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16th century Germanic Needlework Borders

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Here are three simple patterns that are useful for quick borders on clothing, napkins, or tablecloths. They're from a sampler described as "...probably German, appears to be a sampler for church linen; the motifs are in the style of the earliest group of pattern-books, about 1523-40" (King). The motifs were worked with colored silks on linen in cross stitch, long-armed cross stitch, 2-sided Italian cross stitch, and double running stitch. The original fabric piece is 34½" by 21¼" and is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. There are black & white photographs in Donald King's Samplers (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1960) and in Anne Sebba's Samplers: Five Centuries of a Gentle Craft (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1979).

Since the photos I used to chart these patterns were black & white, the colors are merely to make this page more decorative. Use whatever goes well with your garb, or whatever floss you have on hand.

Pattern #1 is 13 stitches high with an 8 stitch repeat.

Pattern #2 is 8 stitches high with a 5 stitch repeat.

Pattern #3 is 7 stitches high with an 8 stitch repeat.

You are free to download the design and symbol information for personal use, but please keep the copyright information attached. See the Usage page also. Charts copyright 1999 by Carol Hanson.

"16th c. Germanic Borders" : color picture, GIF file, 42.7K
Germanic: color
"16th c. Germanic Borders": symbol pattern, GIF file, 25.7K
Germanic: symbol
"16th c. Germanic Borders": pattern key information, GIF file, 17.6K
Germanic: key

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created and maintained by Carol Hanson
last modified on March 13, 2001

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