A Beaded Wedding Horseshoe

I designed this pretty bridal gift for a book many years ago and was thrilled to see it again when I visited the Cross Stitch Guild headquarters recently. It was made into a kit some years ago and had a matching ring box but is no longer in the range.

The embroidery is worked in counted cross stitch on a slightly sparkly fabric with the addition of tiny seed pearls, French knots and a satin ribbon. It measures 6 x 5in (15 x 12.5cm) and will be supplied gift boxed in tissue.

A lovely gift for the bride and something that can be a keepsake. Sometimes it is lovely to give something that is not on the wedding list!

Horseshoes have been considered lucky for centuries. This is thought to come from the belief that iron is a magical metal as it could be forged in fire. Naturally that means it has the power to repel evil spirits! While I was looking this up, I leaned that horseshoes could well be responsible for making the number seven lucky too as traditional horseshoes were made with seven holes for nails.