Modern Embroidery Kit — 3 Sampler Designs: Butterfly, Flower Basket and Dolphin

Three bright round samplers, each one a little wheel of colour: a butterfly with a ladybird, a sunflower and a rainbow; a woven basket of red roses; and a dolphin and a turtle swimming across a band of sea. This modern embroidery kit gives you all three printed and ready to stitch, with the threads, a 20 cm bamboo hoop and the tools already in the box.

Every wedge of every wheel is its own small project, so there is always a piece you can finish in one sitting — a leaf, a rose, a row of waves — and you get to watch the whole circle fill with colour. When the last section is done you have three cheerful hoops to hang side by side, or to give away to someone who will love them.

Because each wedge works a different stitch or motif, you end up practising a whole range of embroidery without ever stitching a plain practice row. It is a relaxed, satisfying way to learn hand embroidery, and the finished pieces look good enough to keep.

What's in the box

• 3 pre-printed fabrics: the butterfly wheel, the flower basket wheel and the dolphin and turtle wheel
• 3 thread cards, one pre-sorted for each design
• 1 bamboo embroidery hoop, 20 cm (7.9 in)
• 3 English instruction sheets, one per design
• A pack of embroidery needles
• 1 needle threader
• 1 seam ripper
• 1 pair of small scissors

Choose 2 Kits to get two complete sets — handy for stitching alongside a friend, or for keeping one to give as a gift.

The three designs

Butterfly wheel. An orange and black butterfly sits in the middle, surrounded by a red ladybird, a sunflower, a maple leaf, raised roses, a rainbow, leaves and rows of decorative stitches.

Flower basket wheel. A woven basket of red and pink roses fills the centre, with flowers, leaves, a little cross-hatched lattice and lines of fancy stitches radiating out to the edge.

Dolphin wheel. A blue dolphin and a smiling turtle swim across a wavy band of sea with a crab and seaweed, framed by shells, a starfish, small flowers and rows of colour.

How it works

Each design is printed on the fabric in fine blue lines. Fit one fabric into the hoop, choose the thread for the section you are working on, and stitch over the printed lines. Each instruction sheet shows how its design is stitched, section by section. When one fabric is finished, take it out and move the hoop to the next.

If a stitch is new to you, look it up by name — short video demonstrations exist for almost every embroidery stitch, and seeing one worked once is usually all it takes.

How this compares

Against a single-picture kit: you get three designs, three sets of threads and a full set of tools for one price, so the kit keeps you busy for many evenings rather than one.

Against a plain stitch sampler with straight rows: you practise the same variety of stitches, but they build into pictures you will actually want on the wall.

Against counted cross-stitch: there is no grid and no counting. This is hand embroidery — you simply follow the printed lines.

Size, materials and care

• Hoop: bamboo, 20 cm (7.9 in) across. Each design is printed to fit it.
• Fabric: cotton.
• The blue printed lines wash out with water, so keep the fabric dry and do not wash it until your stitching is finished.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a good embroidery kit for beginners?
Yes. Everything you need is in the box, the designs are printed on the fabric, and each wedge is small enough to finish in one go, which makes it an easy, encouraging first project.

Is this cross-stitch?
It is hand embroidery (sometimes called surface embroidery). You stitch over printed lines on plain fabric, so there is no chart to count.

Does it come with a hoop?
Yes — one 20 cm (7.9 in) bamboo hoop. You use it for each fabric in turn.

Can I hang all three when they are finished?
Yes. Display one in the included hoop, and add matching 20 cm hoops from our Embroidery Hoops collection if you want all three on the wall together.

What do I get with 2 Kits?
Two complete kits: six printed fabrics, six thread cards, two hoops and two sets of tools and instructions.

Happy stitching!