Margot de Paris: History, References, and Vintage Needlepoint Kits
There are needlepoint kits that are recognizable before reading the label. A canvas from Margot de Paris — with its full-color printed design, the French name printed on the margin ("Les coquelicots," "La licorne," "Chat"), and yarns grouped by shade — has its own way of understanding color: livelier, more cheerful, sometimes even daring. At our haberdashery in Valencia, we have been recovering these vintage needlepoint kits for years and putting them back into circulation, and this is the guide we would have loved to find: what Margot de Paris is, how to read its references, how to identify a kit, and why they have become collector's items.
Margot de Paris: the house of color
Between the mid and late 20th century, a handful of French publishing houses turned tapisserie — needlepoint embroidery on canvas — into a domestic phenomenon that reached all of Europe through haberdasheries, department stores, and catalog sales. Three names recur again and again in sewing baskets and inheritances: SEG de Paris, Margot de Paris (also seen signed as Créations Margot de Paris), and Royal Paris.
All three shared the same idea, as simple as it was brilliant: the design was stamped in full color directly onto the cotton canvas, with a palette identical to that of the yarns included in the kit. No counting squares on a symbol chart: the fabric itself was the pattern. As we like to say, embroidering one of these canvases is like coloring with yarn.
And what distinguishes Margot within that family? Its character. Alongside the usual classics — flowers, landscapes, country scenes — Margot de Paris dared to do what few other houses did: animals in impossible and wonderful palettes (a multicolored giraffe, a zebra in technicolor), abstract motifs, nods to Japonism, and reproductions of great medieval tapestries such as The Lady and the Unicorn. If SEG was the museum, Margot was the party.
Has Margot de Paris disappeared? No — and this nuance matters
It's important to clarify this, as there's a lot of confusion: Margot de Paris is not a defunct brand. Today, its canvases are still being published and distributed through DMC's professional catalog, where the brand maintains over fifty active references under the name cañamazo antique (antique canvas).
What has changed — and this is key to all the collecting around the brand — are two things:
- Specific old references are out of stock. Each discontinued design from its era went out of production and has not been manufactured again. When the remaining ones are gone, they're gone.
- The complete factory kit format is no longer made the same way. Current Margot canvases are sold without yarn: only the printed fabric. The classic kit — canvas + pre-cut and factory-organized yarn + needle + instructions, all in its original packaging — belongs to another era.
Therefore, when you find a complete, unused vintage kit, you have what is called in the collecting world New Old Stock: new stock from its era, impossible to re-issue as is. It's not a copy or a kit assembled later with loose yarns: it's the original, just as it came out of the factory 30, 40, or 50 years ago.
How to read Margot references (62, 72, 133, 152, 153...)
Margot de Paris numbers its designs in series.design format: the number before the dot indicates the catalog series, and the number after identifies the specific design. The reference is printed on the packaging and, in small print, on the white margin of the canvas — often next to the design's name in French.
Each series groups designs of similar format. These are the ones we handle most often:
| Series | Common Formats | Example from our store |
|---|---|---|
62.x |
Elongated: 25 × 60 cm and 18 × 48 cm | Mauve Lilies, ref. 62.174 |
72.x |
22 × 30 cm | Calla Lilies and Water Lilies, ref. 72.2238 |
133.x |
36 × 47 cm | Cat, ref. 133.3562 |
152.x |
Large, up to 60 × 80 cm | Woman with Umbrella, ref. 152.43 |
153.x |
40 × 50 cm | The Poppies, ref. 153.1370 |
The logic always holds: series = family and format, suffix = design. If your kit has lost its box, look for the reference printed on the canvas margin or on the selvedge of the fabric: it's the same one that was on the packaging.
Collections and themes: from The Angelus to the multicolored giraffe
Margot de Paris's historical catalog is vast and surprisingly varied. These are the most beloved families (and the ones that sell out fastest):
- Reproductions of painters. Classical painting brought to canvas: in our collection, you can find The Angelus (after Millet) and The Gleaners, two rural scenes that are pure art history in yarn.
- Medieval tapestries. Margot published reproductions of The Lady and the Unicorn, the series of tapestries from the Cluny Museum — and from that fairy-tale universe also comes our Unicorn (22 × 30 cm), perfect for beginners.
