Konavle Embroidery

The art of making Konavle embroidery connects all women of Konavle. In the past, this embroidery was a mandatory part of the Konavle folk costume (nošnja). But folk dress is rarely worn today. So now, those who love and practice this art make other types of decorative items, and thus keep the craftsmanship alive.

Konavle embroidery, which was originally made to adorn folk costumes, consists of chest pieces that are sewn onto the dress, and cuff bands that are sewn onto the sleeves of the dress. The chest piece has an obligatory accessory at the bottom — a tassel made of spun silk (kite). Both chest pieces and cuff bands were made mainly from silk produced in the Konavle households. In addition to silk, wool was sometimes used in the past, and in the 20th century cotton thread was also used.

As far as we know from the research to date, Konavle embroidery in this form has existed in Konavle for over two hundred years. There are examples of chest pieces older than the 19th century that are found in Croatian museums and other museums around the world, as well as in private collections. Also, embroidered shirts and embroidery are often mentioned in archival documents as well as in artist’s prints, in travelogues, and in literary works.

Until World War II, all women in Konavle dressed in Konavle folk dress. Until the Homeland War, most of the older women wore their costumes on festive occasions, and some of them every day. An indispensable part of the costume was Konavle embroidery that they made themselves.

Konavle embroidery uses the simplest technique of embroidery by numbers, and belongs to the art of pattern making. Embroidered fabrics appear in all ancient cultures, almost over the entire world. We find a particular wealth of this way of decorating clothes in the countries inhabited by Slavic peoples, and the greatest similarity with Konavle embroidery is found in decorated costumes from some areas of Ukraine. Precisely for this reason, it is considered that this style of embroidery arrived in our area with the Slavic immigration.

Similar embroidery has been preserved on many other Croatian folk dress, for example in the Dalmatian hinterland, Ravni Kotari, Žumberak mountains, Peroj, northern Croatia and also in Slavonia. There are similarities in the patterns of all these regions. However in Konavle, embroidery has survived to this day in a range of samples that are subject to strict rules that the embroiderers must follow.

To create a specific embroidery pattern, the threads of the canvas are counted from the reverse side, and the needle is taken over and under them. Working from the reverse side allows for an extremely neat appearance when seen from the front.

The creative skills were passed down from generation to generation, and changes in fashion had little effect on the embroidery of folk dress. The only exception is the great descent into fewer colors of the 20th century, when green and blue were replaced by black, and the embroidery became less colorful.

In Konavle, all girls had to make Konavle embroidery until they were married. Embroidery was part of clothing, which in pre-industrial times was entirely handmade.

It started in early childhood by practicing with leftover silk, wool or even grass, on some low-grade canvas. After the technique was mastered, they made embroidered pieces that were used their entire lives. The girls learned from their elders, and often embroidered while shepherding animals. They brought the embroidered parts home to report to their mother, aunt, or other woman who monitored the clothes being prepared.

Depending on the circumstances, by the time the girls were married, they would have created up to forty embroidered pieces for all of life’s occasions. The vestments would include chest pieces for every day — for both youth and old age, for mourning as well as for church and formal occasions, for visits and trips to the city, and festive ones for baptisms, name days and weddings. The most festive embroidery would be made for their own wedding, and this one would often be used for burial.

From the beginning of the 19th century, women embroidered chest pieces and cuff bands as independent items and sewed those pieces onto dresses. But before that time, the embroidery was likely stitched directly into the cloth of the dress.

As independent objects, embroidered chest pieces have expanded into many variations, in which gradations of festivity or mourning are expressed. Over time, versions of individual patterns multiplied, and all together have resulted in about three hundred different patterns. These patterns also determined a woman’s social status, and this social norm applied to the entire area of Konavle.  

Today, everything that is embroidered using the patterns of Konavle chest pieces and cuff bands is called Konavle embroidery. Thus, in addition to embroidery for Konavle folk dress, in the 20th and 21st centuries Konavle embroidery is also found on sundry other items, such as church vestments, and other items of clothing and furniture, not only in Konavle but also in Dubrovnik, and beyond.