Hands Across the Sea - Sophia Doggett 1802

A printed booklet by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

"As a collector of needlework, the Micheál and Elizabeth Feller collection fired my passion for the genre of school-girl samplers. When I was afforded the opportunity to acquire several samplers from their collection in 2020, I was beyond excited.

I knew the collection from having visited their home and from the countless hours spent pouring over the pages of the two books featuring their samplers. I was like a child in a candy store when I revisited their home in-between the lockdowns that defined 2020. After some serious deliberation and with much gratitude to Mike and Liz together with the generosity of my husband, I added some truly wonderful samplers to my private collection.

I hope overtime to reproduce some, if not all of the samplers, so that you too can enjoy them. Sophia Doggett is the first of the samplers I have reproduced, and I am delighted to present her to you in this booklet.

Sophia appealed to me partly because the sampler was stitched in an area that some of my ancestors hailed from. Nailsea is a rural town in the North of Somerset, about eight miles south-west of Bristol.

Sophia recorded on her sampler “Nailsea 1804”. Whilst there is no record of a Quaker school in Nailsea, it is possible that Sophia was a pupil boarding at Sidcot and recorded “Nailsea” as the location of her home rather than that of the school.

Sophia married Mark May, a farmer, on April 8, 1816. Mary, their first of eight children, was baptised the following February. The family can be found in the census returns at Mays Green in the village of Puxton. Mark died in 1867 and Sophia two years later in 1869, just before her 80^th birthday."

Thread Legend

The sampler has been reproduced with Soie 100.3 from Au Ver à Soie silks. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC.

1 strand of Soie 100.3 on 46ct and 56ct linen   

126 x 2  Antique Mauve ~ dark & 705 x 2 Pine Green ~ dark

1 strand of Soie d’Alger on 36ct and 46ct linen

4646 x 2 Antique Mauve ~ dark & 3725 x 2 Pine Green ~ dark

2 strands of Soie d’Alger on 28ct linen   

4646 x 6 Antique Mauve ~ dark & 3725 x 6 Pine Green ~ dark

1 strand of DMC on 40ct linen  

3802 x 2 Antique Mauve ~ dark & 3362 x 2 Pine Green ~ dark

2 strands of DMC on 36ct linen  

3802 x 3 Antique Mauve ~ dark & 3362 x 4 Pine Green ~ dark

2 strands of DMC on 28ct linen  

3802 x 4 Antique Mauve ~ dark  & 3362 x 5 Pine Green ~ dark

Linen Sizes

The model was stitched on a Zweigart linen overdyed to the shade of Crème Brulée by Tabby Cat Linens. The design area is 294 stitches (w) x 277 stitches (h). Our calculations have included a 3″ margin for finishing and framing.

28ct: Design: 21.00″ x 19.79″ Fabric: 27.00″ x 25.79″

32ct: Design: 18.38″ x 17.31″ Fabric: 24.38″ x 23.31″

36ct: Design: 16.33″ x 15.39″ Fabric: 22.33″ x 21.39″

40ct: Design: 14.70″ x 13.85″ Fabric: 20.70″ x 19.85″

46ct: Design: 12.78″ x 12.04″ Fabric: 18.78″ x 18.04″

56ct: Design: 10.50″ x 9.89″ Fabric: 16.50″ x 15.89″