds on the sides; holding branches or lamps; with birds in their hands, etc. All these stories differ in the nature of their interpretation. But in most of them, the female Mother Goddess, personifying Cheese - the Earth, acts as the patroness of agriculture, the fertility of the earth. It was called upon to ensure the blessings of life and the reproduction of the family.

Embroideries are divided into free (embroidered along the contour of the pattern with free seams, without counting) and counted (embroidered according to the count of fabric threads).

A pattern with geometric shapes is performed mainly by counting embroidery (counting the threads of the canvas), and a curvilinear pattern is done by "free" embroidery (along a contour applied in advance).

Today, the following types of artistic embroidery can be distinguished:

Classification of artistic embroidery

Embroidery

Machine Manual

Plain (monotone, multi- Counting (cross, half cross,

color) "hardanger", hemstitch, Blackwork

Using consumables color interlace, counting surface)

materials (application, lace- free (white surface, tambour,

naya embroidery, Free-Standing ribbons, beads, "Decision",

Embroidery, etc.) embroidery in carpet technique,

With the use of additional golden embroidery, isothread, embroidery

bodily devices (boring, chenille,

cord, sequins, loops, etc.) free surface)

Embroidery is one of the oldest and most widespread types of folk art, in which the image is made with a needle or a special hook with various threads on fabrics, knitwear, leather, felt and other materials.

Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric with stitches that enrich its surface and enhance its beauty. For centuries, embroiderers have experimented with suitable materials, developing and improving their art, drawing inspiration from the world around them, from art, from ornaments of other times and cultures. Artistic embroidery has been used for many purposes: to commemorate events in private or public life, to express various kinds of political or spiritual ideas, to demonstrate status, to tell a story, or to celebrate the beauty of the natural world. Fashion for various types of embroidery appears and disappears, but the main types remain unchanged. Various types of embroidery, from simple cross stitch to exquisite gold embroidery, accumulated over time. Embroidery techniques, patterns, their color embodiment have been improved from generation to generation. Gradually, all the best were selected, and unique images of embroideries with characteristic features were created. Having retained the basic techniques, patterns and ornaments that have long been known to our people, embroidery has been greatly enriched with new techniques due to the emergence of new materials and technologies, which is best reflected in the diversity and complexity of patterns and patterns for embroidery, as well as a wide variety of modern themes and styles. Traditional folk embroidery is a source of knowledge of the ethnic history and culture of the people and their evolution over time.

Unique embroidered products are often exhibited in exhibition halls, museums and are a clear proof of the creative potential of the people. You can get acquainted with the collections of folk art of embroidery in the art and local history museums of our country: for example, the State Historical Museum and the Museum of Folk Art in Moscow, the State Museum of Ethnography and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, the Historical and Art Museum-Reserve of Sergiev Posad and others. Comparing modern embroidery with ancient patterns, one can see the constant development and improvement of this type of folk art.

As mentioned earlier, embroidery has more than one century in the history of applied art in Russia. Continuing the historically established types of traditional craftsmanship, embroidery is developing in Russian and national regions of Russia. The stability of this craft over the centuries, the variety of types and techniques of embroidery, the keen interest in this type of creativity of modern culture and art make it a special artistic phenomenon and prove its viability.

Embroidery is the decoration of products from various materials with ornamental or plot images that are made with threads and other materials manually using a needle or by machine. [9.1]

Embroidery - (from Praslav. siti, lat. suo, sutum - "sewing") - the art of creating images, ornaments, decor on fabric using threads, a needle or a hook.

In Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary, embroidery is referred to as "an embroidered pattern on fabric."

Embroidery is one of the most widespread types of folk art, needlework. Its origin is associated with the appearance of the first stitch made by primitive people when fastening the skin of a killed mammoth. Of course, sewing first appeared as a necessity. Over time, embroidery appeared as a decorative addition to sewing. After all, the materials from which the clothes were made did not differ in variety, and embroidery always made it possible to make the outfit special, not like others.

Embroidery in Russia has a rich history. On the territory of Russia, archaeologists have found fragments of clothes embroidered with gold threads dating back to the 9th-12th centuries.

In pagan times, clothes, towels, sheets, tablecloths, bedspreads were decorated with embroidery.

