Crafts and toys in the style of folk crafts can be a good souvenir or an unusual gift for a loved one. A bright and beautiful Vepsian doll will undoubtedly please both a child and an adult. In addition, such a gift is considered an ancient talisman. What does the Vepsian doll symbolize? How and when did the tradition of this unusual needlework come about? How to make a Veps doll with your own hands?
What is a Vepsian doll?
The toy got its name from the Vepsians, one of the small ethnic groups of the Finno-Ugric group living in northern Russia. The history of the Vepsian doll dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Vepsians (chud) lived on the territory of the Pronezhsky forests, engaged in agriculture and hunting. Their traditional beliefs and superstitions are reflected in the manufacture of a talisman in the form of a rag toy. Vepsian doll-amulet was present in almost every family, symbolizing the energy of a married woman, mother and nurse.
Later, the tradition of making such dolls from shreds migrated to the culture of other Slavic tribes. For many centuries, the Veps maternal charm has become a familiar item in any peasant hut. Today, in each locality, this doll has its own name: Rozhanitsa, Bereginya at home, Nursery and even Cabbage.
What is a Vepsian doll for?
The woman in labor was considered a talisman for wives and mothers, the personification of satiety, prosperity and prosperity in the house. With Veps dolls, many family rituals are associated. Charm dolls could be passed from mother to daughter, from generation to generation, symbolizing the continuity of family traditions.
An unmarried girl entering the “age of the bride” could have made her first Rozhanitsa. Such a doll was displayed at the window as a sign that matchmakers could be sent to the beauty's parents. Often, such a talisman was presented as a gift for a wedding celebration: this gift promised not only a comfortable life and harmony, but, according to popular beliefs, helped the newlyweds soon become happy parents.
Mothers made a charm even before the birth of the baby, so that the Veps doll was in the cradle, as if warming it. After the birth of the baby, Cabbage was hung over the bed both as a toy and as a talisman for a newborn.
Manufacturing tradition
How to make such a talisman for yourself or as a present for your relatives? Do-it-yourself Veps doll can be made quite simply. A person who does not know how to sew professionally can cope with this - even a child is able to “wind up” a doll. Cabbage. First of all, you need to know what traditional details should be present in the image of the Nursery, as well as the features of the manufacture of this Slavic amulet.
- As a rule, a Veps doll is made of flaps of natural fabric, usually linen or chintz. For decorating, you can use colored twisted cords, threads, rims, lace, satin ribbons - all that his imagination tells the master.
- Like all traditional Slavic dolls made of textiles, the Vepsian doll should be faceless: according to legend, a person on a rag toy cannot be painted so that an evil spirit does not enter it.
- Another important detail is the doll’s large breasts - a symbol of motherhood and mother feeding the baby.
- Previously, it was customary to make a cabbage from rags of used clothes, most often the material was elements of a woman’s suit in contact with the ground - the hem of a shirt, skirt, sundress. Threads were plucked from the same rags to hold the parts of the toy together. Of course, for the manufacture of souvenir dolls today, store threads from spools and trimmings of new fabric are almost always used.
- For the manufacture of this rag amulets, it is not customary to use sharp metal tools: needles, scissors or pins. This is necessary so that, according to ancient beliefs, the life of a child playing with such a doll is "not chopped, not cut." All blanks-shreds for amulets were torn by hand and tied with thread. For this reason, another name that the Vepsian doll has is Rvanca. For a modern souvenir, of course, such a rule is not necessary to observe - shreds are easier and more accurate to cut with scissors.
- When winding threads, it is customary to adhere to the following rule: an even number of turns of the thread and an odd number of knots on each winding. Traditionally, it is believed that such a number of ligaments promises longevity to the owner of the amulet, that is, a "countless" number of years.
What will be required for work?
What materials will be required for needlework? Making a Veps doll is an interesting and completely inexpensive exercise. For her you will need:
- A square flap of white or beige color (head and hands). The size is determined depending on the growth of the future Cabbage, for a small pupa about 20 x 20 cm is enough.
- Colored square flaps.
- Filler (cotton wool, rags, synthetic winterizer, pieces of foam rubber).
- Threads for joining parts (red).
- Materials for decorative details: lace, braid and more (optional).
Step 1: head and hands
The detail with which work begins on the Charm Cabbage is the head and body of the doll. It is done as follows:
- A large piece of filler must be rolled into a ball the size of the future head of the toy. The ball is placed in the center of the white flap.
- The flap is folded diagonally, inside the fabric, a ball of filler is wound with a thread.
- The edges of the flap, located on different sides of the head, will be the handles of a talisman doll. The corners of each edge should be turned inward and wound with thread.
- For convenience, the bottom edge can also be wound around the waist.
Step 2: chest
The lush chest of the Vepsian amulet is made of two identical square flaps. The size of the shreds folded diagonally - this will be the length of the hem of the doll sundress.
- It will be necessary to roll two balls from the filler, which will be smaller in size than the head.
- Make two blanks: place the ball in the center of the flap, curl the fabric diagonally, thread the filler inside.
- Further, both blanks are fixed with a thread on the doll's waist so that the chest and the front of the skirt are obtained. Also, the item should be fixed with threads in the form of sundress straps: up the shoulders, forming a cross on the back - a common element of Slavic embroidery.
Step 3: skirt
The back of the dress is made of the same fabric as the doll’s chest:
- A square flap is folded diagonally, and then again in the form of a square. The corner with folds will be at the top of the part, and the trim edges of the flap will be at the bottom.
- The resulting workpiece is applied to the back of the doll so that the upper corner is located above the waist, and the edges correspond along the length of the front part and are wound with thread.
Step 4: decorative details
The main decorations of the Vepsian doll are an apron, a belt and a headdress (shawl).
- For the apron you will need a small rectangular shred. You need to attach it with the face to the front upper part of the doll so that the edge is slightly below the waist line and wrap with thread. Then the apron fabric is lowered down (face out) and secured with a belt.
- For the belt, any narrow strip of fabric, ribbon, braid or several multi-colored threads twisted together are suitable.
- On the doll’s head, the amulet is usually a scarf. For him, you need to take a triangular patch (or fold a square piece of fabric diagonally), fix it on the head, crossing the ends of the scarf around the neck and knotting it in the back.
As we see, the technique of making folk toys from shreds is quite simple and does not require special skills. But we should not forget about the main condition for creating a real Vepsian doll-amulet: as our ancestors believed, it is necessary to engage in such needlework with good thoughts, then the amulet will please its owners for many years, bringing wealth and harmony to their home.