Fanny’s delightful sampler is offered to you in two different formats ~ as an instant PDF download and as a printed booklet. Details of the printed booklet can be found HERE.
Whilst a reference to God, “remember now thy creator”, is such an apt sentiment for a school-girl sampler, it is a privilege for us to celebrate and remember a young samplermaker within this publication.
Fanny Bramley in the tenth year of her age stitched a very pretty sampler. The alphabet in upper and lower case, separated by a pretty dividing row, has been stitched in a sweeping and attractive font. The body of the sampler has been laid out in a band format. We particularly like the dividing rows of plump strawberries and the two geometric rows. In the lower section, a four-storey house with many windows and three smoking chimneys takes centre stage. The shrubs that flank the house were an enjoyable stitch.
The sampler is contained within an unusual geometric border. Oh that border! Fanny’s maths was badly off and she ran into major problems. The sampler only has one perfect corner in the bottom left. This indicates to us that she started to stitch her border in this corner. Her border woes have given us a glimpse of Fanny’s personality and have endeared her and her sampler to us. She didn’t unpick and correct but simply improvised, quite creatively!
We have charted the sampler true to the original. However, within this download we have included a graph where we have corrected the borders to make the corners identical and the entire border symmetrical. Thus giving you the option to stitch the true reproduction or the corrected version.
Fanny did not include a date on her sampler. The Penelope canvas that she used dates the sampler to the latter part of the 1800s. It can be worked on Aida, Linaida, or linen. The sampler has been rated as suitable for needleworkers of all abilities and is worked entirely in cross stitch over 2 threads of linen.
Fanny’s delightful sampler has been reproduced with a palette of 9 colours from Au Ver à Soie’s range of Soie 100.3. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC.
There are 8 versions of the pdf. You will be able to download any or all of the following versions of the pdf and the graph:
Version 1 ~ A pdf with a eight-page colour chart. The reproduction.
Version 2 ~ A pdf with a one-page colour chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer. The reproduction.
Version 3 ~ A pdf with a eight-page black and white symbol chart. The reproduction.
Version 4 ~ A pdf with a one-page black and white chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer. The reproduction.
Version 5 ~ A pdf with a eight-page colour chart. The border correction.
Version 6 ~ A pdf with a one-page colour chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer. The border correction.
Version 7 ~ A pdf with a eight-page black and white symbol chart. The border correction.
Version 8 ~ A pdf with a one-page black and white chart which can be printed but is intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer. The border correction.
At the very core of Hands Across the Sea Samplers there is a team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and being able to share those samplers with you. Hands Across the Sea Samplers are on hand to help those stitching our charts. If you need assistance or have any questions, we can be reached via email, address shown below, or the contact page on our website.