Usually scenes of everyday life were recreated in embroidery. Often, pieces of fabric that hung from the bed were decorated with embroidery. With the spread of Christianity in Rus', the motifs of embroidered works changed. Cross-stitching was especially widespread, because the cross was considered as a talisman. In addition, windows, icons, mirrors were decorated with embroidery on pieces of fabric (towels).

At the birth of a child, at the burial ceremony of a person, at a wedding, at Shrovetide, towels were symbols of a talisman. It was believed that the product that was embroidered in one day from early morning until evening was endowed with the strongest properties of the amulet. Such a towel was considered impeccably clean, since the evil forces of the night could not infiltrate it.

Until the 17th century, nuns and representatives of the nobility were engaged in embroidery in Rus'. Precious stones, gold and silver threads served as materials for embroidery, the embroidery itself was made on velvet and silk. The clothes of influential and noble people were embroidered with gold and silver threads combined with pearls and gems.

The old Russian embroidery includes a semi-cross, a cross, a counting surface, sets, a white small line. White and colored satin stitch, cross stitch, colored interlacing, tambour stitch appeared later.

Since the 17th century, embroidery is no longer an occupation for the elite. Girls from peasant families begin to do embroidery, preparing a dowry for their wedding. They embroidered clothes, blankets, tablecloths, towels. On the eve of the wedding, embroidered products were put on public display. Of course, peasant women used not expensive materials.

Girls achieved the beauty of products due to the technique of embroidery, patterns and colors. By the quantity and quality of the embroidered things, the groom's relatives could appreciate the girl's diligence.

In the 18-19 centuries. embroidery was practiced in the families of landowners, artisans, merchants and, of course, in peasant families.

Embroidery of the 18th century was divided into folk and urban. The main pattern of folk cross stitch is the image of animals, birds and an ornament.

Folk embroidery was strongly associated with traditions and rituals, urban embroidery, on the contrary, was subject to Western fashion trends.

In the 18-19 centuries. the art of gold embroidery reached its peak.

Headdresses (bandages, kokoshniks, scarves) were embroidered with gold threads, mother-of-pearl, artificial pearls. Such embroidered headdresses served as an addition to folk costumes sewn from iridescent brocade fabrics. The art of sewing and embroidery was often inherited. Handicraft craftswomen were famous outside their village and received orders from other places.

Embroidery of the 20th century is characterized by the use of beads, artificial stones. Beads were also used to embroider thin fabrics, such as guipure, and thicker ones (linen). The first mention of beads is associated with Egypt.

Thus, artistic embroidery - one of the most common types of folk art, which embodies the best traditions of the people, has a rich history.

Presentation on the topic: The history of the emergence of arts and crafts - cross stitch

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Presentation on the topic: The history of the emergence of arts and crafts - cross stitch

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Cross-stitching Cross-stitching is one of the most popular types of needlework. Is it difficult to learn to embroider? Like any undertaking, embroidery requires care and accuracy, and most importantly, great desire and perseverance. If you have all these qualities of character, learning to embroider is not difficult. Having received the initial information about embroidery techniques, you can independently bring your technique to perfection. Skillfully executed works will please your relatives and friends. And how nice it will be to receive an embroidered work as a gift, in which a piece of your heart is invested!

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Cross-stitching Embroidery has always been a favorite pastime of needlewomen. Made by hand, beautiful embroidery will easily fit into any interior and will be a wonderful gift for any holiday. Cross stitch is a magnificent and most popular needlework. Embroideries look impressive, especially with a perfect cross stitch. Cross stitching is an incomparable, exciting activity. One has only to pick up a needle and thread and you will never give up this exciting activity. And how nice, in our difficult time, to escape from everyday worries and do your favorite thing of creating your own unique masterpiece. Nothing relaxes and soothes like your favorite type of needlework - cross stitch. Today, a product embroidered with one's own hands, even if not a masterpiece, acquires a special value.

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The history of embroidery There is no exact information about where and when embroidery appeared in general, and when cross-stitch stood out as a separate type of needlework. There are almost no original embroideries dating back to the 12th century. But the images of clothes and interior items, the coloring and their own vision of the beauty of each indicate that embroidery appeared much earlier. In different countries, patterns differed in style and colors used.

