Darning-mending sampler

Possibly early 1900 - Germany

 

           

            

    

       

        

      

1884 Sampler

This sampler is from France. It is sewn on a cardboard. When I received it, I was trying to figure its age and the back rewarded me with the answer. When you carefully look at the centre of the left edge, you also will be delighted as myself :)

Surely, this does not necessarily indicate nor confirm the year of the sampler. The sampler could well be dating pre or post 1884. However, it is indeed a good monitor for an approximate estimate!

I am charting the sampler to soon place it among my other patterns for sale and the proceeds will go to BGD. I now have a list of the wonderful people who already made donations and they will all be getting the pattern for free as an appreciation of their valuable contribution :)

Je prepare la grille et bientot il sera pret a vente et le profit ira a BGD. Recemment, j'ai une liste des merveilleux gens qui ont deja fait des dons et je vais leur faire un petit cadeau; leur precieuse contribution est beaucoup apprecie :)

Souvenir de ma Jeunesse

A treasure to an embroidery fan, "Souvenir de ma Jeunesse" should simply translate to "Memories of my Youth" or "My Childhood Memories". This is what they called the "sampler bands" that were also reffered to as "pronklap"; stitched by Dutch schoolgirls in the late 19th & early 20th Centuries and were often the result of a year of school where girls learned different embroidery stitches & sewing and crochet & knitting techniques that they would be needing throughout their lives.

These sampler bands would generally start as simple techniques and would lengthen over the years with new additions as exercises were becoming more sophisticated and difficult. Some of these bands reached several meters long!

The girls of the grande bourgeoisie and nobility did not attend public schools but were trained in institutions or by residing instructors (like a governess or nanny).

These samplers are again very popular today and are being reproduced by contemporary Dutch stitchers!

Some nice pictures of Joke Visser's at l'Aiguille en Fête held this year in France; again from her stand, pictures taken by Tempus Fugit and some lovely samples at Berthi's blog. And last but not least, have a look at what my dear Gigi is showing us from her collection - probably the wildest of all!

Aaaaand finally, here is my humble sample that is about 125 cm long obviously not by a noble Dutch lady :)

All the info above are my recollection of what I have understood from the online Dutch-English translations over the months. So, please anybody with better knowledge, correct me!