The craft of felting valionki (traditional footwear of Belarusians) is passed on in families from generation to generation. Making valionki has long been practiced throughout that territory. Valionki of different colour and size are made from fleece shorn at the appropriate time, in the autumn or spring, and to the required length. The wool is not washed, that way it is easier to felt it. The main bearers of the felting craft in Mijory District are Jeŭdakim Mitrafanaŭ and Ksienija Daronda (Zapalassie Village), Mikalaj Daronda (Zapalassie Village), Antanina Kažan, Branislava Cycyna, Valiancina Kapuscina (Čapuki Village), Paviel Kudrašoŭ (Malaja Kavaleŭščyna Village), Leanid Miatla (Mijory Town). The production of valionki is performed manually, gradually and it takes long. They start by twisting the wool in different directions, hammering around and periodically wetting it with warm water. Then homemade wooden blocks and wedges are inserted to shape the mass as valionki of the desired shape and size. Once the water is drained from the mass, valionki are put on the pieč, a Belarusian home heater, to dry. Finished valionki are sometimes trimmed with leather over the heels to make them last longer. Valionki can be also worn with galoshes. Felting wool is no easy matter, as wool has to be matted continuously for several hours, so this work is usually carried out by men. Today, valionki in Mijory District are made for the family, relatives, other villagers and a small number of people to order or for sale at local fairs
Navahrudak’s traditional vycinanka-vybivanka is a distinctive technique of punching of a particular image on paper using special homemade tools, such as chisels, flattened nails, metal tubes (empty cartridge cases), sharpened aluminum tubes, etc.
The foundation for such creations is a diamond-shaped network that imitates cells of lace curtains. Symmetrical large flowers or bouquets are placed on it, and the edges are trimmed to give them the shapes as little crescents or triangles. Such curtains create the illusion of lace fabric. Today Navahrudak style vycinankas-vybivankas are used in the design of ethnographic corners as elements of interior decorative finishes.
Paper designs created in the genre of vycinankas-vybivankas adorned the interiors of homes in some villages in Navahrudak area in the 1930s – 1950s of the 20th century. This method of making vycinankas was quite rare, since paper is not a lasting material, and the few surviving specimens made in this technique were created by some craftswomen, who were remembered by villagers, and years later their art became the basis for the recovery of vycinankas-vybivankas, which for some time had been lost. Nina Šurak was the one who revived this unique kind of vycinankas. Today, the main bearer of the tradition is one of her students, Natallia Klimko, who passes on her know-how of punching lace patterns on paper to teenagers, youth, and the elderly during master classes, workshops, and at exhibitions and open apprenticeship classrooms
