The Mice at Work: Threading the Needle — Beatrix Potter (The Tailor of Gloucester)

The smallest seamstress in Gloucester

Sitting up on a white chintz scattered with pink and blue flowers, a mouse concentrates with all its might on threading a needle almost as tall as itself with cherry-red silk. Behind it, two companions tug the skein out of a hole in the old wooden wainscot. A rich teal tapestry of embroidered flowers hangs in the background. The mice of The Tailor of Gloucester are getting to work: they have decided to help the kind old tailor who once saved them.

One of the best-loved images of the book

With its patterned fabrics and its tiny, determined heroine, this is one of the most reproduced illustrations of The Tailor of Gloucester, Beatrix Potter's favourite of all her books. She painted the original around 1902, in ink, watercolour and gouache, for the edition published by Frederick Warne in 1903. It is held at Tate in London.

Why it works so well on a wall

Cherry red, teal and soft whites: this print brings charm to a sewing room, a craft corner or a dressmaking studio. It is the perfect gift for anyone who sews, embroiders, knits or quilts, and a lovely companion to our Tailor of Gloucester mouse.

• Artist: Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
• Work: Illustration for The Tailor of Gloucester (Frederick Warne, 1903)
• Date: c. 1902
• Medium: Ink, watercolour and gouache on paper
• Collection: Tate, London
• Design: Wallango edition, ivory background with museum-style caption

Discover all our Beatrix Potter prints.