History of weaving

Weaving is the oldest craft that Ukrainians have been engaged in since the days of Kyivan Rus.

But we share with you precisely the ancient technology, partly according to which we create elements of clothes for the brand Chernikova.

 

Stage 1. Seeds.

Earlier the manufacture of a fabric began in the field. First of all, flax or hemp was sown – to get threads from these plants.

 

As soon as the plant ripened, it was reaped and put into sheaves – such bunches-handfuls, each of which consisted of about 15 handfuls.

 

Stage 2. Sheaves.

They had to stand for 4 days. Then they were soaked and laid out to “mature” on the stubble for 2-3 weeks.

 

Later the fiber was scutched, separated into smaller parts, combed with a brush made of nails. And after a certain time from this raw material threads were spun on spindles.

 

Stage 3. The loom.

There are large ones, there are small ones. Traditional hand, wooden looms resemble some kind of an intricate, mind-boggling structure. Wooden parts intersect, threads intertwine.

 

The main part of the structure is a frame installed vertically. Longitudinal threads, which become the basis of the future fabric, are stretched on it. The threads are divided into even and odd. Between them the craftsman or craftswoman lays transverse threads – manually or with the help of a thin stick, which is called “hlytsia”.

 

– in fact, this is a very simplified and considerably shortened description of the process.

 

From a distance it seems that a weaver moved something, twisted something, and we got a hand-woven fabric. Almost magic 🙂 But it is a challenging task.

 

Stage 4. The sun.

The finished cloth had to go through another stage. It was bleached by soaking in water and dried in the sun. Then it was rolled up into scrolls.

 

Now we do not need to create by ourselves the threads from which the fabric is made. The material does not need to be processed in the river and in the sun. We work with the ready-made threads on a wooden loom, manually. Therefore, here we have an opportunity to work on patterns.

Weaving is an art

Weaving is an art. Over time craftsmen and craftswomen improved the technology. This is how patterned fabrics appeared.

For patterned weaving, craftswomen prepared yarn from raw materials by themselves and dyed it at home. And they also interweaved and laid threads in various ways, by which they created ornaments on the fabric.

 

The widespread techniques of patterned weaving were:

  • classic hand sorting through;
  • heddle and underfoot patterned weaving;
  • technique of carpet laying weaving.

 

The colors of the cloth were mainly light, brown, gray shades. The black color was typical of the fabrics from which the Boykos’ (an ethnolinguistic sub-group of Ukrainians located in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia) and the Lemkos’ (an ethnic group inhabiting a region in the Carpathian Mountains and foothills spanning Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland) outerwear was sewn. Bright red and blue were also common. Green, yellow and purple were used less often.

 

The finished material was decorated with woodblock printing, goldwork or embroidery. The patterns could be different: striped, checkered, with geometric or floral ornaments, decorated with stylized motifs of birds, animals and trees.