Ehrman Tapestry Kits
Click here for the Belle Epoch Cushion Kit pictured above
Tapestry holds a special place at Morris & Sons as it is the absolute favourite of Mrs Morris and where the roots of the business began.
We have recently had a delivery of Ehrman Tapestry Kits, both some old favourites as well as many new beautiful designs, so we wanted to share with you more about Ehrman as a business and the wonder of stitching a tapestry.
Ehrman is a family business that began in 1978 as a London craft store that worked closely with textile students from The Royal College of Art and Central St Martins. One of those famous students, Kaffe Fassett, suggested that Ehrman should produce needlepoint kits and the rest is history with the company choosing to focus on tapestries exclusively from 1996.
Ehrman remains a small business to this day and that allows them to ensure their focus is on their designers and creating the most contemporary and beautiful designs. Everyone connected to producing their tapestry kits is driven by a love of the craft and this is really evident in how wide ranging their designs are. Their designers come from many different backgrounds and this allows them to create the most innovative kits. In addition to Kaffe, some of Ehrman's other most popular designers include: Candace Bahouth, Raymond Honeyman, Janet Haigh, Maggie Hollingworth, and Alex Beattie.
All Ehrman kits come with a printed cotton canvas, a high resolution colour printed chart, a size 18 tapestry needle and all the pre cut tapestry wool needed to complete your project. This means you are ready to begin stitching your tapestry as soon as you open your kit!
Click here for the Klimt Coral Kit pictured above
The wool used is 100% pure new wool and is carefully dyed in Yorkshire or Scotland. 350 shades exist which provides detailed shading and nuance to the kits. Each canvas is 100% cotton and printed with a full colour image in England. In addition to the printing on the canvas, there is a full colour chart included to help distinguish between shades should you need an additional reference.
For those of you who have not tried your hand at tapestry it might look daunting, but Ehrman kits all use one simple stitch, the continental tent stitch, which makes them accessible to both beginners and those more advanced. In using just the one stitch, the repetition of stitching an Ehrman tapestry is very meditative and relaxing. They are commitment pieces, taking many hours to complete but providing immense satisfaction once they are finished and as addictive as any other handcraft.
After finishing one of the beautiful Ehrman tapestries, many of our customers love to have them turned into cushions. Mrs Morris still provides this service and it's amazing to see how the flat tapestries are transformed with beautiful backing fabrics and decorative piping to finish them. Read our previous blog on cushion assembly for more information about this service.
Let us know your favourites of the new designs and which canvases you can't wait to stitch!