Embroidery takes a significant place among the diversity of Ukrainian folk art. This work of high aesthetic power, the art of simple and at the same time wise, out of the ordinary way of thinking.

People have always wanted to decorate the objects that surrounded them, because in that way their lives also become embellished. The man wanted to decorate the clothes he wore, a towel that he wiped his hands with, the tablecloth. According to the number and beauty of embroidered towels, shirts, tablecloths a diligence of housewife was determined.

If we consider the designs of embroidery, its harmony of color compounds and rhythm of pattern – you'll see that it contains a profound meaning – it reflect human feelings. Thoughts, hopes, suffering – about all this masters talk in their embroideries. Therefore, the embroidery can be happy, funny and also sad, pensive.

In ancient embroidery in dress served not only the role of decoration, but also were of protecting the value, and therefore was placed on the sleeves, hemline, chest, around collar. Over time, this magical significance been forgotten and embroidery turned out as only a decoration of clothing.

Ukrainian embroidery is very diverse. Each district and even village has its own favorite colors, their local patterns, their technique of implementation. Thus, for example in Poltava region they love to embroider delicate shades of blue, yellow or even white. In Zhytomyr and Rivne regions - red is dominant. In Vinnitsa region generally embroidery realized in black colors and also in combination of black and red. In the Kiev region - red and blue, sometimes black. In the Carpathians, bright colors preferred.

Variety of embroidery, its artistic perfection for the most part depends on the technique. There are more than a hundred different techniques. 10 - 15 different techniques can be combined in one product. Impressive is figurative observation of the people and associative thinking which they use when giving names to their techniques. Quite often, they depend on what kind of stitch this is, what does it looks like: "Solovine vichko" (nightingale’s eye), "grechechka" (buckwheat), "kuryachy brod" (chicken ford), "asterisk", "ovsyanochka"(bunting bird), etc. Also, many names are based on a way of performing – "cutting", "put out", or depending on the manufactured products – "rushnikovy shov" (towel  stitch), "peremetochny shov"(whipstitch), from the name of the area - "Starokievsky shov "( Old Kiev stitch), "the city stitch". Each locality has its own favorite techniques and their traditional colorful embroidery. Thus, the classical technique of Podolia is "niz" black or red colors. For the Kiev region typical is "nabeganie" for Volyn - "zanizyvanie" for the Poltava region - "lishtva". Some techniques are used everywhere. But performed in each region in certain colors creates the diversity. In the Poltava region, – "cutting", "put out" is always white, in Kiev - red, sometimes black, in the Podol - colorful: red, black, white, yellow. Each region has developed their own, sharpened over the centuries the unity of the ornament and ways of expression, their color spectrum.

In the old times yarn was dyed with natural dyes - the fruits of plants, tree bark, roots, leaves, flowers. To fix the color of the thread it was baked in rye dough, then they do not lose their color over many decades.

You can distinguish several regions of Ukraine, in which differ embroidery style of performance and ethnographic characteristics. This - Middle Dnepr area, Polesie, Podol, South Carpathians, Carpathian region.

Modern Ukrainian embroidery cherishes folk traditions. There are several well-known centers, where the craft enterprises are: Reshetilovka, Poltava, Opeshnya, Klembovka, Kosev.

In this article used materials from the book Tatiana Vasilyeva-Kary "Ukrainian folk embroidery"