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History of embroidery In Western Europe, counted embroidery became especially popular in the 16th century. At that time, it consisted mainly of biblical stories and texts that combined various techniques. By the end of the 18th century, the classic cross stitch clearly began to predominate on embroidery samples. And on the subject of embroidery, they became more diverse.

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The history of embroidery In the East, embroideries were traditionally used to decorate household utensils - carpets, capes, pack bags. A distinctive feature of oriental embroideries is the variety of colors used and the complexity of the ornament. The Great Silk Road contributed to the spread of embroidery throughout Europe.

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The history of embroidery In Russia, embroidery has always been very symbolic. Some patterns were born in ancient times and bear the imprint of pagan symbols. The finds of archaeologists testify that in Rus' they were embroidered in the 10th century. Gradually, embroidery is becoming more and more widespread in decorating costumes and household items. Since the 18th century, it has entered the life of all segments of the population.

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The history of embroidery Embroidery was divided into folk and urban. Urban embroidery did not have strong traditions, as it constantly changed under the influence of fashion that came from the West. And folk cross-stitching was associated with the ancient customs and rituals of the Russian peasantry. Each cross-stitch had its purpose. Cross-stitch embroidery on shirts was located at the points of contact of the human body with the outside world (i.e., along the collar, sleeves, hem) and played the role of a talisman. Cross-stitching of towels reflects the ideas of people associated with the cult of fertility and the cult of ancestors. First of all, this concerns the ornament of folk sewing, in which ancient symbols are preserved until the 2nd quarter of the 20th century. The main pattern of folk cross stitch is an ornament and stylized images of animals and birds. Each pattern was embroidered in a certain color, which also had a symbolic meaning. Different regions of Russia had their own peculiarities and techniques of embroidery. But each craftswoman, using those ornaments that were characteristic of her region, tried to make them individual and unique.

Performed:
School student №27 Grodno

1. A bit from the history of Russian embroidery.
2. Ornament in embroidery
3. About color.
4. Tools and accessories for embroidery.
5. Preparing for embroidery
6. Transferring the pattern to the fabric
With carbon paper.
On "to the light".
With tissue paper.
7. Workplace of an embroiderer.
8. Counted seams.
9. Simple cross stitch
10. Literature used

The art of embroidery has a long history. The existence of embroidery in the era of Ancient Rus' is evidenced by the finds of archaeologists dating back to the 9th-10th centuries. These are fragments of clothing, decorated with patterns, made with gold threads. In ancient times, household items, clothes of noble people were decorated with gold embroidery.
The traditions of embroidery art were constantly developing; in the 14th-17th centuries, embroidery became even more widespread in decorating costumes and household items. Church vestments, clothes of kings and boyars rich in silk and velvet were embroidered with gold and silver threads in combination with pearls and gems. Wedding towels, festive shirts made of fine linen fabric, and scarves were also decorated with colored silk and gold threads. Embroidery was mainly common among women of noble families and nuns.
Gradually, the art of embroidery spreads everywhere. Since the 18th century, it has entered the life of all segments of the population, becoming one of the main occupations of girls - peasant women.
Household items - towels, valances, countertops (tablecloths), festive and everyday clothes, aprons, hats, etc. were decorated with embroidery. As a rule, items were made of simple, inexpensive materials, but they were distinguished by high artistic skill.
Each embroidery had its own purpose. Embroideries on shirts were located at the points of contact of the human body with the outside world (i.e., along the collar, sleeves, hem) and served as a talisman. The embroidery of towels reflected the cosmological ideas of people, ideas associated with the cult of fertility and the cult of ancestors. First of all, this concerns the ornament of folk sewing, in which ancient symbols are preserved until the 2nd quarter of the 20th century.

