Hands Across the Sea - Susanna Millne 1843

Susanna Millne 1843

Susanna finished her beautiful sampler on July 24, 1843 when she was ten years old. Queen Victoria had only been on the English throne for six years and married to Prince Albert for three.

Susanna was born in Faversham in 1834 to Joseph Millne, a school master, and his wife Mary. She was their second youngest of 11 children and went on to live to sixty nine years of age.

Susanna put her needle skills to good use and became a milliner. She married a tailor Thomas Patching and together they ran an outfitters at 18 Preston Street Faversham. They had one daughter Susie.

Faversham is a historic Market Town in Kent, the beautiful Garden County of England. With prime hops and barley being grown on its doorstep and an ample supply of pure water from its deep wells Faversham became renown for its beers.

Hops feature profusely in the meandering border of Susanna’s sampler together with vases of flowers and a large basket with an overblown rose and daffodil. Two cheeky larks sing proudly amongst the brambles.

Susanna, who is shown here in later life, was a fine embroiderer with an excellent eye for colour.

The original sampler was stitched with silks.  The  model  has been  stitched  with  Au  Ver  De  Soie  silks  on 40ct Lakeside Linen Buttercream and a DMC conversion has been provided (see photo). The stitch count is 277(w)  x 347(h).

The  original sampler has only mellowed slightly with the passing of time, it still vibrates with the beautiful colours Susanna chose. We have carefully selected our thread palette based on those slightly mellowed colours.

Her beautiful sampler is suitable for all abilities. The stitches used are cross stitch over two threads with a small amount of straight satin stitches. It is an ideal project for those stitching satin stitches for the first time.

We are always happy to assist needleworkers with any stitching queries and we hope you have many enjoyable hours recreating Susanna’s legacy to us.

Thread Legend

AVAS           DMC          COLOUR GUIDE
1836 x 2      890 x 2       Pistachio green – ul dk
1834 x 2      505 x 2       Jade green
2114 x 2       989 x 2       Forest green
2543 x 1       676 x 1       Old gold – lt
2231 x 2       677 x 2       Old gold – vy lt
3835 x 1       610 x 1       Drab brown – dk
4535 x 1       611 x 1        Drab brown
Noir x 1        310 x 1       Black
4244 x 1       729 x 1       Old gold – md
3815 x 1        832 x 1      Golden Olive
2533 x 1        744 x 1      Yellow – pl

LINEN SIZES
The model was stitched on 40ct Lakeside Linen in Buttercream. The design area is 277(w) x 347(h). Our calculations have included a 3” margin for finishing and framing.

30ct – 24½” x 29¼”
32ct – 23½” x 27¾”
36ct – 21½” x 25½”
40ct – 20” x 23½”