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Mary Wigglesworth from Hands Across The Sea Samplers

Description

Mary Wigglesworth is offered to you in two different formats ~ as either a .PDF download by Hands Across the Sea Samplers or a Printed Chart.

There are 4 versions of the pdf. You will be able to download any or all of the following pdf and graph versions:
Version 1 ~ A thirty-page colour chart.
Version 2 ~ A one-page colour chart (intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer).
Version 3 ~ A thirty-page black and white symbol chart.
Version 4 ~ A one-page black and white chart (intended to be viewed/used on your tablet, phone, laptop, or computer).

The name of Wigglesworth stitched so proudly on this beautiful sampler caught our eye, followed by the age of the samplermaker. Aet (aetatis) is an abbreviation often seen on gravestones, meaning “at the age of”. Nicola just had to reproduce and stitch Mary’s sampler as they were both 58 years old.
Mary’s sampler has so much to please the eye and your needle. The sampler has grace and harmony, both in design and colour. The arcaded band at the top of the sampler can be found on many samplers from the 1700s. Mary may have stitched this band in a much earlier sampler worked when she was a child.

Mary was the daughter of Jonathan and Mary Holmes and was baptised on February 24, 1754 in Hampsthwaite, Yorkshire. She was the second daughter to have been named Mary, the first having died before her first birthday. At the age of 10, Mary lost her mother, we suspect in childbirth. Jonathan remarried two years later. Mary married William Wigglesworth on November 24, 1782 at St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Hampsthwaite. Mary and William were cousins, the Wigglesworths and Holmes’ families having intermarried through earlier generations. The families were connected with Padside Hall, Thornthwaite in the parish of Hampsthwaite.

William may have moved to the village to work in the mills. It is possible that Mary found work teaching needlework; it would explain why the sampler was stitched at such a late time of life. William died in Addingham in 1814 and Mary married Anthony Smith, a cotton spinner on February 19, 1815. We know from their marriage banns that Mary had a fine signature.

The verse Mary chose for her sampler was taken from a hymn written by Charles Wesley.

Mary died in the November of 1820 and was buried on the 22nd of that month at St Peter’s Church, Addingham. We hope that she found her way to heaven with a wise and understanding heart.

The original sampler was stitched with cross stitch over two threads of linen with the exception of the word “heart” which is worked in cross stitch over one thread. For those wishing to stitch on Aida the word “heart” could be worked in backstitch or replaced with a small, cross stitched heart. Mary used an uneven linen of approximately 33/30ct and cotton thread. This pleasing sampler has been reproduced using a palette of 12 colours from Au Ver à Soie’s range of Soie 100.3. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC below.

There is currently a global shortage of some shades of silk. The US distributors for Au Ver à Soie have identified which shades may be difficult to source. There are 2 shades of Soie 100.3 and 1 shade of Soie d’Alger where we have suggested alternative shades.

Stitch count is 249 W x 249 H. Sampler is completed in 1 over 1 and 2 cross stitch only.

Mary used an uneven linen of approximately 33/30ct and cotton thread. We suggest stitching on a few different counts of Creme Brulee hand dyed linen from Tabby Cat including 36, 40 and 46 for you to choose from. Please choose the appropriate thread for your linen count when ordering.

Please check the boxes above to add the PDF Download or the Printed chart, linen and threads to your order.