The most common motif in the ornament of folk embroidery is the "rhombus". In the embroidery of different peoples, it looks different and has different meanings. A rhombus with hooks in embroidery is considered as a symbol of fertility associated with the idea of ​​a mother - an ancestor - the immediate beginning of all births on earth. Rhombus - "burr" in folklore is compared with oak, the sacred tree of many peoples, and is a metaphor for the heavenly "color" - lightning, which strikes demons, protects livestock. Among the favorite motifs was a "rosette", consisting of 8 petals - blades connected in the center. It acts as a symbol of the feminine, fertility.
Among the motifs of floral ornament, a prominent place is occupied by the "world tree" - the tree of life. A common motif in facial embroidery is a stylized female figure. She can perform in various compositions: in the center, riders or birds on the sides; holding branches or lamps; with birds in their hands, etc.
All these stories differ in the nature of their interpretation. But in most of them, the female Mother Goddess, personifying Cheese-Earth, acts as the patroness of agriculture, the fertility of the earth. It was called upon to ensure the blessings of life and the reproduction of the family.
Traditional embroidery is a source of knowledge of the ethnic history and culture of the people and their evolution over time.
Embroidery techniques, patterns, their color embodiment were improved by their generation after generation. Gradually, all the best were selected, and unique images of embroideries with characteristic features were created.
Artistic products of folk craftsmen, decorated with embroidery, are distinguished by the beauty of patterns, the harmony of color combinations, the perfection of proportions, and the refinement of professional techniques. Each embroidered product meets its practical purpose.
The museums of our country have collected many examples of folk embroidery.
The most preserved and survived to this day are embroideries of the 19th century. Embroidery was divided into peasant (folk) and urban. Urban embroidery did not have strong traditions, as it was constantly influenced by the fashion that came from the West. Folk embroidery was associated with the ancient customs and rituals of the Russian peasantry. Yes, peasant girls
At the age of 13-15, they had to prepare a dowry for themselves. These were embroidered tablecloths, towels, valances, garments, hats, gifts.
At the wedding, the bride presented the groom's relatives with products of her own work. Before the wedding, they arranged an exhibition of the dowry, which was supposed to testify to the skill and diligence of the bride.
In a peasant family, women were engaged in needlework - they spun, weaved, embroidered, knitted, wove lace. In the process of work, they polished their skills, learned from each other and from their elders, adopting from them the experience of many generations.
Women's clothing was made from homespun linen and woolen fabrics. It was decorated not only with embroidery, but also with lace, braid, and colored chintz inserts. In different provinces, clothing had its own characteristics, differences. It was different in purpose (everyday, festive, wedding), performed for different ages (girls, for a young, elderly woman).
By the nature of the patterns and methods of their implementation, Russian embroidery is very diverse. Separate regions, and sometimes districts, had their own characteristic techniques, ornamental motifs, and color schemes. This was largely determined by local conditions, way of life, customs, natural environment.
Russian embroidery has its own national characteristics, it differs from the embroideries of other peoples. A large role in it is played by geometric ornament and geometrized forms of plants and animals: rhombuses, motifs of a female figure, a bird, a tree or a flowering bush, as well as a leopard with a raised paw. In the form of a rhombus, a circle, a rosette, the sun was depicted - a symbol of warmth, life, a female figure and a flowering tree personified the fertility of the earth, a bird symbolized the arrival of spring. The location of the pattern and embroidery techniques were organically linked with the form of clothing, which was sewn from straight pieces of fabric. The seams were made according to the number of threads of the fabric, they were called countable. With such seams it is easy to decorate the shoulders, the ends of the sleeves, the slit on the chest, the hem of the apron, the bottom of the apron, the bottom of the clothes.
Embroidery was placed along the connecting seams.
In “free” embroideries, along a drawn outline, floral patterns prevailed.
Old Russian stitches include: painting or semi-cross, set, cross, counting surface, goat, white small line. Later, cutouts, colored interlacing, cross stitching, guipure, tambour embroidery, white and colored smooth surface appeared.
Russian peasant embroidery can be divided into two main groups: northern and central Russian stripes. The north includes embroideries from Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Vologda, Kalinin, Ivanovo, Gorky, Yaroslavl, Vladimir and other regions.
The most common techniques of northern embroidery are cross, painting, cutouts, white stitching, through sewing done on a grid, white and colored smoothness. Most often, the patterns were made with red threads on a white background or white on red. Embroiderers skillfully used the background as one of the elements of the pattern. Squares and stripes inside large figures of a bird - a peahen, a leopard or a tree - were embroidered with blue, yellow and dark red wool.
The works of folk arts and crafts are in unlimited demand both in our country and abroad.

