She learned to embroider at the age of ten from her aunt, the sister of her father, Vilma Mitterova (1910 – 1955) from Korytárok, who overcame polio (“she had the English disease”), only walking with the help of her hands, but beautifully embroidered.
Júlia Mičudová did not embroider during the upbringing of her underage children, she started embroidering again when her eldest son was 12 years old. She mostly embroiders tablecloths, occasionally skirts. When she was younger, she embroidered patterns with cutouts as well. She no longer does it now, as her eyesight is not good – she is farsighted. That’s why she only embroiders during the day, crocheting in the evening.

Embroidery material:
She mostly embroiders on linen or “whatever fabric there is,” “on anything.” She buys fabrics in Hriňová at a textile store (“there used to be an old pharmacy there”). She embroiders with a pearl needle, which she also buys in Hriňová or at a haberdashery store in Detva – “in the Chinese wall” (Ul. A. Hlinku).

Tools:
She inherited the embroidery frame from her aunt Vilma Mitterova (who also taught her how to embroider), the frame is over 60 years old. The frame has dimensions: 80 x 92 cm, it also includes longer bars (119 cm) used for larger textile sizes (fig. M_25 – M_30). The tapestries stretched on the frame were sewn by Júlia Mičudová from strong home canvas. She has a wooden curved needle (d – 9.5 cm) from Detva, from the store I. Smilekovej, Detvianske ľudové umenie, Partizánska 75. She also has modified needles, according to her words, from crochet hooks – white and burgundy (d – 10 cm) with the inscription KOH-I-NOOR. She uses metal scissors (d – 9 cm). See fig. M_31.
She transfers the pattern to the fabric by “printing” through a carbon paper. Originally, she also used templates for dark fabric, but she no longer has them. Instead, she has carbon paper in several colors – white, yellow, red (she doesn’t remember where she got it from).
She cannot name the patterns. When I asked her what each motif is called, she pulled out a publication by Vojtěch Večeř Výšivkárstvo v Detve from 1938 (Published by the National Socio-Economic District in Zvolen) and looked through the patterns drawn and named in it.
Júlia Mičudová embroiders only for herself, for friends, and family. She does not sell her embroideries. She expects that her daughter-in-law will continue embroidery