Cross stitching has been a hobby of mine since I was about 7 years old and I fondly remember both my Grandma and my Mum having a hand in teaching me how to stitch. Happy memories for me and the kind that I’m sure many stitchers will have.

Amongst my various wedding cross stitch and baby cross stitch projects, I’ve also made several cross stitch samplers. The very first time I created one was at Primary School when my teacher, Miss Caldwell, battled valiantly to explain the various intricate stitches required. It was something I found I had a knack for and I’ve never looked back since.

As I got older, I became more interested in the history of these cross stitch samplers; where they originated, why they were made, who stitched them and so on. It seemed to me like a glimpse into the stitcher’s life and also somewhat of a social commentary down the ages. Even today, families often have heirloom samplers which are prized possessions, and modern samplers are decorative, given as gifts to friends or loved ones for special occasions like anniversaries or births.

The word sampler comes from the Latin word “exemplum”, meaning pattern or model; literally an example of someone’s work. The habit of adding a signature and date to samplers has been useful in establishing how old they are and the oldest dated sampler is from 1598. It was stitched by Jane Bostocke and is kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Some of the oldest surviving pieces date from the early seventeenth century when their purpose was functional rather than decorative. They were usually referred to as spot or random spot samplers, reflecting the placing of various motifs on the fabric. Women used their samplers as a way to record new stitches, patterns and motifs that they had seen, as printed patterns were rare.

As time went on, samplers changed in shape and their layout gradually became more structured. Many were so technically excellent and of such intrinsic value that they were specifically itemised in inventories and mentioned as bequests in wills. Eventually, during the seventeenth century, the function of samplers also developed further. It moved from being a working tool and reference work, to being one in a series of exercises completed by girls as part of their education in needlework. As the eighteenth century progressed, the content of samplers altered, becoming more emphatically based in pictorial motifs, much as we know them today, and surrounded with decorative borders. Samplers had become as much works of art as functional practice items.

Finally, the number of stitches found in samplers declined over the years until cross stitch alone was used. A far cry from the original samplers with their wealth of stitches and techniques. These days, samplers are used to record memories, special events or dates and even people in the form of pictorial family trees. Cross stitch samplers make versatile gifts; handmade items that are cherished and valued and which embody skills that have seen a resurgence in recent times.

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