A little bit of culture

I have to admit that I haven't been up to much sewing lately. I have just come into possession of a new sewing machine and apart from unpacking it, reading the instruction booklet, threading it up and sewing a few centimetres of a test run I have had no time to do anything more. I just don't feel liberated from other things going on in life to let myself free with spare time for sewing right now. That will rectify itself, just not in a good spot right now to be enjoying craft.

So, instead I thought I would share something a little bit different. I went with my husband to a little Bulgarian cultural evening last Saturday night. My husband is Bulgarian, I am Australian. So we have family and friends there, visit when we can, and we are raising out son bilingual English/Bulgarian, so the language and culture surrounds our lives everyday. Its a lovely and unexpected plus in my life in particular.

I have seen Bulgarian traditional costumes before, but never really concentrated on them. I was looking at the dancers' outfits and started talking to one of them about the traditional embroidery patterns on their shirts. Bulgarian embroidery is characteristicly very geometric in pattern, and is dominated by bright colours of reds (lots of red!), pinks and oranges. Different designs originate from and represent different regions of the country. Something for me to look out for next time I go visiting over there. Hope you enjoy a couple of examples.