Hands Across the Sea - Esther Pickford 1847

A printed booklet by Hands Across the Sea Samplers

Esther’s beautiful work has enchanted Nicola from her first glimpse of the sampler. The original sampler was worked in wool on approximately 24ct Penelope canvas. Esther had a wonderful eye for colour, her chosen palette included pink, mauve, apricot, raspberry, salmon, garnet, and coral. A delicious combination that makes the fingers itch to stitch.

The design is suitable for needleworkers of all abilities. The stitches used are cross stitch over 2 threads and satin stitches.

Esther recorded that she completed her sampler in the 12^th year of her age in 1847. Our initial search of family history records found two possible Esthers. However, after a more thorough investigation, neither of the girls’ years of birth quite fitted our Esther, who would have been born in either 1834 or 1835.

Esther’s sampler is such a cheery one, filled with oversized flowers and colourful birds. We imagine the little girl who stitched this sampler as being full of laughter, with twinkling eyes and dimples that appeared when she smiled.

Thread Legend

Esther’s sampler has been stitched with a particularly beautiful palette of thirteen colours from Au Ver à Soie’s range of Soie 100.3. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC.

1 strand of Soie 100.3 on 46/56ct linen

039 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

148 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

177 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

274 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

376 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

494 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

524 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

580 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

621 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

644 x 1 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

655 x 1 ~ Coral

664 x 1 ~ Garnet

741 x 1 ~ Salmon

1 strand of Soie d’Alger on 40/46ct linen

 913 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

1814 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

2146 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

2531 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

2643 x 1 ~ Coral

2644 x 1 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

2914 x 1 ~ Salmon

2925 x 1 ~ Garnet

2926 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

2931 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

2932 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

4645 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

1 strand of Soie d’Alger on 36ct linen

 913 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

1814 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

2146 x 2 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

2531 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

2643 x 1 ~ Coral

2644 x 1 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

2914 x 1 ~ Salmon

2925 x 1 ~ Garnet

2926 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

2931 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

2932 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

4645 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

2 strands of Soie d’Alger on 28ct linen

 913 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

1814 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

2146 x 3 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

2531 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

2643 x 1 ~ Coral

2644 x 3 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

2914 x 2 ~ Salmon

2925 x 1 ~ Garnet

2926 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

2931 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

2932 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

4645 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

1 strand of  DMC on 40/46ct linen

152 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

347 x 1 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

351 x 1 ~ Coral

760 x 1 ~ Salmon

814 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

816 x 1 ~ Garnet

927 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

3011 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

3013 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

3340 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

3726 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

3822 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

2 strands of  DMC on 36ct linen

152 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

347 x 2 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

351 x 1 ~ Coral

760 x 1 ~ Salmon

814 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

816 x 1 ~ Garnet

927 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

3011 x 2 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

3013 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

3340 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

3726 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

3822 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

2 strands of  DMC on 28ct linen

152 x 1 ~ Shell pink ~ medium light

347 x 2 ~ Salmon ~ very dark

351 x 1 ~ Coral

760 x 2 ~ Salmon

814 x 1 ~ Garnet ~ dark

816 x 1 ~ Garnet

927 x 1 ~ Grey green ~ light

3011 x 3 ~ Khaki green ~ dark

3013 x 1 ~ Khaki green ~ light

3340 x 1 ~ Apricot ~ medium

3726 x 1 ~ Antique mauve ~ dark

3822 x 1 ~ Straw ~ light

3833 x 1 ~ Raspberry ~ light

Linen Sizes

The design area is 182 stitches (w) x 280 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 “Old Sheep” by xJuDesigns. We recommend that you should use a count and fabric that you enjoy working with.

28ct: Design: 13.00″ x 20.00″ Fabric: 19.00″ x 26.00″

32ct: Design: 11.38″ x 17.50″ Fabric: 17.38″ x 23.50″

36ct: Design: 10.11″ x 15.56″ Fabric: 16.11″ x 21.56″

40ct: Design: 9.10″ x 14.00″ Fabric: 15.10″ x 20.00″

46ct: Design: 7.91″ x 12.17″ Fabric: 13.91″ x 18.17″

56ct: Design: 6.50″ x 10.00″ Fabric: 12.50″ x 16.00″