Miss (F.) Lambert

Best known as Frances Lambert, and later Frances Sedgwick (1798–1880), she was a British embroiderer, knitter, and author whose books brought decorative needlework to a broad audience. Her best-known title, The Hand-book of Needlework (1842), became especially successful and helped make her name familiar far beyond specialist craft circles.

She published practical guides on crochet, knitting, embroidery, and church needlework in London, with editions also appearing in the United States. Sources describe her as a prolific and very popular 19th-century writer on needlework, valued for clear instruction as well as for preserving and explaining textile techniques.

Some records also note that she served Queen Victoria as a needleworker. While biographical details about her life are relatively limited in the sources available, her books clearly left a lasting mark on the history of domestic craft writing.