Ornament in embroidery

To perform embroidery, you need a pattern, a pattern. Is any drawing suitable for this? Many people like to embroider flowers, various plants. And often naturalistic images of plants, flowers, as well as plot pictures translated from reproductions, postcards are used as patterns for embroidery. Such "patterns" cannot be called artistic, they do not correspond to the peculiarities of decorative and applied art. And, besides, no matter how we strive to embroider a flower in all its details, so that it turns out “like a living thing”, it still won’t turn out like that and won’t decorate the product. Only in a drawing made by pictorial means, where the presence of light and shadow creates volume for it, is it possible to approach nature, but the painter does not seek to mindlessly copy nature.
It is not the task of embroidery to achieve realistic images.
It serves to decorate household items and has no independent value. The main role is played by the object itself, which, thanks to embroidery, acquires artistic value.
When creating a picture for embroidery, the artist makes sketches from nature and then transforms them into an ornament and various ornamental compositions.
The word "ornament" in Latin means "to decorate".
An ornament decorates, decorates a product of applied art, therefore it is an integral part of this product and entirely depends on its shape, purpose and material from which this product is made.
When processing a drawing into an ornament, the main, characteristic features of the object (for example, a flower, a bird) are selected. The motifs of animals, birds, plants are drawn in outline, not striving for an exact transfer, highlighting only the main features. The planar image of such motifs becomes part of the pattern and is organically associated with the surface of the decorated product.
When creating patterns for embroidery of modern products, artists often use the motifs of peasant embroideries of the 18th and 19th centuries, in which the principles of ornamental composition are always preserved.
The interpretation of motifs of plant or animal origin in patterns depends on the nature of the ornament, the texture of the fabric, and the technique of execution. So, for example, the image of berries and strawberry leaves can be different and depends on what seams it will be made with.
When starting to make a product, you first need to think over its artistic solution as a whole, determine the location of the pattern on the plane, its individual parts, the proportions of the elements, the execution in color, that is, everything that is included in the concept of composition.
The nature of the composition is largely determined by the rhythm - the regular alternation of individual elements or groups of elements in the ornament, which contributes to the achievement of the expressiveness of the composition, the clarity of its perception. The repetition of exactly the same elements or groups of elements is called rapport.
An ornament can decorate the entire surface of an object (for example, a carpet) or any part of it (the edges of a napkin or the middle of a pillowcase), individual ornamental motifs can be scattered over the surface of the product (tablecloth), etc.
To build an ornament, geometric shapes (triangles, squares, stars, circles, etc.), as well as wavy, broken lines, spirals, etc., plant motifs (leaves, flowers, branches, trees, etc.) etc.), the image of images of the animal world (insects, birds, fish, animals), as well as the figure of a person in a very generalized form. Sometimes in the ornament, geometric shapes are combined with nature motifs. All parts of the ornament must be proportionate.
Sometimes motifs in the pattern are not repeated. The pattern can be built on the basis of symmetry and asymmetry. This pattern will also be ornamental.
The patterns of Russian embroidery are characterized by symmetry - the regular arrangement of the main lines, shapes, colors relative to the horizontal or vertical axes of symmetry. A drawing can be built with respect to one, as well as two or more axes of symmetry.
The construction of a composition can be based on the principle of balance, when the parts of the pattern balance each other and become part of the pattern.
Often the pattern is built in a closed plane, that is, in a plane bounded by some geometric shape. It can be a square or rectangular tablecloth, a panel, a triangle-shaped shawl, a round pillowcase for a sofa cushion, etc. Depending on the shape of the product and the artist's intention, the shape and location of the pattern may change. So, the corners or the middle can be embroidered on the tablecloth.
The plane of a tablecloth or napkin can be divided into squares or rectangles, and embroidery patterns can be placed in them.
In all the patterns below, the similarity with the plants of the same name has been preserved, but the flowers and leaves have taken on a new, ideal form. They do not have the flaws that can be found in nature: a wrinkled or broken leaf, a turned away flower petal, a broken or thickened twig. To consider such a branch, it is necessary to push and straighten the leaves, remove some part of them. The artist does the same when creating a pattern for embroidery. Clear forms of flowers and leaves are grouped in a new way and fill the strip or plane, obeying the artist's intention. In these patterns, flowers, leaves and berries do not interfere with each other, do not find each other. elements of the pattern are arranged in such a way that the background of the product between them is evenly distributed and becomes part of the pattern.
For embroidery, it is recommended to use samples of folk patterns and drawings created by artists. Separate parts of the drawings can be combined in your own way, and even more interesting, observing nature, invent patterns yourself, their location on the surface of the product.

