Kosovorotka (Slavic peasant shirt)

Kosovorotka

May - October 2023

The last few posts were about weavings I did as part of a larger project to recreate a historical Slavic peasant shirt. Well, here is the finished product.

The kosovorotka (from the Russian for "skewed collar") is a style of shirt most popular from the 16th to 19th century throughout Russia and other Slavic nations. It typically goes down to about the mid-thigh, and is worn with a belt (like a tunic). Its most distinguishing feature is a standing collar with a vertical slit positioned off to the side. The usual explanation for this asymmetric design is that it prevented peasants' cross pendants from swinging out when they bent down throughout the work day. Because this was a garment that peasants would sew by hand, out of fabric that they wove themselves, the sewing pattern is quite simple, and consists entirely of rectangles (to avoid any fabric going to waste). 

I must admit that while this is a historical style of garment, I did not strive very hard for historical accuracy in my techniques or materials. These shirts were typically made of home-woven linen or hemp, whereas I used some nice cotton fabric from the fabric store. The decorations on the collar and sleeves were most often embroidered rather than tablet woven, and I do not know of any evidence that tablet weaving was even practiced in Russia in those times. That said, I think that tablet weaving is perfect for this application, and I really enjoyed working on a project that combined multiple crafts in this way.

References

1. Kosovorotka sewing pattern: https://www.my-karnaval.ru/info/russkaya-narodnaya-rubaha-svoimi-rukami/

2. Kosovorotka sewing tutorial: https://youtu.be/HizCNOezCWw