Kashubian Embroidery

Kashubian embroidery works in seven colours, and the usual explanation given locally attaches a meaning to each: three blues for the sea, the lakes and the sky, green for forest, yellow for grain or sun, red for fire or blood, black for earth. The motifs are floral - tulip, lily, cornflower, forget-me-not - laid out symmetrically, and they appear on tablecloths, aprons, caps and wall pieces. There are competing schools with different rules: the Zukowo school descends from a Norbertine convent where nuns taught it and is the oldest strand, while the Wdzydze school was systematised by Teodora Gulgowska at the open-air museum in the early twentieth century, and the Wejherowo and Tuchola schools differ again in stitch and layout. Zukowo has a workshop where the convent tradition is taught and shown, and the museums at Wdzydze and Kartuzy hold historic pieces. Practitioners take the differences between schools seriously.

What to look for

• Seven colours with meanings - three blues, green, yellow, red and black.
• The Zukowo school - the convent strand, taught and demonstrated in the village.
• The Wdzydze school - systematised at the open-air museum a century ago.
• Historic pieces - held in the Kartuzy and Wdzydze collections.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Good to know

Workshop demonstrations need booking, especially for groups. Much sold as Kashubian embroidery is machine-made. Museums close on Mondays. The schools are scattered across several villages.

Nearby

Chmielno pottery is nearby; Wdzydze skansen is south.