Embroidery is closely related to color. When choosing threads, it is necessary to take into account combinations of colors, to know how they affect each other. To do this, you need to get acquainted with the basic properties, the interaction of colors - color harmony, that is, consistency in the combination of colors.
The harmonious selection of colors is based on a color wheel consisting of colors of a closed spectral range.
If a beam of light is passed through a trihedral glass prism, then it will be decomposed into its component parts, a color band is formed - a spectrum. In nature, you can often observe this combination of colors in a rainbow when a ray of the sun passes through a dew drop.
The visible spectrum is a continuous series of changing colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. These colors are separated from each other by a range of intermediate tones. If the colors of the spectrum are arranged in the same order in a circle, then there will be purple between blue-violet and red. The color circle can be divided in half in diameter, so that warm colors enter one half and cold colors enter the other.
Any color is characterized by hue, brightness and saturation.
Color tone is, in fact, color - red, blue, yellow, etc. One color is distinguished from another by color tone.
Brightness is the degree of proximity to white. Of all the objects around us, white surfaces reflect the largest percentage of light. Therefore, the lightest colors will be close to white.
The saturation of the color is determined by the degree of its density, its limiting color. For example, a blue color is considered saturated if it cannot be made bluer.
All colors are divided into chromatic and achromatic. Chromatic colors include all the colors of the spectrum, the whole range of countless shades of these colors. They are called tones. Achromatic colors include white, gray and black. These are colorless, untinted colors. They are called neutral.
Achromatic colors are not saturated. They do not have a color tone and differ from each other only in brightness. The brightest color is white. Black color has no brightness.
Colors located on opposite sides of the spectral circle are called complementary. If you draw a diameter through the middle of the red color, then it will cross the blue-green color, which is almost opposite red in the color wheel, etc.
If complementary colors are mixed in equal amounts, then they seem to cancel each other out, a grayish low-saturated color is obtained. When placed side by side, complementary colors mutually reinforce the color saturation. Given this property of complementary colors, it is not recommended to take them in equal proportions: one of them should serve as the main one, and the other as an additional one (for finishing). Any colors when located side by side affect each other and can produce a different impression. Every color appears lighter when surrounded by darker colors, and darker when surrounded by lighter colors.
Harmonious color combinations can be obtained from shades located close to each other within one fourth of the color wheel, for example, a combination of yellow with yellow-green. Beautiful and original combinations made up of three contrasting colors (or their shades). these colors lie on the vertices of an equilateral or isosceles triangle inscribed in the color wheel.
Achromatic colors are well combined with each other: white with black, black with gray, white. These colors are in harmony with any color.
At the same time, chromatic warm colors win next to dark achromatic ones, and cold colors win next to light achromatic ones. Saturated colors harmonize with black or white, while low-saturated colors harmonize with various shades of gray. In all cases, the combination of colors is greatly influenced by the predominance of one or another color.
When choosing a color, one more property must be remembered. It can visually change the shape and size of an object. If you look at a surface covered with red and blue spots, then the illusion arises that the red spots are located closer to the viewer than the blue ones. Light and warm colors seem closer to us than dark and cold ones. Therefore, warm colors seem to increase the subject, and cold colors reduce it. This property of colors can be used to highlight a certain part of the clothes, to smooth out the sharpness of the outlines. Products that look at a great distance can be embroidered with threads of rich contrasting colors.
The choice of color and thread for embroidery, the combination of their colors depend on the purpose of the thing, the location of the pattern, and the size. As a rule, the background (the color of the fabric) is given additional space, and the pattern is the main thing. Therefore, the background should not stand out, be brighter than the ornament. The color scheme of the pattern also depends on the technique of execution.

Tools and accessories for embroidery.

