Due to the specific climatic conditions in Bulgaria, ancient cloth finds are rare and difficult to restore. There are even fewer preserved embroidery samples. What is preserved is mostly metal thread and its immediate surroundings. However, some ktitor portraits show that not all the decorations on clothes were made with metal thread. The underclothes were decorated with multi-coloured embroidery probably sewn with ordinary thread. Unfortunately, the archeological data available so far do not present sufficient information on this matter. Therefore, when reconstructing medieval shirts and tunics, it is necessary to refer to folk costumes (whole elements mostly evolved in the Middle Ages) and to surviving samples from foreign territories where there are more and better-preserved textiles.
My embroideries are hand-made using natural materials and traditional techniques such as:
Cross stitch – thought to be one of the oldest embroidery stitches. According to sources, the first finds date to the 7th and 8th century but the oldest artifact whose photo I have seen is a Byzantine dalmatica from the 13th century.
Outline stitch – it decorates a big number of the gold-thread embroidered bands found in Bulgaria, for example the head adornment from the necropolis near the village of Krepcha (14th century) and embroidery from grave No. 39 in the Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo (13th century).
Chain stitch – this stitch has a Chinese origin but can also be seen on decorations of Russian clothing dated to the 12th and 13th centuries.
Golden embroidery - technique for decorating the clothes of nobles with metal thread or thread wrapped in a thin strip of metal foil. Invented during Antiquity, it became extremely popular in the Middle Ages. In order not to waste the expensive material when embroidering, the thread does not pass through the fabric but is attached to it with ordinary thread.
My embroideries are hand-made using natural materials and traditional techniques such as:
Cross stitch – thought to be one of the oldest embroidery stitches. According to sources, the first finds date to the 7th and 8th century but the oldest artifact whose photo I have seen is a Byzantine dalmatica from the 13th century.
Outline stitch – it decorates a big number of the gold-thread embroidered bands found in Bulgaria, for example the head adornment from the necropolis near the village of Krepcha (14th century) and embroidery from grave No. 39 in the Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo (13th century).
Chain stitch – this stitch has a Chinese origin but can also be seen on decorations of Russian clothing dated to the 12th and 13th centuries.
Golden embroidery - technique for decorating the clothes of nobles with metal thread or thread wrapped in a thin strip of metal foil. Invented during Antiquity, it became extremely popular in the Middle Ages. In order not to waste the expensive material when embroidering, the thread does not pass through the fabric but is attached to it with ordinary thread.
