About Sara Johansdotter
I have created this pattern based on a sampler embroidered by nine-year-old Sara Johansdotter in 1860.
It is a charming embroidery in red, blue, and black, featuring birds and other animals, the tree of life, flowers, royal crowns, and mirrored (backwards) letters.
Sara was born in 1851 at Skulegården in Väne Åsaka (near Gothenburg). She attended weaving courses with Ebba Dahlgren in the neighboring village and was awarded prizes for her weaving and yarn production at local craft fairs. Some of her woven textiles are carefully preserved at Vänersborgs Museum.
Sara Johansdotter married the farmer Bengt Axelsson at Lerum Uppegård, Väne Åsaka, in 1879. She had two daughters, Maria (born 1882) and Ida Helena, whom she taught weaving and embroidery.
Her daughter Maria also continued her textile studies with Ebba Dahlgren. She mastered several different weaving techniques and was also a gifted painter. She eventually became a teacher and had a long career as a weaver and textile instructor until 1948.
Source: Vänersborgs Museum
Stitched with DMC embroidery floss in five colours, over two, two strands.
This embroidery pattern is licensed under: CC-BY 4.0.
