French Red and White Darning Sampler with Out of Order Alphabet wooden souvenir The two blades pull all

The two blades pull all of the way out and then close back up with ease and stay tight

This is the mother of them

who looks very much like the young man to the right of him

I happened to give these old clay ones (plus one large one made of wood)  a close look at a recent flea market

French Red and White Darning Sampler with Out of Order Alphabet wooden souvenir The two blades pull allI'm forever ogling antique darning samplers, especially very old Dutch ones, which are just exquisite (and very very dear.) This French one, done by a 14 year old Chantal Cheviot (signed on the edging on reverse) in the earlyish 20th century I would guess, is not one of those but I really like in other ways, including for the out of order alphabet, the reason for which I have no idea! The darning exercises on the bottom half were truly that one can