Evolution of the Poneva - From Three Functional Panels To Decorative Full Skirt

This is one of my ongoing projects. Right now my focus is on iterating the Poneva and understanding its function in the day to day lives of urban women during period.



Pretty Ponevas to Ponder



One of the challenges that we face when looking at early period garb is the preservation of complete pieces.  We do have the ability to extrapolate backwards at times using later examples on which to build our hypothesis of how a period piece would have looked.  Since the poneva (panova, pon'eva, ponnyvy, ponewa) is one of my favorite subjects here are a few examples from the Moscow Museum that speak to a period"ish" aesthetic.
Wool, canvas, weaving. Click to see more details.

 
Wool, cotton fabric, cotton thread, silver and silver threads, sequins, weaving, handmade embroidery, hand-sewn

Plus they're just pretty to look at.

How to Wrap the Poneva

I posted this on a thread in the Slavic Interest Group in response to a question about the poneva and whether there was a pleat involved. I wear a three panel version (which later evolved into a single panel with a pleat), and the question I am most often asked is "can I see how you wear the back panel". I posted this short wrapping tutorial in response. Forgive the state of my head wrapping, it was windy.


They are all strung on a woven band in the order of back panel, right panel, left panel. (In order from left of picture to right). The back panel goes on first, then the other two over it. You then slide the panels on the string so they are centered in front and in back. Tie together with an overhand knot.


I do plan to add a zapaska to the front of my daily housewife kit, I am still working my way backwards for that piece from later period sources to early period. However, it seems plausible enough that one was worn because if the purpose of the utilitarian poneva was to protect the under dress an apron in the front would make a lot of sense. I've seen several mentions of women having a poneva for dress wear and a poneva for daily use, so that is the place I am working from.


The poneva itself is a great talking point at demos, it's very relatable. I wear the clothing of a middle class merchant's wife living in a posad. The poneva I wear is 100% wool, because frankly it's cold in the north and it is very warm on my hips. Happy joints = happy me. It would also have done an excellent job of keeping my under dress clean through the challenges of daily living and child rearing.




Cutting the panels

To determine the size of the panels you require, since everyone is sized differently you need to make a few simple measurements.

This gives you width of your 3 panels.

Measurement 1: Navel to small of back +1 if you will sew an edge on the panel.  Some wool can take a simple blanket stitch as the edge on the sides; other fabric will require you to make a hem on the edge.
For Example My measurement is 14”.  I will not be hemming my panels, I will be embroidering the edges, so I will cut my panels at a 14” width.


Measurement 2:  Length from natural waist to calf or hip to ankle depending on how long you want your poneva to be.  My measurement is 33” and I am using a 36” wide fabric, which leaves me enough room to make the casing for the kraika.
I then cut my panels according to my measurements.
My panels will each be 14 inches wide since I will not be hemming the individual edges, but using a blanket stitch around all edges to finish the panels.  Length is the length of the fabric in this case.
Finishing the panels
I blanket stitched around the edge of each panel.
Next I turned under what will be the top edge of the panels by ½ inch to form a hem for the casing.
After I created the hem at the top of the panel, I folded over the fabric to form the casing for the kraika (belt).  I used the stitching method of an appliqued piece of painted fabric from the Gaigovo kurgan burial which consists of a large running stitch.
 


Bringing it all together
Here are all three finished panels and the belt.  Weaving the belt took about 6 hours to complete, each panel of the poneva took roughly 3 hours to stitch all edges, hem the top and add the casing.
Suspend the panels from the kraika in the order of rear panel, right panel, left panel.
The next step is trying on the garment and sliding the panels so that they cover your backside and your hips.  You arrive with an arrangement that has the rear panel further apart on the kraika, like this.

The finished poneva as worn by an 11th-13th Century eastern Slavic housewife.
Front View & Back View.  You will notice that the two panels in the back are not sewn together at the top.


Bibliography


Books
Alyoshina, T. S.-L. (1977). History of Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bayda Books, 1986. History of Ukrainian Costume: from the Scythian Period to the Late 17th Century.
Stepanova, Iulia Vladimirovna. The Burial Dress of the Rus’ in the Upper Volga Region (Late 10th-13th Centuries) Brill, 2017 ISBN 978-90-04-31465-8

Scientific Papers
Burial Grounds and Graves in medieval Kiev (9th to 13th century) Ivakin, Vsevolod 2011
Archaeological Textiles of the 10th to 12th Century from the Gaigovo Barrow Group in Russia Kochkurkina, Orfinskaya ATR No. 58 2016

Websites
Poneva. (n.d.) The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. (1970-1979). Retrieved April 3 2019 from https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Poneva

Traditional Russian Costume, http://traditionalrussiancostume.com/costumeinfo/xru_en.php?nametxt=6
 Last accessed April 3, 2019.


Poneva - This Is What? Russian Ponyva: Description, Photo, volgaproject.net/obrazovanie/90620-poneva-eto-chto-takoe-russkaya-poneva-opisanie-foto.html. Last Accessed April 3, 2019.