Description This design was commissioned by Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen in 2025. The needlecase was inspired by the beautiful red brick cottage itself but also by various items from the collection housed there. The fan shape and stylised oak bough were inspired by the Wedgwood porcelain and the view towards the house from the garden where one looks through the boughs of an oak. The ivy sprig is inspired by one of the original wallpapers discovered and reproduced in the house. The needlecase is lined with a fabric printed from another wallpaper design. The design also includes motifs taken from the whitework handkerchief embroidered by Jane for her sister Cassandra and the painted needlecase made by Jane for her niece. The piece also includes the ‘Chawton Rose’, a beautiful pale rose with a bright pink centre. The needlecase opens to include flannel pages and pockets for storage (items inside the needlecase not included). The kit includes everything required to embroider the design and make this up into the needlecase. There is a complete set of teaching videos available for this project. Finished design measures 18 x 12 x 1.5 cm £10 from every kit sold will be donation to Jane Austen’s House to help with their work preserving the house and the collection.
