Blackadder Livery | Cross Stitch & Tapestry chart only designs by DoodleCraft Design

Chart only designs inspired by the Blackadder Livery quilt held by the Quilt Collection

Cross Stitch

Completed Design Size: 10.5 x 10 ins (26 x 25cm)
Fabric Count: 14 Count Aida
No. Thread Colours: 6
Stitch Count: 147 x 140

Tapestry

Completed Design Size: 10.5 x 10 ins (26 x 25cm)
Fabric Count: 14 Count Mono Canvas
No. Thread Colours: 6
Stitch Count: 147 x 140

History of Original Quilt

This striking wool coverlet is made in the same tradition as military or uniform coverlets, and uses off-cuts of staff livery (special uniforms worn by servants) from the once grand Blackadder Estate in Allanton, Berwickshire. It was made by tailors employed in William Purves tailoring business in Allanton village for his daughter, Jane Melrose Purves, when she married Robert Harrower in 1898 aged 24. The coverlet is finished with a wool fringe and backed with a floral beige cotton.

Allanton Tailors

Allanton Village had a reputation for fine tailoring. Despite being a small village, there were 33 tailors working there at the start of the twentieth century in three separate tailoring businesses. Jane’s father, William Purves, owned one of those Tailors, and amongst other clients served Blackadder House. Purves Tailors was the last to cease trading in the 1960s, and the building still bears his name above the door. 

Tailoring

Tailoring was a skilled and predominantly male tradition, which required great accuracy and skill to make the garment fit each individual wearer. Tailors would stitch cross legged on raised tables which were placed near large windows, to make the most of the natural daylight. This position was both comfortable and convenient, as it allowed for the easy manipulation of heavy fabric.

Blackadder House

The Blackadder estate, whose name was taken from the nearby river of the same name, comprised of a large Palladian house built by the Houston-Boswall family in 1853, and many farms, cottages and buildings built to service the great house.

The house was requisitioned during WW1 as accommodation for the troops who vandalised the building and used parts of the grand staircase for firewood. After the War the government refused to pay for any repairs. The family, who had already started to sell off the land in the late 19th century, due to financial difficulties, did not have the funds to repair or maintain the house. They sold off the remaining farms, and Jane and Robert purchased Blackadder Mount cottage in 1924.
Blackadder House was demolished in 1925, although some features still remain today, including a folly walkway with a stone balustrade and an impressive stable range with clock tower.

Full kits available exclusively at https://doodlecraftdesign.co.uk/collections/show-all-kits/products/quilters-guild-blackadder-livery?variant=58217807708544