Made by Hand
Alert Janeite Julie P. sent us a link to a new cross-stitch sampler called “The Daughters of Longbourn.” (Here’s a larger photo of the finished sampler.) The sampler is the first in a series of five Austen-inspired samplers…as Julie P. pointed out, which novel will be left out? Or will there be five P&P samplers? Hard to tell.
ETA: We probably should make it perfectly obvious that the vendor is selling only a chart–you would have to purchase your own fabric, thread, etc.
Samplers are a very 18th and 19th century needle art, by the bye; all little girls (even Catherine Morland) made a sampler while learning to sew. The March/April 2008 issue of PieceWork magazine (an invaluable publication if you like historical needlework) had an article about collecting schoolgirl needlework such as samplers; 18th and 19th century pieces sell these days for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the magazine has had several interesting articles on schoolgirl needlework in the past few years.
Speaking of handmade items, Paper Menagerie’s Etsy store has some Jane Austen items, including greeting cards and a really lovely Moleskine journal painted with the classic Austen silhouette. (Found via Moleskinerie)
March 13th, 2008 at 7:06 am
The site says the moleskin journal sold out on 3.13.08. That’s today. Wow. Just wow.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Double WOW. What was the price of the journal?
The Longbourn sampler is lovely, though Mary seems to be sporting a full beard. I would probably change some colors … but then, I tend to make small changes in every kit I work.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Deb, Mary appears to have 3 levels of brown: her hair, her glasses and her bodice.
I’ve got an e-mail into my local cross-stitch store, and hopefully she’ll either have it or will be able to get it for me.
Speaking of changes, I did The Bookshelf (http://www.littlehouseneedleworks.com/images/The_Bookshelf.JPG) about 2 years ago, and changed Wuthering Heights to Jane Eyre. I figure if I’m going to have a project hanging in my home, it’s going to reflect my tastes, not someone else’s. And I hated Wuthering Heights, so changing it made sense.
I did find someone online who did this project, only she changed all the books at the bottom to JA books. I wish I’d thought of that!
The Sampler Girl has several JA projects, but to be honest, they’re not to my particular taste.
March 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Etsy is for handcrafts, so the JA Moleskine is probably not mass-produced–she might only have had a couple of them. If someone wants one, they can probably contact the artist to see if she will make more.