Embroidery Pattern Book No 785

Printed in Germany in the early part of the 20th Century, these little books are stitcher’s gems and, if I see them, I want them! I have mentioned before that am a glutton for auctions and cannot resist a dabble when the objects are stitching related. Simply the best thing is when it is a mixed lot of stitching goodies. It is as if a person’s workbox has been tipped in to a carboard box and called LOT 25.

This is how I found a small number of these delicious little chart books last month and I am sharing some of them with you. These is almost always something in them that I want to stitch!

The little book measures 3.75 x 5.75in (9.5 x 14.5cm). I will supply this wrapped and boxed with one gold-plated needle to get you started.

Beautiful hand-painted woolwork charts first came into Britain in about 1810, together with a range of Berlin woollen threads, known as such because they were produced in Berlin, which was an important centre for dyeing in the early 19th century. As was the tradition in pre-war Germany, these charts were printed in symbols and then hand painted in vast factories – there must have been thousands of little pattern books created but few have survived.