Stitched Treasures in Ennigerloh Distillery, Germany

About 40 miles north-east of Dortmund in Ennigerloh is a wonderful collection of stitched treasures housed in the lovely old distillery. This collection of historical needlework comes from the collection of Monika Schmillenkamp who you can see in the picture below.

Girls from the lower social classes learnt practical needlework and typical of their classroom exercises are cross stitch patterns and samplers. Meanwhile, girls from the upper classes received a formal training in private boarding schools - Pensionaten and later in Töchterschulen (literally Daughter schools) where they learnt fine needlework - satin stitch and whitework. Items employing these techniques were used for clothing, typically for themselves and their children, and household linen - dowry-ware.

Numerous examples can be found in the museum - click here for more details.