 Morris taught himself embroidery , working with wool on a frame custom @-@ built from an old example . Once he had mastered the technique he trained his wife Jane , her sister Bessie Burden and others to execute designs to his specifications . When " embroideries of all kinds " were offered through Morris , Marshall , Faulkner & Co. catalogues , church embroidery became and remained an important line of business for its successor companies into the twentieth century . By the 1870s , the firm was offering both embroidery patterns and finished works . Following in Street 's footsteps , Morris became active in the growing movement to return originality and mastery of technique to embroidery , and was one of the first designers associated with the Royal School of Art Needlework with its aim to " restore Ornamental Needlework for secular purposes to the high place it once held among decorative arts . " 
