Textiles and Stuff 

This is a antique Victoriam Continental sewing sampler, probably French or Belgian, a schoolgirl's work in strong cotton fabric probably calico. On the front are embroidered a monogram, VF with a small cross which may be a symbol for a convent and the pupil's name embroidered on the corner "H. Jonker 3e Cours". It is beautifully made with the tiniest of stitches and measures 30 cms. long by 19 cms. wide. The first page features run and fell seams and hemming, the second examples of scalloping, herringbone and feather stitch and three seams joined edge to edge with minute stitches. The third page has examples of buttonholes, eyelets and needle worked loops, feather stitch and examples of french seams. The last page is of even weave linen embroidered in red with an alphabet and numbers. Underneath these are two examples of darning. The page is edged with a hem in simple drawn thread work. This sampler dates from the beginning of the 20th Century and is a simple example of what school children were expected to produce - work of a very high standard, teaching them a skill which would be useful to them as adults, either in the home or to earn a living, and would be an important addition to a sample collection.

This is a very interesting sample book dating I think from the late 19th or early 20th Century. It is in the form of a large folder, with a card cover and interleaved with tissue, which measures approximately 14 inches/35 cms. by 10.5 inches/27 cms. It is for quite an advanced course in garment design and construction and has line drawings to scale of all the garments. These are shown either in fabric or tissue paper and portray exactly in detail the separate parts and seaming of the garment. The construction of the scale models in tissue paper must have been especially difficult, especially for a young girl, given the fragility of the paper. There are designs and samples of bed sheets, linens for cradles, aprons of several types (including “un tablier de fantasie”), several chemise patterns, bloomers and a waist petticoat. Most of these have examples of the garments in fabric or tissue paper, all beautifully and carefully made. The sampler is in good condition, but the edges of the pages are slightly discoloured and creased and some pages are loose and one tissue page is torn. However these are small faults especially in view of the age of the sampler and the materials used. This is an unusual example and worthy of any collection.

This is an attractive example of a young school girl’s sewing sampler of the late Victorian or Edwardian era. It is enclosed in a hard cover covered in blue ribbed watered silk and tied with two silk ribbons. Her initials L.R. are embroidered on the front. There are beautifully made examples of tucks, cuff, patching, gathering. button hole, feather stitching, construction of gusset, grafting, patching on a very fine knitted fabric, and other examples. Each piece has been carefully and almost invisibly mounted on to pages of calico. The cover and ribbons are in good condition, with slight wear at the edges. There is also some soiling at the edges of the calico pages, but this is just from handling in the past. There is also slight moth damage to the two wool examples one of which can be seen in the last photo in the series. These samplers were the result of teaching needlework in schools, some children learning as young as 7 or 8, and gave the children skills which would probably prove useful to them as adults, either in the home or as a means of earning a living. This sampler probably dates towards the end of the 19th Century. Please contact me for postage charges.