TheMaison

20 projects from the famous French haberdasher

sewing Book

6-9 Introduction: The Story of Sajou 10-15Basic Techniques

16-167 The Projects

168-192 Endmatter:Patterns & templates Stockist information Index & acknowledgments

Contents

1 Single-motif napkinsAn embroidered napkin set with different but coordinating motifs

2 Table linen with drawn-threadwork edging French kitchen motifs in a range of different stitches

3 Tablecloth with shadow embroideryMaking monochromatic embroidery work: black and white on plain linen or cotton

4 Sewing a basic monogram in simple cross stitchDifferent styles of simple monogram and how to apply them to everything from tea towels to bed linen

5 Complex monogramsUsing fancywork monogram alphabets for more elaborate results

6 Embroidering signatures and handwritingCopying handwriting for a contemporary take on lettered linen

7 Drawn-threadwork bed linenElegant drawn threadwork looks deceptively complex but is simple to apply to this pretty bedroom set

8 Making edgingsScallops, folded V-shapes and other edgings for pillows and cushions

9 A linen book coverAny book becomes precious with an embroidered fabric cover. Ideas for everything from cookbooks to journals

10 Making a jewelry rollLined with felt and embroidered with fabulous “jewels”

11 A quilted sponge bagContrast quilting on fine linen, lined with waterproof fabric

12 A stitched picture frameA range of motifs or monograms designed to work beautifully with vintage family photographs or other personal images

13 Pillow and sheet finishesPutting edgings, monograms, and motifs together for truly heirloom bed linen

14 Fine sewing on lawnA great technique for baby clothes or delicate sleepwear

15 Embroidering a onesieAn alphabet of motifs to choose from

16 Sunflower dress and jacketA perfect shower gift—pretty, delicate and quick to make, and easily sized up for an adult sundress

17 White-on-white lawn embroideryShawl and wrap with fine silk embroidery borders

18 All-over cloud motif pillowUsing blanket stitching as embroidery: a Chinese-inspired pattern

19 Block-color tablecloth or runnerA color-spot pattern on pale linen makes a perfect summer table setting

20 Designing your ownCreate your own sewing and embroidery project, with some templates to start you making fresh designs

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nspirational haberdashery always makes it a pleasure to sew. The little pair of sharp scissors that fits perfectly neatly into your palm as you cut; creamy linen that cries out to be stitched on, and silky embroidery threads in an inviting range of colors: all these things whet the appetite of anyone with an enthusiasm

for sewing or embroidery. The Maison Sajou archive, offering all of the above and far, far more, has the same effect. It’s impossible to pass the catalogue—on paper or online—without picking it up, or clicking into it, and it’s then quite hard to put it down again without placing an order. Linens, threads, books of monograms and motifs, gorgeous facsimile boxes for threads, needles, pins, and other sewing materials—all of them call out to be used, and make seamstresses of us all. And, in turn, these gorgeous sewing props have inspired the projects in this book.

Maison Sajou was founded in 1828 by Jacques-Simon Sajou and dominated what would then have been called the “fancy work” market for many years. The design of both packaging and goods was exquisitely detailed and elaborate, representing the best of French craftsmanship and very much of its time. Some years ago, Frédérique Crestin-Billet spotted the opportunity that Sajou’s archive offered and brought many of the most mouthwatering items, from threads and ribbons to linens and silks, back into production for today’s stitchers. The projects on the following pages also incorporate archival alphabets and patterns, reprinted to create projects for today’s audience. They are time-aware—even the most complex will tie up hours rather than days, important when most people lead such busy lives—but they hark back to a time when embroidery was an everyday skill for many women, and when a new pattern or idea was a sought-after commodity. Best of all, they showcase the sheer prettiness of the materials available to the home sewer today and offer dozens of enjoyable ways to create accessories to show them off. You don’t have to be an experienced seamstress to make any of the projects, although if you are a novice, or simply slightly out of practice, we’ve indicated a few that would make ideal refresher projects to reboot your sewing skills. Many focus on fine embroidery, and how-tos are included so that you can easily learn any stitch that’s unfamiliar. Best of all, beautiful materials and combinations ensure that you will enjoy making these projects just as much as you’ll love using the end results.

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Table linen ................................................... with drawn-threadwork edging

Drawn-threadwork edging gives a polished finish to any project and is surprisingly easy to do.

The scattered French-inspired kitchen motifs—coffee pots and cans, croissants, boiled eggs, and pots of preserves—are made in different stitches

but are also simple and can be used as densely or as sparsely as you want. In our example (shown flat

on page 26), we’ve lined up the motifs, but if you would prefer a more random approach you could

angle the motifs and spread them more thinly. The dimensions here will make a large traycloth, but

once you’ve mastered the technique, you can make much larger pieces—full-size tablecloths or napkin

sets—surprisingly speedily.

You Will Need

* Sewing linen, measuring 39in/1m x 25in/80cm

* Sewing cotton (this must be 100% cotton) in a contrast or blending color for the threadwork border. The contrast option will make the threadwork stand out more boldly

* Stranded embroidery cotton in pale blue, French blue, deep red, deep pink, mid-green, white, and toffee-brown

* Embroidery needles, sizes 4, 6 and 7

* Dressmaker’s pins

* Small, sharp scissors

* Air pen or tailor’s chalk

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Making the tray cloth.......................................................................................................

1

Cut a rectangle of linen 2½cm/1in larger all the way round than the intended side of your finished cloth.

