Permin of Copenhagen were established in 1854 by Christian Permin and each year they produce a huge range of elegant cross stitch, hardanger, needlepoint/tapestry and embroidery kits which are exported to 70 countries throughout the world.

They have a large catalogue of traditional designs, including a collection of samplers which includes authentic patterns from previous centuries. Permin kits come with black and white charts and instructions in several languages, including English of course! Kits include DMC Mouliné yarn, fabric, needle, colour chart and graph/pattern.

Floral design is well represented with dozens of patterns in a variety of styles and media.

There is a wide range of table linen, some in cutwork and hardanger, some with stamped cotton and some in cross-stitch and embroidery.

In fact, Permin have one of the best selections of Christmas items of all -Christmas cards, stockings, advent calendars, tree skirts, towels and table linen, and also some junior cross stitch kits.

maia is an exclusive range of beautiful and artistic embroidery kits designed to inspire you down to the very last stitch.

Maia is the goddess of spring, growth, life, rebirth and love – all fitting qualities for you and your stitching.

Produced by Coats Crafts, maia kits include carefully sorted Anchor thread, quality fabric and easy to follow charts and instructions. The designs are all inspired by the artwork of various artists - Karl Bang, Thomas Kinkade, Keith Mallett, Erte, Nel and Kawase Hasui.

Quality cross stitch kits, inspirational design.

RICO DESIGN embroidery products are very popular in most major European countries. Their range is characterised by contemporary design, high quality and low cost.

They make and supply needlework fabrics, laces and aida linen bands, ready made and part made tablecloths and table runners, terry cloths, embroidery and cross stitch ideas booklets, cross stitch kits, tapestry and embroidery kits. And of course, a vast collection of supplies and accessories.

The home textile collection contains a range of embroidered tablecloths and wall hangings either as finished articles or as kits. The designs are worked in a range of embroidery styles - free, cross stitch and shadow embroidery.

RICO DESIGN GMBH & CO. KG was founded in Brakel/Westphalia (Germany) in 1974 by Franz Jacoby under the name Tap-Service as a service company for textile manufacture and framing of Gobelin pictures and is definitely the leading manufacturer of products in the embroidery field.

The Dutch company Lanarte have produced many and varied designs. They produce quality large scale charts in black and white with detailed instructions in several languages.

In 1934, Augustinus (Guus) Vergnes opened a shop in Leeuwarden selling yarn and knitting wool. The range was gradually extended to include other needlecrafts, such as simple cross-stitch kits. Over the years, Guus managed to open numerous shops throughout the country under the name Naaldkunst (Needlecraft). As the range of needlecraft kits was not very broad at that time, Guus felt the need to design his own.

Lanarte, now grown into a family business was set up in 1973 and new business premises were built on the newly developed Schenkenschans industrial area in Leeuwarden, Holland.

Lanarte's collections consist of :-

• Art Nouveau - Stylish images from the golden age of art
  
• Home and Garden - beautiful flower pictures, individually, in bouquets and vases or in garden setting;
  
• Romance - delicate colours and subtle shades in pictures of beautiful women, children and flowers;
  
• Marjolein Bastin - designs of flowers, birds and samplers from the well known Dutch illustrator;
  
• Classic - from paintings, posters and Dutch tiles;
  
• Animals - styled, realistic and cartoons;
  
• Culture - Egyptian collages, oriental ladies, dark African beauties are all in this group;
  
• Holiday - lighthouses and seaside views and the country with fields of flowers;
  
• Just for Kids - cute teddies, toys and contemporary birth samplers;
  
• Maria van Scharrenburg - beautiful fantasy figures, romantic baby pictures and a cute nursery range.

Rose Swalwell is the founder of Derwentwater Designs, named after the lake in the beautiful English Lake District where she lives and where her business is situated.

The company has been designing and manufacturing embroidery kits since the mid 1980s and Rose still designs most of the kits although there is also a team of designers each specialising in a different range.