Miss Texas Czech Slovak Queen Pageant

Beautiful kroje (Czech costumes) were on display at the 2009 Miss Texas Czech Slovak Queen Pageant on April 18, 2009 in Hallettsville, Texas. The new queen is Michelle Jenee Barak. Her Little Czech Sister is Katherine Stuckly. Watch for future blogs for a press release and I hope to have descriptions of the Queens' beautiful kroje. Stay tuned...

Sarah wears Hanacky Kroj at TOCA Dinner

My daughter, Sarah, wore her new costume to the Texans of Czech Ancestry Awards Banquet on April 4, 2009. The event was held at the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in LaGrange, Texas.
http://www.czechtexas.org/

Costume description:
Sarah is wearing an authentic-looking reproduction of a kroj representing the Hana region. The costume, designed by Sarah, was made by her mother.
The top white skirt or apron that Sarah is wearing would be worn by a bride or at another festive event. The apron is made of white broadcloth, is hand embroidered and edged by hand. The design is completed with Swarovski crystals.
The skirt is made of yellow fabric. You will notice throughout the kroj the touches of yellow, the color of sunshine, that is common in kroje from this region. Often skirts would be made with fabric on hand. Sarah wears two petticoats that are stiffly starched to create a full skirt.
You will notice that a large handkerchief is worn on Sarah's kroje. The intricate design is hand embroidered and hand edged.
Sarah's blouse features hand embroidery and buttons from the Czech Republic. Blouses can be worn with sleeves stiffly pleated or puffed sleeves as Sarah's costume.The focal point of Sarah's kroj is the vest made of dark red brocade with hand embroidery, gold trim and buttons from the Czech Republic. Vests from the Hana region are commonly short with one closure at the bottom of the vest. Sarah's green belt is made of ribbon from the Czech Republic.

Most notably on kroje from this region is the full, stiff lace collar. Sarah lace collar was created with 13 yards of lace and ribbon from the Czech Republic. The collar is detachable and is completed with red ribbon common to costumes from Hana.
The embroidery designs on Sarah's costume are authentic Czecho-Slovakian designs from a book Sarah's mother found entitled Czecho-Slovakian Embroideries. Sarah and her mother would like to thank Jana & Ludmilla Vaculik; Maggie Grmela and Alice Vida for their help researching the design for this kroj.

Stiff Lace Collar for Hana Kroj

I am almost finished with Sarah's new kroj. This costume represents the region of Hana (see earlier posts for more pictures and details). Here are a few pictures of the collar I just finished. These kroje are easily recognized by the stiff lace collars. In all of the pictures I have seen, the lace is very wide. I could not find any wide enough so I combined a wide lace with a thinner lace. The lace is so gathered that you may not notice that is in two pieces. This collar took a total of 13 yards of lace; 3/4 yard of Czech ribbon; and 1 yard of red ribbon. I made the collar to be tied with the red ribbon but Sarah has decided that she would rather have a collar hook with the red ribbon just as a decoration. To make the collar stiff, use boiled starch.

Hanacky Vest

I finally finished the Hanacky vest. I did all of the embroidery by hand. It is not as clean as that done by a machine but it is more authentic. I lucked out and found buttons from the Czech Republic at the local fabric store-JoAnn's. The beautiful gold trim was a gift from a dear friend, Alice Vida. Thanks Alice, you were right. It is perfect. I had a small piece left over after trimming the front so I took it apart and used it to form the lines on the front to the buttons. Here are a few pictures, feel free to click on to enlarge.

Now, I am going to make the stiff ruffled collar...wish me luck.

Sharon

Everybody Looks at the Back...

One thing we have noticed... when you show anyone a piece of embroidery they always want to see the back.

Notice the pictures of both the front and the back of these pieces. The first picture is of the front of a hankie for a costume and the next is the back of the same hankie.

The third picture is of an apron for a costume and the last picture is of the back of the same piece.

So, keep this in mind when you are working on a piece, such as a costume, that you hope to become a family heirloom. My grandmother taught me how to embroider when I was about 6 years old but unfortunately she passed away before I learned the finer aspects of the craft. Much of what I have learned, I have learned by my mistakes.

Here are a few of my tips...
1. I never tie knots on the back of my embroidery. I work the end of the thread under the design both one way and then the other. Much to my surprise, I have never had a stitch pull out using this method. It seems to be not only more appealing but more practical then bumpy knots on the back of a design.
2. This one is hard to do, but well worth the effort. I never stretch embroidery floss across the back of the design from one area to another. Remember...THREAD IS CHEAP! So don't try to take short cuts by jumping over open areas just to prevent finishing off the thread. Take the time and finish off the thread and start a new thread in the next area. I know...it is a pain but believe me your patience will be well worth it when you get as many compliments of the back of your design as the front.

I imagine that the costumes I am making today will become heirlooms that will be passed on to future generations. My daughters do have Americanized kroje that are beautiful but I now am challenging myself to try to make a costume that people have to look at very close to see that it is new and not an authentic one.

