We are always fascinated by the stories behind historic embroidery, and sometimes the smallest objects turn out to be the most extraordinary.
When we bought this tiny embroidered Book of Psalms at auction in 2024, we knew we had found something special. Dating from 1615, it offers a wonderful glimpse into the world of seventeenth-century needlework.
We invited our friend and talented embroiderer Kate Barlow to study the original and recreate its beautiful cover. It has been a real pleasure to see this little piece of history brought back to life, and we are delighted to share it with you.
A Little Book with a Big Story
Measuring just 11.2 × 5.5cm, the book has an embroidered cover worked in silk and metal threads on fine 42-count linen. Its design features flowers and scrolling foliage, and although much of the original colour has softened over four centuries, traces of its former brilliance remain. One particularly lovely detail is a tiny silver sequin still attached to the spine.
Embroidered book covers were popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. Some were made by professional embroiderers, while others were stitched by the women who owned them. These treasured objects combined faith and craftsmanship, and we love how they offer us a glimpse into the lives of the people who made and used them.
Looking at this little book, it is hard not to wonder about the original maker and the person who treasured it.
Kate Barlow's Recreation
Recreating the cover required patience and careful study. The original is fragile, and with much of its colour faded, Kate spent more than a year examining its surviving threads, construction and techniques in her studio in Wales.
Her recreation was first taught at our Askham Hall retreat in 2025. Kate described the experience beautifully:
“Stitching this cover was a meditative experience. I imagined the original maker’s patience and care, feeling a profound connection to their faith and the quiet devotion of her craft. It must have been a prized possession which brought much pride.”
We think this captures something special about historic embroidery: as we recreate a design centuries later, we can feel a connection with the person who first brought it to life.
Stitching the Book of Psalms
The kit uses 28-count Zweigart Cashel linen in Flax, with DeVere silk threads, gilt and silver passing threads, and tiny 2mm silver spangles.
The design incorporates a range of historic techniques, including Tent and Half Cross Stitch, Elizabethan Looped Edging, Elizabethan Ladder Braid, Laid Work and Elizabethan Plaited Gobelin Stitch. For those who would like extra guidance, an optional 1.5-hour recorded tutorial with Kate is also available.
We feel very lucky to have studied this remarkable little book with Kate and to be able to share its design with our wider needlework community. We hope you will enjoy discovering its details and, as you stitch, finding your own connection to the embroiderer who made it more than 400 years ago.
