A kit inspired by a 19th-century watercolour of Rosa tomentosa Sm., one of the species of ancestral wild roses from which all others are cultivated. These are the roses adorning the illustrations of Fairy Tales in which the prince has to scythe his way through a thicket to rescue the princess.  Simpler than their cultivated descendants, they weave through the hedgerows in early summer or scramble over banks and scrub land: if you are re-wilding part of your garden, they make a wonderful backdrop to a wildflower meadow or rambling over a post-and-rail fence.

The stitching is quite simple – you get quite an advanced result without too much effort! I have used some of the American variegated threads, which takes some of the hard work out of shading.

The rose is printed on a generously-sized piece of very lovely, slightly creamy antique French linen. It is a shape that would lend itself to being flanked on either side by panels of contrasting linen to make a cushion, or it would look very beautiful in one of those old French painted frames one sometimes finds at Brocantes.

The kit contains the antique linen printed with the design; clear, step-by-step instructions printed on a folded wrapper, including some interesting botanical information, and a printed and thread card loaded with the the threads.. A PDF of my Favourite Stitches, including all those used in this kit, is available to download free of charge from the Home Page. You might also want to explore the RSN Stitch Bank, which has wonderfully clear instructions and videos of all the stitches: you can even adopt a stitch in your name.

The price includes postage and packing to all parts of the United Kingdom.