- Animals with character. The brand's most recognizable signature: from the classic cat to the multicolored leopard, including parrots, peacocks, and tropical fish. You can find them gathered in our collection of animals in needlepoint.
- Flowers and still lifes. Poppies, lilies, flower carts, vases with hydrangeas — and special still lifes like the Still Life with Violin. Explore them in the collection of flowers in needlepoint.
- Landscapes and scenes. Lighthouses, boats, fountains, old-fashioned kitchens: small windows to another time, skein by skein: view landscapes.
How to identify and date a vintage Margot de Paris kit
Have you inherited a kit or found one at a flea market? These are the clues we use to confirm authenticity and approximate the era:
- The brand's signature. "Margot de Paris" or "Créations Margot de Paris" printed on the packaging, label, or canvas margin, almost always accompanied by the design's name in French.
-
The printed reference. The code
series.design(62.x, 133.x, 153.x...) on the box or in the white margin of the fabric. This is the most valuable piece of information for the kit: it confirms the brand and series. - The MADE IN FRANCE stamp. Present on a good part of the period packaging and labels, confirming the original French manufacture.
- The yarns and their color references. Classic kits included pre-cut upholstery yarn grouped by shade, with their color references. These bands and charts are gold: they identify the exact shade in case you ever need to replace a skein.
- The canvas. Raw or white cotton fabric, with the design printed in full color in shades that match the yarns, and an unprinted margin around it. A slight, uniform ivory tone is a normal patina from decades, not a defect.
In our store, each vintage kit undergoes a 5-point review before being sold (canvas and print, yarns and colors, period markings, storage signs, and completeness), and what you see in the product description is exactly what arrives at your home.
Why old Margot de Paris kits are collector's items
An old Margot kit brings together everything that textile collecting looks for:
- Truly limited edition. The reference sold out and is not re-issued. Unlike a modern kit, there will be no more.
- Irreplaceable content. Factory-cut and organized yarns, needle, instructions, packaging... The complete set is what gives it value; today, this format is no longer manufactured.
- Growing international demand. On platforms like Etsy or eBay, vintage Margot canvases are advertised as "rare vintage" and "new old stock", and their multicolored animals connect wonderfully with current decor.
- Double life: craft and object. It can be embroidered (40-year-old yarns embroider beautifully) or kept as is, as a piece of European haberdashery history.
Where to buy Margot de Paris needlepoint kits
Our Margot de Paris collection brings together original, complete, and individually reviewed vintage kits — many still in their factory packaging. If you are looking beyond a specific brand, you have all our needlepoint canvases on one page, and in Discontinued items return, we publish the sold-out references we manage to recover. New pieces come in as we find them… and the most sought-after ones usually don't wait for anyone.
And if you're just starting: needlepoint is probably the most rewarding embroidery technique. We tell you how it's done, stitch by stitch, on our page about needlepoint embroidery and on the blog Embroidery Tips.
Frequently asked questions about Margot de Paris
Does Margot de Paris still exist?
Yes. The brand is still alive, and its current canvases are distributed through DMC's professional catalog, although today they are sold without yarns. What is out of stock and out of production are the specific old references and the complete factory kit format: that's why vintage kits are unique pieces.
What does the reference number of my kit mean, for example, 153.1370?
The number before the dot is the catalog series (each series groups similar formats; 153 is usually 40 × 50 cm), and the number after identifies the specific design. In this case, The Poppies, 40 × 50 cm.
Are Margot de Paris and SEG de Paris the same company?
No: they are two different companies from the same golden age of French tapestry, using the same technique (full-color design stamped on canvas) but with their own catalogs and numbering. Today, both are distributed through DMC's professional catalog. You can find the complete history of the other company in our SEG de Paris guide.
Can I replace the yarns if I'm missing a skein?
In most cases, yes: with the color references from the kit (or by comparing the shade with a current tapestry yarn chart), an equivalent color can be located. If you have doubts about a specific shade, write to us: it's exactly the kind of puzzle we love to solve.
Do you prefer to read this guide in English? → Margot de Paris: vintage needlepoint kits — the complete guide
