Hands Across the Sea - The Alexanders of Lintrathen 1829

The maker of this sampler certainly had an eye for detail.   Close examination reveals, in the right-hand border, the names of John Alexander and Helen Spaden. The left-hand border revealed the initials: MA, MA, JA, JA, MA, HA, and JA. They are the children of John Alexander and Helen Spaden (Splading), who married on December 23, 1797. The Alexander children were baptised in the church at Bridgend of Lintrathen.

Margaret Alexander, baptised April 9, 1801

Maysie Alexander, baptised June 7, 1804

Jannet Alexander, baptised March 2, 1806

James Alexander, baptised March 19, 1809

Mary Alexander, baptised December 16, 1810

Hellen Alexander, baptised February 24, 1814

Jean Alexander, baptised December 3, 1815

There are a further four sets of initials, all worked in black. We suspect that they are deceased forebearers of John Alexander. The date 1829 has been recorded on the sampler, and we believe that it was most probably Jean, the youngest daughter, that stitched the sampler when she was 14 years of age.

Thread Legend

The Alexanders of Lintrathen has been reproduced with a palette of twenty colours from Au Ver à Soie’s range of Soie 100.3. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC. Thread usage on varying linen counts and number of strands of thread has been provided below.

The model was stitched on 46ct Weeks Dyeworks (Zweigart-based) linen in Cocoa.

100.3 1 strand 46ct / SDA 1 strand 46ct /  SDA 1 strand 36ct / DMC 2 strands 36ct  / SDA 2 strands 28ct / DMC 2 strands 28ct ~ Colour Description

 002 / 131 / 131 / 927 / 131 / 927 ~ Grey green ~ light

022 / 525 / 525 / 832 / 525 / 832 ~ Golden olive

072 / 5384 / 5384 / 598 / 5384 x 2 / 598 ~ Turquoise ~ light

088 / S3932 / S3932        / 543 / S3932 / 543 ~ Beige brown ~ ultra very light

106 / 935 / 935 / 349 x 2 / 935 x 3 / 349 x 2 ~ Coral ~ dark

124 / 4633 / 4633 / 316 / 4633 / 316 ~ Antique mauve ~ medium

139 / 163 / 163 / 823 / 163 / 823 ~ Navy blue ~ dark

222 / 3045 / 3045 / 915 / 3045 / 915 ~ Plum ~ dark

242 / 4226 / 4226 / 3826 / 4226 / 3826 ~ Golden brown

246 / 5025 / 5025 / 500 / 5025 / 500 ~ Blue green ~ very dark

274 / 2146 / 2146 / 3011 / 2146 / 3011 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

307 / 2944 / 2944 / 3832 / 2944 / 3832 ~ Raspberry ~ medium

376 / 4645 / 4645 / 3726 / 4645 / 3726 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

378 / 3735 / 3735 / 936 / 3735 x 2 / 936 x 2 ~ Avocado green ~ very dark

384 / 3026 / 3026 / 777 / 3026 / 777 ~ Raspberry ~ very dark

527 / 3316 / 3316 / 154 / 3316 / 154 ~ Grape ~ very light

677 / 2244 / 2244 / 783 / 2244 / 783 ~ Topaz ~ medium

765 / 1422 / 1422 / 793 / 1422 / 793 ~ Cornflower blue ~ medium

774 / 165 / 165 / 310 / 165 / 310 ~ Black

335** / 2646 / 2646 / 815 / 2646 x 2 / 815 ~ Garnet ~ medium

** Please note that Soie 100.3 #335 was previously numbered as #2646. This was an anomaly to Au ver a Soie’s numbering system and and Au Ver a Soie have now corrected this.

Linen Sizes

The design area is 215 stitches (w) x 203 stitches (h). Our calculations have included a 3″ margin for finishing and framing. If working on an uneven linen such as 53/63, we would recommend that you orientate your linen so that the higher count is on the horizontal for this particular sampler.

28ct: Design: 15.36″ x 14.50″ Fabric: 21.36″ x 20.50″

30ct: Design: 14.33″ x 13.53″ Fabric: 20.33″ x 19.53″

32ct: Design: 13.44″ x 12.69″ Fabric: 19.44″ x 18.69″

36ct: Design: 11.94″ x 11.28″ Fabric: 17.94″ x 17.28″

40ct: Design: 10.75″ x 10.15″ Fabric: 16.75″ x 16.15″

46ct: Design: 9.35″ x 8.83″ Fabric: 15.35″ x 14.83″

56ct: Design: 7.68″ x 7.25″ Fabric: 13.68″ x 13.25″

63/53ct: Design: 6.83″ x 7.66″ Fabric: 12.83″ x 13.66″