Ellen Chester - A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif

A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif
designed by Ellen Chester of "With My Needle"

Registration:  10/1 - 10/31/26

This lovely project can be finished as a framed sampler or as a huswif with a matching needlebook. A "huswif" or "hussif" is the name for a case which stores needlework supplies. Before the days of pockets on clothing, women often carried a huswif in one of the large tie-on pockets worn under their skirts. The use of a huswif was certainly not exclusive to women. Sailors, soldiers, and other men who needed sewing items sometimes carried huswifs.

The verse, My needlework wrought with so much care, adorned with colours so rich and fair, came from an old sampler.

Stitches used:
Algerian eye, alternating double backstitch, backstitch, barrier, Belgian cross, closed herringbone, cross stitch, cross stitch over one linen thread, cushion (traditional and reverse slant), double running, double-sided Italian cross, four-sided, gobelin, horizontal elongated tied cross, long-armed cross, Montenegrin, nun's stitch, queen, diagonal queen, rice, satin, smyrna cross, straight, tent, three-sided, upright cross, and zigzag.

Kit Contents:
In addition to photos and detailed directions for stitching and assembling the project, the kit includes 36-count linen, silk threads, hand-dyed ribbon, Skirtex; dupioni silk, beads for the closures, tatting thread, and a needle.

During class time, embroidery will be done on the needlebook, which has the majority of the stitches.  Students not wanting to work on the needlebook in class should bring a doodle cloth and threads.