Many things can be translated into charts for samplers—drawings from a child’s coloring book, photographs from a magazine, a fabric print, needlepoint charts, greeting card designs. The personalized sampler shown above is an invitation for a boy named Richard to visit his grandparents; the elements could be modified to make such a sampler appeal to any child. In this case, the fabric was pulled taut and thumb-tacked to the back of a canvas-stretcher frame from an art store; this kept it smooth while it was being worked. The finished sampler can be displayed in a picture frame under glass if that is desirable.

To create your own design, use graph paper to trace the design—the transparent kind used by draftsmen is ideal. Or you can hold ordinary graph paper up to a window and trace the design behind it. Still another alternative that works well with simple, large designs is to make your own graph on tracing paper; then outline the shape and fill in with Xs. Square off any rounded edges to fit into the squares of the graph paper and simplify complicated designs. Trace on the wrong side of the graph paper so that if you must erase, you will not erase the graph lines. You can vary the size of the design by changing the size of the graph paper (how many squares it has per inch) or by plotting each stitch over more than one square. For example, wide cross-stitches can be made one square high and three squares wide; tall stitches can be one square wide and two squares high.

When planning a sampler with several motifs, use thread to baste the outlines of the major elements on the fabric. This helps you visualize how the finished sampler will look, and you can rearrange motifs before they are stitched. Remove the basting threads after the embroidery is completed.
The background fabric can be any cloth with an even weave, such as linen, hardanger cloth, loose-weave wool, panama cloth, aida cloth, or herta cloth. The thread can be one or more strands of pearl cotton, six-strand embroidery cotton, crewel wool, tapestry yarn, or silk or metallic threads. Check your local art needlework shop, or order from one of the many online shops.

Here are some sample motifs for you to use is designing your sampler – you’ll find more in previous posts in this series.

Have you made a sampler? Send me a picture so I can share it here to inspire all of us!