TSG Reference Books Page

Mitring Corners and Hem stitching on evenweave fabrics by Alison Snepp

Glossy paperback book, 20 pages, Colour photographs

TSG members - £13.00 plus p & p.
Non-members - £14.00 plus p & p.

Please contact Linda to order.

Imitation and Improvement:

The Norfolk Sampler Tradition

A New Book by Joanne Martin Lukacher

The first delivery of these beautiful books have arrived - more on their way!

Cost to TSG members - £60.00 plus postage and packing
Cost to non-members - £70.00 plus postage and packing

Please contact Linda to pre-order

Elizabethan Stitches
A Guide to Historic English Needlework - by Jacqui Carey

In 2009, Jacqui Carey published Sweet Bags: an Investigation into 16th and 17th Century Needlework detailing some of her academic and practical research that centred on these particular textiles. Elizabethan Stitches has been produced in an effort to expand on the practical issues raised by the author’s observations, and to aid those wishing to reproduce historic items. The author’s detailed study of surviving artefacts has revealed that many of the stitches found on 16th and 17th century textiles differ from those used today. For over one hundred years, publications discussing historic English needlework have described the historic stitches in relation to the stitches made popular by women such as Thérèse de Dillmont, Grace Christie (writing as Mrs. Archibald Christie), and Mary Thomas. However, the visual evidence found on the surviving textiles does not correspond with these modern interpretations. Unfortunately, most of the stitches shown in Elizabethan Stitches have been obsolete for so long that they do not appear in stitch dictionaries. It is hoped that this book will provide a valuable reference source for those wishing to identify and catalogue historic work, as well as providing practical ‘how-to’ instruction.

All the stitches shown in this book have been found on surviving items, and case studies are used to provide the visual evidence.

Diagrams are used throughout the book to clarify the stitch structures, and where possible the obsolete stitches have been compared to modern stitches that are recognised today. Step-by-step instructions offer a method for making each stitch, and a discussion of historic design shows how the stitches might be used. Sewn bound with 160 pages.

Elizabethan Stitches - A Guide to Historic English Needlework - by Jacqui Carey is available at £24.95 plus p & p.

Please contact Linda to order.

An Introduction to the Tokens at the Foundling Museum

This fascinating book by Janette Bright and Gillian Clarke explains the significance and variety of type of the "Tokens" or "Identifiers" at the Foundling Museum.

An Introduction to the Tokens at the Foundling Museum by Janette Bright and Gillian Clarke is priced at £5.00 plus p & p.

Please contact Linda to order.

Sampler Workbook /Motifs & Patterns by Caroline Vincent

This design sourcebook for makers of contemporary samplers contains motifs and patterns based on both reworked traditional themes, together with imaginative and original designs. A number of the motifs have been inspired by museum collections, and there are many references to Dutch, German and American sampler styles. Full page coloured graphs for a range of subjects including, animals, birds, buildings, trees, figures, flowers and border patterns are featured alongside stitched examples, with information about techniques and materials. The book is suitable for a variety of skill levels and offers a wealth of exciting new patterns for further individual interpretation.

Sampler Workbook/Motifs & Patterns by Caroline Vincent is available priced at £16.99 plus p & p.

Please contact Linda to order.

Looped Stitches, Chain Stitch, Knotted Stitch by Anne Warner

This is the second booklet by Anne Wanner and follows the same format as her previous booklet Cross Stitch and Crossed Stitches. 20 pages in 4 languages (German, English, French and Italian). All the photographs are in colour.

Anne says "It is not our aim here to present step-by-step instruction for embroidery stitches, but rather to classify them according to a number of basic types".

The scope of this booklet is to help preserve knowledge about an ornamental craft which has been practised for centuries, but is today threatened with oblivion, especially since handicrafts are not taught in the basic school curriculum any more.

Looped Stitches, Chain Stitch, Knotted Stitch by Anne Warner is priced at £13.50 plus p&p.
Please contact Linda to order.

Samplers by Rebecca Scott

Samplers have been worked in Britain since the sixteenth century, and provide a valuable social record as well as being works of art. Originally collections of patterns gathered together for reference by needle and lace workers, they came to encompass works of piety, of love, of education, and commemoration. Young ladies would stitch the alphabet, multiplication tables and religious extracts not only for decoration, but to keep them from being idle, and to impress the relevant lessons deep into their consciousness. They are among the few antiques that record precisely when they were made, and by whom, which makes the changing fashions in stitches and decoration all the easier to trace. This book, written by one of Britain’s leading experts on the subject, and illustrated with superb photographs of a great range of samplers from Britain and the United States provides an ideal introduction to these amazing embroideries for collectors and those interested in social history and the history of art.

Samplers by Rebecca Scott is priced at £12.99 plus p & p.

Please contact Linda to order.

Tokens of Love 'The Provenance, Purposes and Constituents of English Needlework, Samplers of Poor Girls, and their life in Poor and Orphan Schools' by Vivian Crellin.

TSG member Vivian Crellin's book is published by The Sampler Guild. This is a deeply researched labour of love covering the provenance, purposes and constituents of English needlework samplers, with a description and explanation of samplers from charity, poor and orphan schools. The book includes chapters on the history and traditions of English samplers, the needlework of men and Celtic traditions in the Isle of Man, Wales and Scotland, as well as forty coloured illustrations and thirty in black and white.
This is a must-have, authoritative work of reference that will find its way onto the shelves of many museums, colleges and institutions, both here and worldwide and The Sampler Guild is proud to be associated with its publishing. Available Now!

"I thought you might like to know that Vivien Crellin’s book was listed by the Mayflower Sampler Guild as one of their favourite sampler books ever, and that the list has been published on legacy" - Linda

Tokens of Love by Vivien Crellin is priced as follows:

TSG members - £18.00 plus postage and packing
Non-members - £20.00 plus p & p.
Cost to institutions, museums and colleges - £15.00 plus p & p for orders of ten or more.

To place your order for this very special book, please contact Linda.

Made to Match

by Carol Andrews and Helen Payne.

'Made to Match' is a book by Carol Andrews and Helen Payne which contains 16 attractive projects for making beaded scissors cases with matching needle cases. The instructions are comprehensive and the book is colourfully illustrated.

The projects are suitable for beginners as well as more experieced bead enthusiasts.

Made to Match by Carol Andrews and Helen Payne is priced at £10.95 plus postage & packing.

Please contact Linda to order.

The Evolution of Samplers

by Eileen J. Bennett of The Sampler House.

An embroidery and sampler time line, covering a four-hundred year history of sampler making.

The Evolution of Samplers by Eileen J. Bennett is priced at £13.00 plus postage & packing.

Please contact Linda to order.

This long-awaited book (cover shown, front and back) is called 'Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth' and is written by Carol Humphrey, The book measures 12" x 10" and has 250 pages with over 200 full colour illustrations, not only from Ackworth but also from collections and museums both here in the UK and in the USA.
The jacket is double folded and when opened out has a fully charted medallion sampler by Katie Trendell of an 'Elne of Lynnyn..'

'Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth'by Carol Humphrey is priced at:

£23.00 plus p & p to TSG members

£30.00 plus p & p to non-members

To order this very special book, call Linda on 44(0)1628-634274 or email her: linda@thesamplerguild.co.uk