Božena Adamicová
Women in the region of Javorina used to weave very specific home textile they used for protecting bread and cakes against insects, rodents, dust and dirt. They called it according to the purpose of it – bread packings (podchlebáky in Slovak). History of this specific fabric is 150 year old. There were two types of podchlebáky – short and long. They have the same width between 60 and 75 cm. Short bread packings had from 80 to 90 cm, long bread packings had from 160 to 190 cm. Short bread packings were used mainly for packing bread to protect it against insects and to avoid drying off. Long bread packings were used for carrying cakes for wedding and christening parties and other important celebrations. A bread packing was put into a basket. Ends of it were hanging over the basket. Cakes were put into the basket and ends of the bread packing were tied up to be safely carried on someone´s back. Over the time, a piece of hemp fabric has transformed into an artistic textile item with astonishing miniature patterns.