To perform hand embroidery, you need very simple tools: needles, thimble, scissors, centimeter, pointed stick, hoop; in addition, graph paper, tracing paper, carbon paper.
It is better to take short embroidery needles with an elongated eye. It is easier to thread a working thread into several additions into a large eye. Such needles are used for counting and simple stitches, as well as for embroidery with Vladimir stitches. It is very convenient to count and separate the threads with the help of such needles.
It is difficult to thread a woolen thread into the needle. You can use a needle threader to thread it. It can also be threaded with a piece of silk or thin bobbin thread. The silk thread is folded in half and the end of the woolen thread is inserted into the loop formed. Both ends of the silk thread are threaded into the eye of the needle and pulled along with the woolen thread.
For embroidery on dense and thin fabrics, thinner needles with a smaller eye are needed. Thick needles will leave holes at the puncture points, and a thin working thread will not hold well in the large eye.
A thimble is needed to push the needle through the fabric when embroidering without a hoop, when piercing several layers of fabric, when hemming the edges of the product, etc. It protects the finger from needle pricks.
The thimble is put on the middle finger of the right hand, it is selected exactly according to the size of the finger: it should not squeeze the finger and fall off it.
It is good to have three types of scissors for work: small ones with sharp ends for cutting and pulling threads from fabric, medium sizes with curved ends for cutting threads when embroidering, and large ones for cutting fabrics and skeins of threads.
Scissors should be well sharpened, the ends of the blades should be completely closed.
A centimeter tape is needed to determine the size of a product, mark patterns on fabric, and when performing sewing work.
A pointed stick (bone, wood or plastic) is used to pierce holes when embroidering with white satin stitch.
The hoop is necessary to hold the fabric in a taut state and protect it from deformation. The hoop can be rectangular or round. Round wooden hoops are very convenient for work.
The hoop can be with a screw, with which they can be attached to the table.
Millimeter paper is needed for composing ornaments, especially geometric, counting ones.
Tracing paper is used when preparing a drawing for transfer to fabric.
The ornament from the original is first transferred to tracing paper, and from tracing paper to fabric
Copy paper is needed to transfer the design to the fabric.
Preparing for embroidery
Before starting embroidery, the fabric is aligned with the warp and weft, the location of the pattern is marked on it, then the pattern is transferred. After that, the fabric is hooped. In order to align the edges of the fabric, it is necessary to pull out the extreme thread and cut off the excess fabric along its trace. The width and length of the product are planned in the same way.
If the pattern is geometric, and the fabric has a clear weave of threads, then it can be done by counting the threads of the fabric. When embroidering that is not related to the structure of the fabric (Vladimir stitches, colored smoothness, etc.), the transfer of the pattern to the fabric is required.
Transferring a pattern to fabric
Drawing on fabric can be transferred in several ways. In all cases, the pattern from the original is first transferred to tracing paper or transferred to graph paper with a well-honed pencil. After that, the pattern is transferred to the fabric.

A) Translation of the drawing using carbon paper.

The pre-ironed fabric is spread on a smooth surface (table, board), while making sure that there is no warp of the fabric along the warp and weft threads.
Tracing paper with a pattern is placed on the fabric and attached with pins. Under the tracing paper, copy paper is placed with the bold side to the fabric and the pattern is circled with a sharpened pencil. It is advisable to have a set of carbon paper of various colors for copying, then for light fabrics they take dark carbon paper (black, blue, green), for dark ones - light (white, yellow).
After the pattern has been translated, you need to remove the carbon paper, break off the pins on one side, check the pattern and then remove the tracing paper.
Geometric patterns (for embroidery with counted stitches, etc.) can also be translated using carbon paper. To do this, a thick needle makes punctures of graph paper and carbon paper along the pattern at the intersections of the horizontal and vertical lines of the cell.
On the fabric, a pattern is obtained, indicated by dots.
When translating a pattern using carbon paper, one must remember that the lines of the pattern should not be bold, otherwise the fabric and threads may become dirty during the embroidery process. Therefore, it is better to use used carbon paper, and first wipe the new one with dry cotton wool or a cloth.
b) Translation of the drawing into the "clearance".
On thin transparent fabrics, the pattern can be transferred using highlighting. A tracing paper with a clear pattern is placed on the glass, under which the lamp is placed, and a well-stretched fabric is placed on top of it. With a sharply sharpened pencil, a pattern is drawn (drawn on the fabric), which is visible through the fabric. c)

C) Translation of a drawing using tissue paper
On cloth, velvet and shiny fabrics, the pattern is transferred by tacking through tissue paper, tacked to the fabric and stitched with small, frequent stitches with a seam forward along the entire contour. Then the paper is torn off.
After completing the embroidery, the stitching is pulled out.

