Legends about embroidery

Vyshyvanka has long been a symbol of the Ukrainian people, their unity and traditions. This garment is considered not only a talisman against misfortune, but also a symbol of beauty, good fortune and belonging to the Ukrainian family.

In Ukraine, the embroidered shirt is a sacred thing and is passed down from generation to generation, telling the story of the Ukrainian people through the years and centuries.

There are many legends about Ukrainian embroidery, and we want to share some of them with you!

How the embroidered shirt appeared - the legend of the embroidered shirt

As time passed, the children grew up, and the once little boys became strong young men. One sunny day, they approached their mother and asked for her blessing for the long journey the brothers were about to embark on. Tears welled up in their mother's eyes, and she blessed her sons and began to pack them for the journey. All day long, the woman worked tirelessly baking bread and making broth. In the evening, the loving mother sat down to sew shirts for the boys. So the day comes to an end, the night quietly falls on the meadows and fields, and the woman finishes the last shirt.

It was already dark outside when the mother sat down next to her sleeping sons, and for a long time she looked at them with a gentle, loving, and tender gaze. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

And the woman had a strange dream: as if someone was walking quietly and lightly around the house, reaching out to her, holding shirts. But the shirts were not ordinary shirts, they were embroidered on the neck and sleeves, with flowers, leaves, and red viburnum. There were few colors: black, red, and a little bit of yellow and green. For a long time, my mother looked at the embroidery and admired it until she heard a voice:

"Embroider this pattern, too, so your sons will be strong and healthy. For the black thread is the Ukrainian land, the red thread is the sun warming the sky, the yellow thread is the endless love of a mother, and the green thread is young grass in spring."

The woman woke up, looked at her children, they were sleeping sweetly. She began to embroider shirts as if in a dream. She pricked the fabric with a needle and a miracle happened - a whole pattern appeared. With the first rays of the sun, all the shirts were embroidered. The sons thanked their mother for her care, washed themselves with clean and cool water from the well, mounted their horses and set off on a long journey. The woman and her daughters stood there for a long time, watching the boys go and whispering prayers.

Days passed, nights passed, and three years have passed since the brothers set out on their journey. One clear day, when the dew was still glistening on the grass, two young Cossacks drove into the yard. The mother's tears of pride flowed, because she recognized her sons, and her daughters could not stop admiring the brothers and asked them about their long journey away from their native village.

The sons bowed to their mother and thanked her:

"Dear mother, we returned home alive, healthy and full of strength, because your love and care protected us everywhere."

Since then, the Ukrainian people began embroidering shirts for boys and men to preserve their strength and courage. Over time, girls began to make bright embroidery on their clothes, including flowers, leaves, and viburnum. And the proverb began to live on among Ukrainians:

"What a shirt - such a hostess will be!"

Here is a legend about embroidery that will not leave anyone indifferent!

The legend of the embroidered shirt amulet

Many people fled to the forest from their villages, but even there the disease overtook them, sparing neither children nor adults. Time passed, people died, and there was almost no one to bury them.

There was a widow Maria who lived in a village near the Dniester. The disease took away her husband and children, and only the youngest one, Ivanka, remained. The mother protected the child like a treasure, but she did not save her. The child became ill, turned pale, did not eat, and begged her mother to save her from a terrible fate. Maria could not find a place for herself, she walked around the house in thought and sadness.

In the evening, an old woman came into the house, looked at the girl and her mother, felt sorry for this poor family, and then she told the woman:

"The child could have lived." And the elderly woman told her that it is the Lord who punishes sinful people, and the devils kill everyone who does not have a cross, so it turns out that the sinners die together with the righteous. She advised the mother to embroider crosses on Ivanka's shirt on the sleeves and the armhole, with black and red threads, so that the devils could see them clearly.

Grandma warned Maria: "Do not tell anyone about this, because your child will die and nothing will help him."

On that very day, the mother embroidered a shirt for the child, and Ivanka seemed to come to life, blushing and asking Maria to embroider more viburnum and leaves. Some time passed and Ivanka made a full recovery, now she sings, laughs and plays.

But sad thoughts do not leave Maria, because she sees people dying around her, and a coffin with two sons standing next to the neighboring house. And then she began to loudly urge her neighbors to make embroidery on their shirts to protect themselves from the ruthless disease. But people did not listen to her, they thought that she did not know what she was saying, that it was her time to die.

Then the woman grabbed her daughter and went to the church, struck the bell several times, and people ran away. And then Maria turned to them, "Do you not believe me? You think I'm crazy, but I just feel sorry for your children!" With that, she tore off Ivanka's shirt, and her daughter turned black and died. "Embroider shirts for yourself and your children," were the woman's last words, after which she fell asleep by her daughter's side forever.

Since then, the people of Ukraine have been embroidering shirts and wearing them as a talisman against evil spirits, curses, and diseases.

The legend of the Borshchiv embroidery

The appearance of Borshchiv embroidery is rooted in unhappy love and the sadness of a broken heart.

Mariia fell in love with a handsome young man, and the young man promised to come to woo her, but he did not keep his word and chose another bride. Maryka was hurt, sadness overwhelmed her, and she went crazy. She sat for days and nights embroidering wedding shirts with black threads, working long hours.

After the embroidery was ready, Mariia put on her wedding shirt, went to the nearest pond, and drowned herself.

When the girl's parents were sorting through her belongings, they found many shirts finely and beautifully embroidered with black threads. The villagers liked the embroidery so much that they started making it themselves;

Today, Borshchiv embroidery is an indispensable attribute of the culture of our people!

Vyshyvanka is a talisman, a bright symbol of the fate of the Ukrainian people

Reading the legends about vyshyvanka, it is impossible not to notice that this clothing came to the Ukrainian people through beliefs and signs. It served as a talisman, a symbol of strength and love, passed down from parents to children.

Although nowadays people no longer believe in omens so much, embroidery has been, is and will remain an integral part of Ukrainian culture.