Louise Julien 1858 Reproduction Sampler
REPRODUCTION SAMPLER PATTERN, READY TO DOWNLOAD, BY Couleur Tourterelle
Back in 1868, in rural France, imagine what a treat it must have been for a young girl to be handed a whole bunch of silk colors (17 in total) to play with when completing her sampler. Louise proceeded to cheerfully change thread color for each element of her border, for each letter, and sometimes even used two colors for a single letter. The result is a joyful and sparkling "explosion of color" and is a real treat to stitch.
Letters used for the 3 first lines - a full alphabet and the stitchers signature and date of completion - are all the traditional letters used for marking house-hold linen, therefore excellent practice for young Louise. These letters, known as the linen-maid's alphabet, were taught and transmitted from mother to daughter over generations, unchanged over several centuries, and already appear in the Didierot & D'Alembert's encyclopiedia of 1771.
The original sampler is part of Meriem Chauvet's collection, the designer behind Couleur Tourterelle, who goes to great lenghts to reproduce, and painstakingly rechart, some of the samplers of her collection, matching every original color and every stitch.
While our stitcher left no information about her place of origin, Meriem Chauvets points to a few clues that could point to the Occitania region, a culturally distinct region of Sourthern France.
And while at first glance the sampler seems to lack a religious theme - unlike other French samplers of the time - Meriem Chauvet points out, that Louise did in fact include, among the many floral and animals, a number of religious symbols.
Regarding stitching, there are a couple of shifted cross stitches, used to provide symetry in flower bouquets. The design should therefore ideally be stitched over 2 threads, except if you accept these 2 motifs to be slightly shifted.
Reproduction Sampler stitched using Soie d'Alger silk from Au Ver à soie (AVAS) or DMC, with cross stitches worked over 2 fabric threads on 40ct linen. Size 7.7 x 8.1 inch (19,5 x 20,5 cm).
A cross stitch pattern by Couleur Tourterelle.
>> see more Reproduction Sampler patterns by Couleur Tourterelle
Chart info & Needlework supplies for the pattern:
Louise Julien 1858 Reproduction Sampler
Chart size in stitches: 154 x 162 (wide x high)
Needlework fabric: 40ct Newcastle linen from Zweigart ,in color 3077
Stitched size: 7.7 x 8.1 inch (19,5 x 20,5 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: 17
Themes: France, 19th century, linenmaid's alphabet, birds, christianism, flowers, brightful colours
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