The reproduction is also available as a printed booklet. Please click HERE if you would prefer the printed booklet.
We are delighted to present Tom Thumb’s Carriage, an enchanting and wonderfully unusual sampler stitched by Margret Coy in the Lincolnshire town of Crowle in 1848. At Hands Across the Sea Samplers we have handled countless antique samplers over the years, yet we have never encountered another quite like Margret’s.
At first glance, the sampler delights with its elegant floral border and neatly worked alphabets, but it is the lively central motifs that immediately capture the imagination. A fashionable couple whirl gracefully across the linen as they dance the latest fashion – the Polka – while below them a beautifully detailed miniature carriage rolls proudly along. Rather than static decorative motifs, Margret’s stitching conveys an extraordinary sense of movement, bringing both scenes vividly to life.
The story behind these motifs is every bit as fascinating as the sampler itself and is explored in depth within both the booklet and PDF edition.
Margret was born in 1835 at Althorpe, Lincolnshire. Although she stitched her own name as Margret, family history records reveal that she was baptised as Margaret Coy, reminding us that nineteenth-century children often spelt words exactly as they pronounced them. Her life was heartbreakingly brief. She married at just sixteen, became the mother of a daughter named Ann, and died only months later in 1852 at the age of seventeen. Little Ann survived her mother by only three years. Margret’s sampler therefore stands as one of the few surviving voices from a young life cut tragically short.
For today’s stitcher, Tom Thumb’s Carriage offers something refreshingly different. It combines a charming floral border, elegant alphabets, lively pictorial motifs and a captivating historical story, creating a sampler that is certain to become both a conversation piece and a treasured heirloom.
Product Information
Threads
The sampler has been reproduced using a palette of 17 colours from Au Ver à Soie’s Soie 100.3 range. Conversions are provided for Soie d’Alger and DMC. You will require only one spool or skein of each colour when stitched on the recommended linen counts.
Limited Edition Silk Pack
A limited edition Tom Thumb’s Carriage silk pack, containing 17 × 150 metre spools of Au Ver à Soie’s Soie 100.3, has been specially assembled for this sampler. The pack includes Soie 100.3 shade 612, the original shade used to stitch the model sampler.
Available while stocks last from:
Design Size
191 stitches (wide) × 134 stitches (high)
Stitches Used
Suitable for needleworkers of all abilities, the sampler is worked primarily in cross stitch over two threads of linen, with selected details worked over one thread.
The reproduction has been painstakingly charted by Sandra Moffitt, with the booklet produced by Nicola Parkman, faithfully preserving every detail of Margret’s delightful original. With grateful thanks to Linda Clews, who lovingly stitched the model sampler.
At the heart of Hands Across the Sea Samplers is a dedicated team of needleworkers, researchers and designers who share a passion for preserving antique samplers and bringing them faithfully to life for today’s stitchers. It is our privilege to share Margret’s remarkable sampler with you.
