A colourful sampler worked in Scotland about 1820 by Ursula Blair, who was only 12 years old. Donated from the estate of Elsie Cooke. Elsie Cooke lived all her life in Gippsland,. She was born at Brodribb in 1895 and died in 1970, Elsie Cooke lived at Bruthen for a short time and, in 1937, moved to live with her aunt, Miss Jean Munro. Miss Cooke was Librarian at the Mechanics Institute for many years. Kindness and consideration for other were Miss Cooke’s attributes and she endeared herself to all who knew her. She was a loyal member of the Presbyterian Church and a stalwart of the Ladies’ Guild, an energetic worker for the Municipal Auxiliary and a member of the Red Cross. The Blair connection is from the Munro family -maternal side.This item shows the needlework skills which were being taught to young girls in preparation for their duties as wives.A colourful sampler showing numbers and letters, a house and garden in plain gold/brown frame. Sampler is in a wooden frame with glass front.sampler handcrafts needlework

Embroidery and crochet work was an important pastime of Australian women of the late 19th to mid 20th century. Needlework was commonly taught to girls at school and at home.A small white linen sampler with examples of different stitches, buttonholes, buttons, loops, tapes and hemming.sampler linen handcraft

This is a Victorian mourning sampler.This handwork is an example of the needlework skills of women in early settler families.Sampler of needlework with "sweet rest in heaven" . Simple geometric design and flowers. Gold and green carved ornate frame with nails.handcraft needlework hobbies

Decorative samplers and needlework were usually made by young women. The completed work was usually framed and hung. Many of them were messages which reflected the values of the family.Hand sewn ornamental sampler on a cardboard canvas and bound in ribbon with small bows at each corner."Lost, somewhere between sunrise & sunset, two golden hours each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever.' Ribbon and cotton are crimson. needlework handcraft

A "Plain Sewing Sampler" or "Darning Sampler" was intended to showcase the wide range of sewing techniques and skills a girl or woman had. These skills might include hand sewing techniques such as darning, patching, hemming, mending, structural sewing (making pleats, inserting gussets, joining fabric with seams) making buttonholes and embroidery. Samplers could also be intended for practicing a particular technique. There were several articles printed in Australian newspapers around 1889 referring to the "Plain Sewing Movement". In 1889 a Melbourne branch of the "London Institute for the Advancement of Plain Needlework" was formed by a group of ladies led by Lady Loch and Lady Clarke with the purpose of teaching "plain needlework' to women and girls. "Plain Sewing" included fundamental stitches and techniques that were essential for practical clothing construction and maintenance. Several years later in 1891, another meeting was held at Clivedon (the residence of Lady Clarke) to look into the possibility of improving the teaching of sewing in the state schools. This meeting was attended by several school inspectors and the committee of "the Melbourne Institute for the Advancement of Plain Needlework". This "Plain Sewing Sampler" was donated from the estate of Susan Henry OAM nee Vedmore (1944 - 2021). Susan's family (Harold and Gladys Vedmore) immigrated to Australia from Wales in 1955 and settled in Warrnambool. Susan was well known in the Warrnambool community for her work supporting children and families across the district - particular those with disabilities, or those who were homeless, unemployed or isolated. Susan was the founding trustee of the "Vedmore Foundation" - a Warrnambool philanthropic trust set up to support a range of charitable and not-for-profit causes by providing grant assistance. In 2021, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community. It has not been possible to identify the lady (with the initials L. L.) who made this item in 1897 but it was thought to possibly be a female relation in her maternal (or possibly, paternal) grandmother's family. It has many of the same elements and techniques that were taught by the "Plain Sewing Movement" that originated in England at the end of the nineteenth century.This item is a rare example of the handcraft skills learnt by women and girls in the late 1890's to construct and maintain practical clothing for their families.A cream cotton sampler made from three smaller rectangular shapes, displaying a wide variety of plain sewing techniques including hand stitched seams (french, bound and herringboned), inserted patch, buttonhole, button, gathering, a gusset, frills, pintucks, a placket, cross stitch initials and date (L L and 1897) and decorative embroidery.L L/1897flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, needlework, textiles, plain sewing sampler, darning sampler, handwork, sewing, great ocean road, susan henry oam, vedmore trust, hand sewing, sewing techniques

When removed from the frame, in Sept 1999, for conservation work it was found that probably on three previous re-framings the work had been tacked as the tack heads are clearly visible around the edge and staple marks are also present. The conservator was able to remove some rust but not the staple marks. She feels the 'browning' of the material was caused by the wooden board which the sampler was mounted on.|The conservator stated that the material was cotton 'Tiffany' fabric.Framed sampler of cross stitch headed 'Prudence' 'Hear the Words of Prudence, give heed unto her councils and shore them in your heart. Her maxims are universal and all her virtues lean apon her. She is the guide and mistress of human life. Put a bridle on thy tongue , set a guard before thy lips lest the words of thine own mouth destroy thy peace. Let him that scoffed at the lame take care that he hurt not himself. Whosoever speaketh of anothers failings with pleasure shall hear of his own with bitterness of heart. of much speaking cometh repentance but in silence is safety'|Embroidered trees and buds, flowers, baskets all stylized. 'To labour and to be content with that a man hath. is a sweet life' Mary Baker 1803 18 M.A.G. 47handcrafts, needlework

Framed print of a sampler of hand sewn cross stitch headed 'God Bless Thy Year' 'Thy Coming In ...........God Bless Thy Year' embroidered picture of house.handcrafts, needlework

Originally framed by William Hayward, carver - gilder and picture frame manufacturer 54 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, EnglandFramed needlework sampler - five lines of alphabet and numbers worked in red cross stitch on a light brown material, followed by a verse, then a house, birds, boat, windmill, animals worked below. Cross stitch sampler. (See 'Other Information' for verse).Signed in cross stitch by the embroiderer, Sarah Moats, aged 10, 1836.handcrafts, embroidery