Patterns and Designs From the the United States Library of Congress

The folk costume was made by Maija Hinkle, founder of the Latvians Abroad Museum and Research Centre, when she was a teenager and moved with her family from a refugee camp in Germany to Washington, D.C., USA. “I had Latvian ethnography books in front of me from which to copy the designs on graph paper. My mother had already taught me to embroider when we lived in refugee camps in Germany. I bought the fabric in a shop with my mum – the blouse is cotton. The brooches were commissioned in Washington, D.C.” 

Maija most often wore her national costume when performing with other Latvian youth in a folk dance ensemble in Washington, D.C. Maija states: “The folk costume is a beautiful and profound symbol of Latvian belonging. When I put it on, I felt proud and happy to be Latvian and to be able to show my Latvian identity so visibly. I wore it not only to perform at events, but also on patriotic occasions, such as Latvian Independence Day. It is the only folk costume I have ever owned.”

The shawl is unfinished – one end is embroidered and the other is not. This is probably because the chosen Nīca pattern design, although accurate, was redrawn on the fabric and embroidered on a much larger scale than usual. No wonder the teen-aged Maija didn’t have enough time to finish it!