šitá čipka

A type of self-supporting, openwork textile made by sewing loops, knots, and interlacing threads with a needle. As an independent textile, it was produced in Slovakia only in urban environments, and in much smaller quantities than lace made with bobbins, knitting needles, or netting techniques. From domestic rural production, a stitched mesh (chrty) is known, used as an insert in aprons and men’s shirts in Kubrá near Trenčín. In several regions of Slovakia, stitched lace techniques were used to create connecting seams (scinky, mešterka, zvazovka, mrežka) between two pieces of fabric, or to fill cut-out areas in textiles as part of openwork embroidery. Motifs stitched into cut-out fabric became widespread in Slovakia during the Renaissance as part of openwork embroidery and, in the 19th century, as an accessory to drawn-thread embroidery. From Záhorie, Kysuce, Liptov, the area around Prievidza, Spiš, and Šariš, circular, oval, or leaf-shaped cut-outs filled with stitched lace are known from the embroidery of rural women. The richest development of this technique of sewing circular “gatre” occurred in western Slovakia, especially around Trnava. In the villages of Križovany, Vlčkovce, Dolné and Horné Lovčice, women made so-called “Križovany gatre” using a network of two-directionally drawn threads. This tradition spread there in the late 19th century under the influence of the monastery in Zavar. Stitched lace also included fillings made with loop stitches used in net embroidery.