Each generous bundle is carefully selected by me to offer pieces of varying sizes with a good range of shades and textures, all washed and pressed. These are offcuts from my workroom and make a perfect present for people who embroider or sew, or want to learn to sew. I know that just a little square of the right linen can spark a new design…no two are the same. Try making a pieced panel out of subtly different neutral shades as a background to a piece of embroidery.

I usually include one or two printed ‘seconds’ of my kits (please note, they are seconds, so may be faint, or you may have to add a tiny opatch or darn). I also include some lengths of sheet hems with drawn-thread work or scallops. The latter are wonderful for snippet rolls. If you unpick the hem you can embroider on one side before re-hemming it and make an embroidered shelf edging, like the one in my book The Handstitched Home.