vetty creations > drawn thread work: merezhka
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vetty creations > drawn thread work: merezhka |
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Drawn thread work
What is merezhka?Merezhka is the Ukrainian word for drawn thread work. It is a general term that includes many drawn thread techniques from different regions. Merezhka Poltavska is from the Ukrainian city of Poltava. It uses a unique stitching technique called "layerings", combined with hemstitching.
"How do you pronounce it?" is a question that many people ask, so you're not alone in wondering! Mer - ezh (as in pleasure) - ka. Merezkha Poltavska designsAs merezhka is drawn thread work, some of the threads are cut and drawn out. New threads are worked into the spaces using layerings and hemstitching, creating patterns of openwork. Older merezhka patterns were generally geometric, while contemporary patterns often include more representative motifs. Motifs that are commonly used include:
How was Merezhka Poltavska traditionally used?Merezhka Poltavska was traditionally used on Poltava's regional folk dress and on the ceremonial cloths called rushnyky (plural of rushnyk), which were associated with religious practices. When used on the shirts that went under skirts and bodices, it often was found:
Rushnyky (pronounced roosh - nick - ee) are long narrow strips of fabric that can often be found draped over the household icon, in homes of those who follow the traditions of Orthodox Christianity. Rushnyky are also used for other Orthodox religious practices. When featured on rushnyky, Merezhka Poltavska was used in straight bands of stitching across the narrow width of the cloth. Often there were also bands of other styles of embroidery, such as cross stitch. How can I use Merezhka Poltavska in my embroidery?Contemporary stitchers use this beautiful form of drawn thread work on many items. Because traditional Merezhka Poltavska was only ever used in straight bands across fabric, ways of working corners did not develop, as they were not needed. So that contemporary stitchers can use it for other applications, more recently corner treatments have been created. This means that with even-weave fabric, contemporary embroiderers can now employ Merezhka Poltavska to decorate almost anything. It can look gorgeous on household linens such as:
On smaller personal items, there can be a band of drawn thread work on:
On clothing, Merezhka Poltavska can be featured:
As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless! With only a small amount of imagination, you will be decorating your latest creation with Merezhka Poltavska. Learning Merezhka PoltavskaYvette Stanton provides the following methods for learning Merezhka Poltavska.
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is how the word merezhka is written in Cyrillic characters. It is also sometimes transliterated as "myreshka" or "myreschka".
