Embroidery and lace

The Museum of Samokov Embroidery and Lace is located in the Dospevska House - the home of the zographers Dimitar Christovich, his son Stanislav Dospevski and his brother Zachary Zograf, in the old part of Samokov, very close to the women's monastery "The Protection of the Mother of God". There you can see how to make Samokov stitched lace and typical for the region embroidery. The roots of lacework and embroidery in Samokov date back to long before the liberation, and after the liberation two young Austrian sisters-in-law came to live in the town. At first they trained their neighbours in the intricate art of making the fine and ornament-rich Brussels lace, and later they organized a needlework unit.

Samokov embroidery is distinguished by its artistic qualities, the richness of original forms and colours. In the folk costumes of this region, the embroidery is mostly found on the women's undershirt, also called the 'koshulya'.

The Samokov lace is worked with a double knot and is usually used to make sleeves for women's undershirts.

Annie Yoveva created a website, through which she tries to popularize now forgotten techniques such as keno (sewn lace) and kalofer (Brussels) lace.