Today, 26 November 2020, is the inaugural Day of Chuvash Embroidery. This festival is associated with the birthday of Ekatherina Iosifovna Efremova (1914-2000) who dedicated her whole life to the study, preservation and development of Chuvash folk embroidery traditions.
Embroidery was the most developed genre of Chuvash decorative applied art. In the 18th to 19th century clothes and ritual objects were richly decorated with embroidery made using a counted thread technique on bleached hemp canvas. The embroidery technique was very diverse; more than 30 kinds of one-side and two-side stitches were used. Embroideries were made mainly with silk and wool threads. The predominant colour was different shades of red. The embroidery was enlivened with small highlights of yellow, green and blue. The embroidery was supplemented with appliqué of red braid and fringes made of threads and beads.
Handmade embroidery in still important in Chuvashia today; there are still numerous seamstresses working, and contests and exhibitions are carried out. In 2015 the Museum of Chuvash Embroidery was opened in Cheboksary.
The above text is translated from the original text, which was written by Kashpar Natalya. All of the images are the copyright of the Russian Museum of Ethnography.
