Hands Across the Sea - Charlotte Entwistle 1860

A printed booklet by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

Charlotte is one of a pair of sister samplers and was stitched in 1860. Her sister Margaret finished her sampler at the age of 10 years in 1854 at Hoghton School. Using the clues that the two sisters recorded in cross stitches, we were able to locate the girls in family history records.

Charlotte was baptised on July 2, 1848. Her parents were Thomas Entwistle, a farmer, and his wife Charlotte (née Whitehead). Charlotte was one of six children born between 1841 and 1848. Her mother certainly had her hands full!

When Thomas and Charlotte (senior) married on December 23, 1839 in St James, Thomas was an agricultural labourer. In the 1851 census return, Thomas farmed 36 acres at Top o’th Lane in Brindle, Lancashire.

The Entwistle family prospered and in the 1861 census return, Thomas had a holding of some 115 acres at Top o’th Lane. Thomas was appointed a governor of the Brindle Workhouse in the November of 1866. We have also found a reference to Thomas holding the positions of market inspector and trustee of the Shuttlingfields Charity and funds for the poor. He was a respected member of the community.

Charlotte died 4 years after she stitched her sampler, on March 31, 1864 just short of her 16th birthday. She was buried in the churchyard of St James, the Anglican church in Brindle. Eventually, her parents, Margaret and two of her brothers were buried with her.

Margaret never married, remaining at home with her parents. We are so grateful that Charlotte and Margaret’s samplers were kept together by their siblings’ descendants and are now in our safekeeping.

We hope that you enjoy stitching both sisters.

The design is suitable for needleworkers of all abilities. The stitches used are cross stitch over 2 threads of linen and can be stitched on Aida, Linaida, or linen.

Thread Legend

Charlotte’s dainty sampler was stitched with a particularly beautiful palette of 18 colours from Au Ver à Soie’s range of Soie 100.3. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC. Only one spool or skein of each colour is required.

Soie 100.3 /  Soie d ‘Alger / DMC ~ Colour Description

080 /  2541 /  Ecru ~ Ecru
091 /  643 /  402 ~ Mahogany ~ very light
108 /  1843 /  522 ~ Fern green
124 /  4633 /  3727 ~ Antique mauve ~ light
148 /  2242 /  3046 ~ Yellow beige ~ medium
188 /  3346 /  08 ~ Driftwood ~ dark
307 /  4623 /  3832 ~ Raspberry ~ medium
313 /  1446 /  311 ~ Navy blue ~ medium
344 /  2942 /  224 ~ Shell pink ~ very ighlt
549 /  1835 /  505 ~ Jade green
621 /  1814 /  927 ~ Grey green ~ light
647 /  2125 /  470 ~ Avocado green ~ light
648 /  4636 /  3685 ~ Mauve ~ dark
681 /  2925 /  321 ~ Christmas red
686 /  616 /  920 ~ Copper ~ medium
688 /  1724 /  3809 ~ Turquoise ~ very dark
734 /  3732 /  3348 ~ Yellow green ~ ight
756v3426 /  500 ~ Blue green ~ very dark

Linen Sizes

The design area is 159 stitches (w) x 104 stitches (h). Our calculations have included a 3″ margin for finishing and framing. The model was stitched using 56ct Zweigart-based linen that was overdyed to the shade “Marbled Khaki” by xJuDesigns.

28ct: Design: 11.36″ x 7.43″ Fabric: 17.36″ x 13.43″

32ct: Design: 9.94″ x 6.50″ Fabric: 15.94″ x 12.50″

36ct: Design: 8.83″ x 5.78″ Fabric: 14.83″ x 11.78″

40ct: Design: 7.95″ x 5.20″ Fabric: 13.95″ x 11.20″

46ct: Design: 6.91″ x 4.52″ Fabric: 12.91″ x 10.52″

56ct: Design: 5.68″ x 3.71″ Fabric: 11.68″ x 9.71″