I’m in the process of making tiny improvements to the site, fixing glitches, and making specific projects and tutorials more accessible. (About glitches: aaarrgh! They’re not technical in nature, except insofar as my brain may be experiencing technical difficulties here and there. I’ve accidentally published drafts not once but several times now. I’ve made note of two things not to do to avoid this in the future: 1. don’t switch from working on a laptop to working on the desktop in the middle of a task such that I have no idea what got saved where, and 2. don’t throw multi-day birthday slumber parties for my daughters when I’m trying to accomplish, well, anything else. It was fun. But I really think I have brain damage. Anyway!)

The Hungarian Sampler was my first free embroidery pattern and it now finally has its own product page in the shop, along with the Little Berry Burst pattern. As a reference, I’m also creating this dedicated main page so that you can easily access all of the tutorials in the Hungarian Sampler series.

This sampler is a great way to get more familiar with Central European folklore embroidery or just expand your repertory of embroidery stitches. The links below take you to step-by-step photo tutorials to create each of the five designs, with the stitches broken down for easier learning. I also included a bit of background on the motifs, along with photographs showing alternate (and more traditional) color schemes.

I stitched the sampler onto a tank top but folksier, raglan-sleeved blouses would also work great for this sampler, including the Róza or the Uptown folk blouse by Kate & Rose Patterns. Here are some design placement suggestions:

Each motif can be used individually as well for an entirely different look. I think this design would also look great on a table runner or throw pillow.

Links to tutorial pages:

• Hungarian Sampler: Main Contents Page
• Hungarian Embroidery Sampler part one: preparations – about threads, needles, hoops, and how to transfer embroidery patterns
• Hungarian Sampler part two: floral motif from Southwestern Hungary – chain stitch, starting and finishing your thread
• Hungarian Sampler part three: Transsylvanian tulips – buttonhole circles, stem stitch
• Hungarian Sampler: administrative update & some additional resources
• Hungarian Sampler part four: witchy stitching from Buzsak – open chain stitch
• Hungarian Sampler part five: filling in the witchy stitching from Buzsak – fishbone filling stitch
• Hungarian Sampler part six: stamina – completing our Buzsak witchy stitching – back stitch, straight satin stitch
• Hungarian Sampler part seven: variations
• Hungarian Sampler part eight: “woolly” stitching from Hungary’s central plains – ‘fake’ satin stitch
• Hungarian Sampler part nine (the last): Matyó rose from Northern Hungary – oblique or slanted satin stitch
• Blouses to embroider: a great free pattern is the Sorbetto top from Colette Patterns (the version with the plain front). The Róza top would also work great for this project, as well as the Uptown folk blouse.
• Download the Hungarian Sampler embroidery PDF pattern (2 pages, formatted to print on either US Letter or A4 size paper).
• Share your work on Instagram and make sure you tag your pics with #kateandrosepatterns #hungariansampler!