His first embroidery designs were primitive, but later, working with his wife Jane, he created a set of wall hangings for his residence in the London suburbs, Red House. One of his designs in this historical style, stitched by Jane Morris, won the Morris company an award in an international competition in 1862. Morris and his workshop began making embroideries for the households of his friends as well as larger panels for some of the many new churches being constructed in England. In these designs, Morris created the decorative elements, while his friend Edward Burne-Jones drew the figures, and a team of embroiderers manufactured the work by hand. Other wall hangings were designed to be sold off the shelf of the new Morris and Company shop on Oxford Street which owned in 1877. Later, he and his daughter May made designs for panels for "embroider yourself" kits for cushion covers, fireplace screens, doorway curtains, bedcovers and other household objects. In 1885, Morris turned production of embroidery entirely over to his daughter.
