Home Traditional Samplers

Traditional Samplers

The stitch-reference roots of the craft I keep coming back to - band samplers, alphabets, mourning pieces, and the Victorian styles that followed.

What Is a Cross-Stitch Sampler?

What a sampler actually is, and why it's the craft's classic form

Earliest sampler style, stitch-reference format

The classic beginner project - letters, borders, and your own name

How samplers once marked household linen ownership

Samplers stitched with mottos, proverbs, and family verses

A distinct Victorian style stitched in memory of the dead

Victorian revival style, colorful/ornate

A restrained, geometric style that still reads as modern

Samplers stitched to record births, marriages, and deaths

A practical guide to designing your own traditional-style sampler