Design for Back of Hanacky Vest

I am almost finished with the embroidery along the front of Sarah's new vest. Now time to find a design for the back. I went back to the antique book I found on the internet, Czecho-Slovakian Embroideries. I found a design that complemented the one I have been working on. I scanned the page in to the computer and printed out the design. Sarah and I selected the colors that matched the front of the vest.

We colored the page to try out how the colors look together. Check back later to see the vest turns out.

Ballet-Style Czech Dance Costume

In 2006, my daughter, Sarah, was named the Miss Czech-Slovak USA Queen. For the talent portion of the competition she performed an original ballet dance to a piece of music by a Czech composter, Antonin Dvorak. She wanted a costume that would be soft and flowing for the performance.





Maggie Grmela of Czech Costume Creations (http://www.maggiesfabricpatch.com/) created this lovely costume just for the occasion. The 'blouse' is actually a body suit with a lace collar and full puffed sleeves. The skirt is a two-tiered design made of soft chiffon with sequins along the edge. The vest is embroidered with flowers and embellished with beads and sequins. Maggie made Sarah a small wreath of flowers to match the costume that fit perfectly around her bun. While the costume could not be considered authentic, it was spectacular and perfect for the performance!


For more information on the Miss Czech-Slovak US Queen pageant, log on to http://www.missczechslovakus.com/.

Hanacky Vest

I have gotten some emails, with questions regarding the Hanacky vest. Thanks for the feedback! As anyone making Czech costumes discovers, there are really no patterns. So what I did for the Hanacky vest was to use a vest from one of Sarah's costumes and I made this pattern. I did a lot of research on these costumes but the best suggestion for this vest came from a good friend, Alica Vida. (See her drawing in an earlier post.) The front of the vest will have one closure at the bottom and the front of the vest will be diagonal. All of my embroidery and bead work is done by hand. I know machine embroidery is more practical but I don't have a machine and I have really come to appreciate hand work much like our ancestors did. The design on the front of the vest came from a book I found on the internet, Czecho-Slovakian Embroideries. Once Sarah decided on a design, I scanned it in the computer and printed out the design on transparent vellum. I have found this is the easiest way to trace to the fabric. If you really need a pattern for a vest, this (see photo) is a pattern I found at a local store. As you notice, these are not for Czech costumes. However, you can take the pattern, trim to fit and adorn. Should you make your pattern, I suggest you keep your pattern drawn on kraft paper (or the back of gift wrap works too) for future reference.

Progress on the Hanacky Kroj

My youngest daughter, Sarah, in her Hanacky kroj is pictured with her father, Ed Middlebrook. My husband has been recovering from surgery since before Christmas and we were so glad he was able to attend the meeting of our local chapter of the McLennan-Hill Czech Heritage Society on January 18, 2009.







Sarah happily shows off the embroidery on her Hanacky apron to Jana Vaculik. This costume is, by no means, complete. I still have to make the stiff, lace collar. I plan to make it detachable for convenience. I would also like to make a yellow skirt with yellow-on-yellow embroidery. Sarah also shows off the progress on the vest. So far, I have embroidered down the front of the vest.

Sad News to the Czech American Community

The Czech community and our family are saddened at the loss of a very dear friend...Zora Pergl. Zora passed away suddenly on Friday, December 12 and her passing leaves a deep void to her family; to everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her and to all the readers of her online newsletter. We met Zora in Ennis, Texas in May of 2006 and became fast friends. Her wonderful personality; love of life and love of all things Czech will be remembered by everyone who knew her. Our deepest sympathy is sent to her family and especially her precious granddaughter, Nymani. God bless.

Starting on the Hanacky Vest

Well, as I mentioned, I am anxious to start on my daughter, Sarah's, Hanacky vest. I was given some great suggestions from a friend, Alice Vida. (See the image of her design below.) I would like to say that I went to the store and bought a vest pattern, but no such luck. I had to trace around a vest from another costume and trim it to fit this design. This vest will be a shorter vest with a one hook closure instead of ribbons or buttons. After laying the pattern I made on the fabric, I basted along the cut lines instead of cutting out the fabric the size of the pattern. (See the yellow basting stitches on the rust colored fabric in the picture.) This allows for me to embroider all the way to the edge of the vest. The design Sarah chose was found in a book of Czech-Slovak embroidery designs (see photo).

Sarah and I chose DMC floss in the colors of the ribbons that will be worn with the costume. The green ribbon will be the belt and the dark red ribbon will be used to trim the stiff lace collar.

I scanned the design in to the computer and printed it out on vellum to allow me to line up where I want to trace the design. The vellum is semi-transparent. I use Saral (see photo) tracing paper because it seems to do a better job printing the image. I only trace a very, very small piece of the design at a time because the tracing lines do not last long and wear off easily. As I have said in other posts, do not rush. When making a reproduction costume, your patience and attention to detail pay off and your costume will become a family heirloom.