Kashubian embroidery jute bag

A jute bag I hand-embroidered in the Kashubian style (haft kaszubski) as a gift. The Kashubia (Kaszuby) region in Poland is known for its traditional embroidery patterns. The colours all have nature-related meanings (sea, sky, vegetation etc.) and the shapes represent specific plants and flowers from this region. Maybe you can recognise roses and tulips on this bag, for example

Based on those typical elements, I composed an own pattern which I first sketched loosely on paper, then drew freely with a pencil on the bag. That was quite tricky as you can't erase wrong lines and they have to be thick enough to be visible on the jute texture. Considering that I didn't find any possibility to trace the pattern, this method was good enough I was quite lucky that I managed to pick a good size and alignment on the first attempt ...

To fit the rough jute pattern, I used mouliné yarn composed of several strands. I hoped that I could stitch only in the holes of the pattern, but to achieve reasonable detail, I had to pierce through the jute threads. I got away with the standard satin stitch for most of the pattern. Only for the petals of the flower at the top I feared the area would be too large to hold the threads tightly enough, so I used Romanian couching on these ones In the end, everything seems to be very solid.

This textile experience was so different from what I usually do, and made me aware of the power of the tactile sense After a month of work in the evenings and on the weekends the result was there to see it, touch it, smell it. It feels so real and gives you a sense of solid achievement, that's very satisfying