Benoîte Gay 1841 Reproduction Sampler
CROSS STITCH REPRODUCTION SAMPLER PATTERN, READY TO DOWNLOAD, BY Couleur Tourterelle

This stitcher's mother was a "lingère". In the beginning of the 19th century in France, it would mean tending to other families' fine linen, washing, ironing, applying starch and possibly occasionally mending. When house linen or more basic clothes were involved; marking was used to identify each item, so each item could be returned to its rightful owner.

No wonder Benoîte, at the tender age of 8, got to complete the basic exercice of stitching the letters and numbers used for marking household linen. The difficulty was however increased by having her stitch on a very fine linen, finer than the finest linen stitchers can use today. When you stitch this reproduction sampler, you will think of the huge effort this little girl made, both memorising the letters, and making sure she never skipped a fabric thread when counting weft and warp.

The story doesn't end here. When the original sampler (last photo) joined Couleur Tourterelle's (Meriem Chauvet) collection, she undertook some research. She managed to identify the stitcher and her very moving story (told in the sampler's history that comes with the chart). No doubt you will think of Benoite as you reproduce each of her stitches.

The reproduction cross stitch chart strictly reproduces every stitch of the original sampler. It is stitched in a single red thread using Soie d'Alger silk from Au Ver à soie (AVAS) or DMC, and worked on 40ct linen. Size 9.5 x 8.2 inch (24 x 20 cm). As Benoite worked on an even finer count, her's is even slightly smaller.

A cross stitch pattern by Couleur Tourterelle.

>> see more Reproduction Sampler patterns by Couleur Tourterelle
 

Chart info & Needlework supplies for the pattern:
Benoîte Gay 1841 Reproduction Sampler

Chart size in stitches: 189 x 184 (wide x high)
Needlework fabric: 40ct Newcastle linen from Zweigart ,in color 3077"
Stitched size: 9.5 x 8.2 inch (24 x 20 cm)
Stitches: cross stitch over 2 threads, a couple of cross stitches shifted by 1 fabric thread
Chart: Color and B&W, includes one-page chart for Digital stitching
Threads: Soie d'Alger silk from Au Ver à soie (AVAS) or DMC
Number of colors: 1

Themes: France, Mid-19th century, Linenmaid's alphabet, friendship
 

>> see all Early 19th century Reproduction sampler patterns (all designers)

>> see all Reproduction samplers featuring the linenmaid's alphabet

>> see al patterns celebrating Friendship (all designers)

>> see all Red monochrome patterns (all designers)
 

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