Sarah Borton 1815 ~ Reproduction Sampler Pattern by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

A rural English scene is one of the beautiful features of Sarah Borton’s sampler.  A farmer and servant are busy building hayricks;  a very important chore on a farm. The farmer’s wife is drawing a bucket of water from the well.  A meandering strawberry outer border surrounds this charming sampler.  There are four different alphabets stitched in cross stitch, Algerian eyelet, and satin stitch along with a dividing honeysuckle border.  Other stitches used are French knots, stem stitch, chain stitch and four sided stitch. The main feature of Sarah’s sampler is the pretty freehand wreath that contains the verse.  Sarah stitched two crowns on her sampler with the initials K and E.  It was a common practice in some schools in England and Scotland to stitch rows of crowns and coronets with a single letter underneath.  “K” for King, “D” for Duke and “E” for Earl etc.

Thread Legend

The sampler has been reproduced with Au Ver à Soie d’Alger silks and the skein quantities calculated based on 1 strand on 36ct fabric. We have provided a DMC conversion based on 2 strands on 36ct fabric. The model was stitched on 40ct Lakeside Linen Sand Dune.

Soie d’Alger / DMC

Noir x 1  / 310 x 1 ~ Black

2642 x 1  / 352 x 1 ~ Coral – light

1842 x 1 / 368 x 1 ~ Pistachio green – light

1841 x 1  / 369 x 1 ~ Pistachio green – very light

3733 x 1  / 370 x 1 ~ Mustard – medium

3823 x 1 / 437 x 1 ~ Tan – light

1846 x 1 / 500 x 1 ~ Blue green – very dark

3726 x 1 / 520 x 1 ~ Fern green – dark

1744 x 1 / 597 x 1 ~ Turquoise

4535 x 1 / 611 x 1 ~ Drab brown

2522 x 1 / 677 x 1 ~ Old gold – very light

3812 x 1 / 738 x 1 ~ Tan – very light

2516 x 1  / 780 x 1 ~ Topaz – ultra very light

525 x 1 / 832 x 1 ~ Golden olive

4246 x 1 / 869 x 1 ~ Hazel nut brown – very dark

4123 x 1 /  898 x 1 ~ Coffee brown – very dark

2145 x 1 / 3011 x 1 ~ Khaki green – dark

4524 x  1 / 3045 x 1 ~ Yellow beige – dark

3715 x 1 / 3052 x 1 ~ Green grey – medium

3725 x 1 / 3362 x 1 ~ Pine green – dark

2915 x 1 / 3712 x 1 ~ Salmon – medium

4535 x  1 / 3790 x 1 ~ Beige grey – ultra dark

621 x 1  / 3822 x 1 ~ Straw – light

LINEN SIZES

The design area is 258 stitches (w) x 304 stitches (h). Our calculations have included a 3” margin for finishing and framing.

28ct – Design: 18.43″ x 21.71″ Fabric: 24.43″ x 27.71″

32ct – Design: 16.13″ x 19″ Fabric: 22.13″ x 25″

36ct – Design: 14.33″ x 16.89″ Fabric: 20.33″ x 22.89″

40ct – Design: 12.9″ x 15.2″ Fabric: 18.9″ x 21.2″