New Catherine Archer Needlekeep Book

Hand crafted for me by the talented Kate Bowles, I am thrilled to be able to offer these little books to you. I asked her to come up with a treasure made from my newly printed Catherine Archer linen and, as always, she has excelled herself!

I am really thrilled with this clever little book – the perfect size for your special needles. It includes tiny hand-crafted envelopes as well as linen pages. Even the box is hand-crafted with a single button as the handle to the matchbox-style drawer. Each Needlekeep comes complete with three gold-plated needles.

Closed, the Needlekeep measures 3.75 x 2.25in (9.5 x 6cm).

This limited edition, hand-crafted needlebook is yet another brainchild of Kate Bowles who even crafts the little box to fit the book perfectly.

If you are wondering about the name, Catherine Archer was the little girl who stitched the sampler with which the book is covered (I am the very proud owner of the original sampler). An orphan, she stitched this sampler while she was living at Ashley Down Orphanage, one of the Müller orphanages in Bristol, UK. As was often the case with the alphabet samplers stitched by Müller children, Catherine’s design includes dozens of complete alphabets, her classmates’ initials, border motifs, keys and a Bible. The stitching is quite breath-taking, with around 45 stitches to every inch. If you feel like a challenge, the complete original design is now available as a Sampler Study Box.