You’ll create the drawn threadwork edge first — measure 2½cm/1 inch in from the center of the top edge, and use the point of a pin to pull up one of the horizontal threads from the fabric. Draw the thread out to one side edge, gathering the fabric and slowly and evenly pulling the thread out of the weave.

2

Working downward from the first thread, pull out nine more horizontal threads. Repeat the process on the other three sides of the fabric. This will leave you with small holes at each corner of your fabric where the “stripes” of removed thread cross.

3

Fold each edge of your linen firmly down 1¼cm/½in from the edge, pressing with your fingers to form a crease, then turn again to make a double hem (you can press the hem in with an iron, but a finger crease works as well). The edge of the hem should lie along the edge of the strip of drawn threads.

4

Trim across the corners of your fabric so that you can make neat hemmed corners without too much bulk.

5

Refold the double hem, thread a needle with a contrast color of cotton and use a running stitch to tack the hem down on all four sides of the cloth.

6

It’s time to “draw” the threads together. Thread a needle with your contrast color (we used turquoise to work with the pale gray-blue linen). With the wrong side of the cloth facing you, and working from the left-hand edge of the fabric, bring the needle up through the folded hem at A. Slide the needle under four threads to the right, from B to C, then push it through the edge of the fold at B and bring it out again at D. Pull out the thread, and repeat the step to continue.

7

When you reach the opposite edge of the fabric, turn the linen the other way and work in the same way along the other edge of the stripe, but this time picking up two stitches from each group in pairs. This will pull the drawn threads crosswise to give a zigzag effect.

8

Photocopy, scan or trace the twenty breakfast templates from the template section on p118. Cut them out and arrange them on your cloth in four evenly spaced rows of five motifs, adjusting the layout to fit the proportions of your cloth.

Draw around each with a sharp pencil or a dressmaker’s pen.

9

The motifs are worked in a variety of stitches (if any of these are unfamiliar to you, how-to steps for all the stitches are shown on pages 10–15). All the embroidery is made using three strands of embroidery floss. For the egg in the egg cup, for example, the solid area—the egg—is made in padded satin stitch. The flowers on the cup are done in lazy daisy stitch, and the cup outline is small stem stitches.

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

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Sewing a monogram .........................................................in simple cross stitch

You will need

* 1 medium-weight linen tea towel, ideally with traditional checkered pattern

* Stranded embroidery cotton in color of your choice (match the color of the check if the cloth has one)

* Embroidery needle, size 6

* 4-in (10-cm) square of waste canvas, 10 holes to the inch

Monogramming is a great way to personalize bought kitchen or bedroom linens, particularly for

wedding gifts. It’s expensive when commissioned at a store, but it’s an easy technique to learn and

you can apply it to most weights of fabric from fine cambric to heavy linen. Choose this easy cross-stitch version for your first project, then graduate to some more elaborate options, with more twists and twirls,

some of which are shown on the following pages. With a little practice you can even copy signatures

or handwriting. Waste canvas—a fine-mesh grid that you can stitch through straight into your chosen

fabric, and that disappears when washed—will make it easy for you to count the threads accurately

while you’re still learning.

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An embroidered linen book cover

You can make a handmade cover for any book, although it’s easiest to fit a hardcover. This all-

over strawberry motif would work well for a journal or keepsake book, but you could use a checked linen dishtowel with café motifs for a

cookbook, for example, or a simple monogram on dark linen for a special diary. If you’re using an all-over design like this one, use the template on

p78, which can be sized up or down for a perfect fit, to sketch out the whole thing before you start. A matching tape or ribbon bookmark is stitched

into the spine as a finishing touch.

You will need

* Sewing linen or heavy cotton, to fit the book (Measure the overall length around the spine and across front and back covers and add 20cm/8in to the length, and 10cm/4in to the depth for the finished size of the cover fabric you will need.)

* Sewing cotton to match the cover

* Stranded embroidery cotton in pale pink, deep red, yellow, deep gray and white

* 18-in length of 1¼cm-/½in-wide tape or ribbon for bookmark

* Tracing paper for template

* Tacking thread

* Embroidery needles, size 4 and 7

* Small, sharp scissors

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Keep a sketchbook As you become more experienced in embroidery, you’ll want to develop your own idea. Sketches like this can be turned into wonderfully effective projects.

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Hardcover7 3⁄4 x 10 1⁄2 in, 192 Pages30 Color Photographs200 Color Illustrations

20 inspirational sewing projects to stitch for your home

For many years a byword for pretty and refined French taste, the esteemed haberdashery Maison Sajou supplies the most discerning home sewers with their linens, embroidery silks, and patterns, as well as a mouthwatering selection of sewing equipment, from embroidery scissors to needles, thimbles, and thread cards. This book brings that sophisticated sensibility to twenty desirable projects for you to make for yourself and your home. Bed linen, tablecloths, cushions, and smaller but equally gorgeous accessories, such as book covers and spongebags, all acquire French style with simple but lovely embroidery, neatly stitched monograms, and some all-but-forgotten (but easily learned) techniques such as drawn threadwork or pointelle borders.

Nothing here is hard or complex to sew, and there is plenty of guidance for the novice with straightforward step sequences, patterns, and templates. Use the skills you’d almost forgotten you had to sew and embroider like a pro, achieving stylish, enviable results.

Lucinda Ganderton is an experienced author who has written widely on embroidery and sewing, including supplying projects for the successful Cath Kidston home-sewing series. Her most recent book is The Liberty Book of Home Sewing (2011), undertaken with Liberty of London. She lives in Richmond, Surrey.

$30.00 U.S.Craft