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An alphabet sampler carries the alphabet as its main feature. This is a form of sampler that became popular in the seventeenth century in northwestern Europe. Often the alphabet is repeated in low case, high case and in various fonts. It should not be confused with a marking sampler, in which a simple alphabet in capital letters is embroidered. 

Elizabeth Parker (1813-1889) lived in Ashburnham, Sussex (England). She was the daughter of a local labourer. Elizabeth Parker produced a unique text sampler, which contains a long lament about a teenager’s life in the first half of the nineteenth century. She became a teacher at the Ashburnham Charity School and raised her sister’s daughter. She died in the Ashburnham Almshouses in 1889, aged 76.

A text sampler is a form of sampler, in which the main design consists of a text rather than a series of decorative patterns or stitches. This type of sampler developed in northwestern Europe in the mid-seventeenth century and was especially popular among the Protestants. The texts often are orthodox moral or religious quotations. This form of sampler was spread around the world via British colonists, especially in North America.

There are many definitions, concepts and pre-conceptions as to what exactly constitutes a piece of lace. Some people regard bobbin lace as 'true’ or ‘pure’ lace, all other types being imitations or not even lace.

Bobbin lace, also known as pillow lace, is the product of a modified weaving process that takes its name from the way it is made, namely using a series of bobbins on a lacemaking pillow. The warp threads on a loom are represented by the threads that hang straight down, weighed by the ‘passive’ bobbins. The weft threads on the loom are represented by the ‘worker’ or ‘weaver’ bobbins that go over and under the passive bobbins, so creating a piece of woven cloth.

Ramie is the fibre obtained from the inner bark of various species of the genus Boehmeria, of the family of the Urticaceae (nettle). In the late twentieth century, most commercial ramie came from the Boehmeria nivea. Ramie is also called China grass, or white ramie.

See darned netting.

In general, the English term ‘darning’ refers to a sewing technique used for repairing holes or worn areas of a fabric. The term darning, however, can also refer to several decorative needlework techniques that use darning stitches (in this context the term used for running stitches or straight stitches). The main types of darning in this context are:

See darned embroidery.

Darned embroidery, also known as pattern darning, is a form of decorative needlework that uses running stitches (known as darning stitches) that go backwards and forwards in horizontal rows to create positive and/or negative designs.