Workplace of an embroiderer

To make it convenient to do embroidery, the work did not cause fatigue, you need to properly organize your workplace and follow certain labor rules.
The table with fixtures and tools should stand so that the light falls from the left side. If there is no box in the table, then the threads can be stored in a special bag, tools in a box, and sheets of tracing paper with patterns in a folder. It is necessary to monitor the position of the body, do not slouch, do not tilt your head low. The body during operation should be slightly tilted forward. The distance between the eyes and the work should not exceed 25 - 30 cm. Sometimes, for this purpose, the hoop is set higher, placing a board, book, etc. under them. The chair is moved to the table so that you can lean on its back.
Of great importance is the correct positioning of the hands during work: the left hand should be at the bottom, the right - on top of the hoop. When embroidering on rare fabrics and stitched mesh with the right hand, hold the needle to the wrong side of the embroidery, sticking it with a sharp end. With the left hand, they take the needle by the sharp end, leading it to the front side with a blunt end (eye). The thread is tightened with the right hand.
When embroidering on dense fabrics, the needle is brought out from the wrong side to the front with a sharp end.

Counted seams

Counted stitches are among the most ancient and common stitches in Russian embroidery. These are a cross, a set, a painting, a goat, a counted surface, etc. Embroidery with these seams is widespread, it is especially characteristic of the Arkhangelsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, Tambov, Smolensk regions.
The cross appeared later than the painting, approximately in the second half of the 14th century, when drawings from city albums began to spread.
To perform it, they used seam patterns, painting and line embroidery.
The cross stitch is faster than the painting stitch and attracts with its dense, grainy texture and bright decorative effect.
Towels, valances, clothes were successfully embroidered with a cross. This embroidery found great application in the Ryazan and Tambov regions. It is difficult to find an embroiderer who does not know how to embroider with a simple cross, but not everyone knows that there is a double cross, two-sided and one-sided, and in
The Tambov region is embroidered with a double-sided cross framed with four stitches, this is the Tambov cross.
Counting seams are called counting because they fill the pattern, counting the threads of the fabric. The embroidery stitches lay flat on the surface of the fabric. To perform counted embroideries, it is better to take a fabric of dense weave, since its structure is clearly visible. Cross stitches, painting, counting stitch can also be embroidered according to the translated pattern on dense fabrics, on fabrics with a fuzzy structure.
Counted embroidery is successfully used to decorate items of clothing, napkins, curtains, cushions, panels and other products.
Counting embroidery contributes to the development of the eye, but it requires special care. If the threads of the fabric are counted incorrectly, then the stitches will turn out to be of different sizes and as a result the pattern will be distorted and the work will take on a sloppy look. The embroidery on the wrong side should look just as beautiful and neat as on the front.

Simple cross stitch

This stitch is easy to make. It consists of diagonal crossed stitches of the same size. The cross is performed in the following sequence: the first stitch is from bottom left to top right, the second is from bottom right to top left. From the first stitch to the second, the working thread runs along the wrong side vertically from top to bottom. If you need to make several crosses located side by side horizontally, then first all the first (lower) stitches are performed, then all the second (upper) ones.
Thus, all top stitches should have the same direction.
When embroidering a complex pattern, you must also follow the basic rules for making a seam. So, in the rhombus motif, where the crosses are located diagonally, they perform the lower stitch in the first cross, the upper one in the second, the lower one in the third, and so on throughout the pattern. Moving in the opposite direction, overlap the lower stitches of the crosses and bring the needle and thread under the upper stitches.

Used Books:

1. T. I. Eremenko “Needle is a sorceress”.
T. I. Eremenko "Cross Stitch".
L. M. Rusakova "Rhombus motifs with hooks in the patterns of Siberian embroiderers." G. P. Durasov “Depictive motifs of Russian folk embroidery”.