Here are some ebroidered icons from a museum in the Zarpattia Oblast (Carpatho-Ukraine, Carpatho-Rus, etc...). The museum also has an amazing collection of Rusyn/Ukrainian costumes:
http://tozak.org.ua/Em_tabl4.htmlDuring the past century, embroidered iconography became in many ways a substitute for the more traditional oils on canvass. Immediately after the "fraternal liberation" by the Soviets, many Ukrainian villages had their icons looted / stolen by the Soviets and subsequently sold in capitalist countries. Replacing the stolen icons was near impossible. There was a lack of iconographers, and those who practiced the profession were under strick governmet control - so the smaller churches had 'zero' chance of obtaining new icons. However, almost every village woman and many artisans could embroider and threads could be manufactured and often purchased. Embroidered icons were a realistic option for many villages.
Also, religious figures, notably those commonly found outside of the 'official religion' of the Soviet Union - The Russian Orthodox Church - where seen as being outward signs of "bourgeoise nationalism" (BN). Of course "BN" could get you into trouble with the Soviets, so better to have a nice icon you can roll up and hide away for clandestine Divine Liturgies.
I.F.