Wearable Art ‚Äì Romanian Shepherd‚Äôs Coat

My inspiration for this knit piece came from the traditional long woolen coats worn by shepherds in Romania. I saw many of these in museums while traveling there.

The below-knee length coats are woven from homespun wool, usually the charcoal natural color of the sheep‚Äôs fleece. The body is relatively plain.

The yoke is the astounding part of the garment. It is elaborately embroidered with fanciful and colorful motifs; birds, flowers and fruits, and hangs part way down the back. The shepherd was able to pull it up over his head to keep him warm or roll it up and use it as a pillow while sleeping in the high pastures.

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I chose to knit the yoke (rather than weave it) and I intentionally did not add the body, as I wanted to highlight just the yoke. I suppose I could add to it one day‚Ä¶

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The motifs I embroidered are ones that I saw on textiles all over the country. I used the same color palette using yarns that I dyed myself. To see more of my work visit my website www.PoppyGall.com.

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My inspiration for this knit piece came from the traditional long woolen coats worn by shepherds in Romania. I saw many of these in museums while traveling there.

The below-knee length coats are woven from homespun wool, usually the charcoal natural color of the sheep’s fleece. The body is relatively plain.

The yoke is the astounding part of the garment. It is elaborately embroidered with fanciful and colorful motifs; birds, flowers and fruits, and hangs part way down the back. The shepherd was able to pull it up over his head to keep him warm or roll it up and use it as a pillow while sleeping on the ground in the high pastures.

I chose to knit the yoke (rather than weave it) and I intentionally did not add the body, as I wanted to highlight just the yoke. (I suppose I could add to it one day.) The motifs I embroidered are ones that I saw on textiles all over the country. I used a traditional color palette using yarns that I dyed myself.