This lovely sampler dated 1834 was bought in to me for reframing.
Research revealed Lydia was 12 years old when she stitched it and hailed from a local family living in Hamble -Le-Rice. Knowing details like this make my job so much more interesting and having completed x-stitches myself I can appreciate the craft involved.
The framing was in a bad way, but it had done its job in terms of preserving the sampler at least. The frame was dirty covered in insect mess and carpet moth had made their way inside. The sampler had slipped and was resting on the bottom of the frame pressed up against the filthy glass.
The customer wanted to keep the original frame so I began by cleaning it. The black material on which the sampler had been glued and now covered in carpet moth cases was replaced by a black suede mount board. I added an old reclaimed, recycled gold slip under the edge of the frame to help the design. The back of the frame was built out to enable the sampler to be spaced away from the Ultra Vue anti reflective UV protective glazing.