Hand embroidered monograms! Ahhhh! I am twitterpated by them! They are my One Weakness… to quote Dorcas Lane.

This inordinate infatuation with embroidered monograms and decorative initials was the impetus behind a crazily obsessive era of collecting old embroidery pamphlets and magazines from the mid-1800’s through the first half of the 1900’s, before it became really popular to collect them.

In the last six years or so, it’s become increasingly The Rage to collect vintage and antique patterns. The prices have gone up considerably on these old publications – when you can actually find them. So I don’t really collect many anymore, unless a happy chance brings me into contact with a volume I’m really interested in that’s affordable.

The old French magazines like La Broderie Blanche and Journal des Demoiselles, and the old Sajou pamphlets (especially those with line drawings rather than charts) are among my favorites. I have a good pile of them that I browse through occasionally for design ideas, alphabets, and general inspiration.

And sometimes, I stumble upon a little pattern that, with a little clean-up job, would be fun to share. Like this one!