Somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, in a village near the small but ancient town of Krestsy, at the crossroads of two roads, from Moscow to Novgorod and from Pskov to Vologda, there appeared a craft that soon won the love of all Russia and

Somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, in a village near the small but ancient town of Krestsy, at the crossroads of two roads, from Moscow to Novgorod and from Pskov to Vologda, there appeared a craft that soon won the love of all Russia and eventually became a recognisable Russian brand in the West. Krestetskaya stitching, which began as a cottage industry among the needlewomen of a single village, became within a short time one of the emblematic Russian crafts. The embroidery is worked on a single piece of cloth, from which threads are drawn out, and then special techniques are used to form incredible geometric patterns. In the 1920s a proper factory was built in the town, producing intricate lace, now no longer from homespun linen but from factory-made linen and cotton, which was exported all over the world. But in the 1990s the factory was ruined, and only a few years ago new life was breathed into it.