Happy St. Patrick’s Day – and Some News

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Out in here Kansas, the day is celebrated only in small pockets of green here and there.

Growing up on the east coast, St. Patrick’s Day was a much bigger deal – especially when we lived outside Boston, but also in the South. Through high school, I marched in my high school band in the parade in Savannah every year. It was a hugely anticipated event and lots of fun!

In Kansas, though, it’s a bit lower key. I wore green to work today, nevertheless. (I was afraid Anna might get a bit pinchy.)

I’ve not done much St. Patrick’s Day embroidery in my life. These whitework shamrocks on green linen might be the extent of it, actually. I keep intending to design something particularly shamrocky one of these days, but I’ve never planned ahead far enough in advance of the day to get it done!

If you’re looking for something similar to stitch, you’ll find the information about these wee shamrocks here, with stitches, threads, and tips.

In Other News: on Backorders and Pre-Orders

What I really need to tell you is this – for my (hopefully) peace of mind and yours.

It’s not my policy in my shop to take backorders or pre-orders, where I take your money and then eventually mail you the item when it finally arrives here.

I don’t do this for a number of reasons:

First and foremost, there’s shipping and there’s manufacturing. Shipping is not as reliable as it used to be – no matter what carrier one uses! I’m sorry and sad to say it, but I think we all know it’s true. I do not like the idea of taking people’s money for anticipated stock, and then have the stock misdirected, delayed and delayed – or worse yet, arrive in poor condition, broken or beaten up – and then having to disappoint you with further delays.

At the same time, manufacturing in the needlework world is not necessarily “big factory” manufacturing. Many items in the needlework world – especially specialty threads and the like – are done by very small companies with only a handful of employees (sometimes, only one person!) – and sometimes, the supply chain gets backed up. This can lead to seemingly interminable wait times that can make people anxious when they’ve already paid for something.

Second, I don’t do it because people change their minds. I know that the smarter business move would be to take a backorder so that it’s less likely that people will change their minds and I still get the sale. But I don’t really operate that way. I prefer to sell an item that I can ship right away, so that my end of the deal is honored immediately.

Third, on the practical side, managing backorders requires extra space and extra time. We don’t really have extra space in the studio to sort and keep backorders separate; and while we could squeeze out the time somewhere, there are really just two of us working here, and we’re strapped. So squeezing time can sometimes be a difficult proposition.

So that’s in answer to the emails I’ve received lately asking for pre-orders or backorders for Dovo scissors, the new book from Elisabetta Sforza, the upcoming book from Inspirations, and also other items that folks are anticipating, like the coming Art Nouveau kit.

Never Fear!

New stock of The ABC of Padded Stitch is already en route. It will probably arrive this week, and ready to purchase either Friday or Monday. If you sent me an email for advanced notice of the book, or requesting to pay for a backorder or pre-order, I’ll add your email to my advanced notice list for that book and send you an email when it’s in stock and ready to purchase.

The new Inspirations book, Hand Picked Collection vol 4, is en route and should be here this week. If you have requested a hold on an order (for the Sforza book or a pair of scissors, for example) until these books arrive, we will notify you once they are listed and ready to purchase.

New stock of Dovo scissors is a little harder to gauge. We have the “Aya” scissors in stock right now. These are 3.5″ brushed stainless, with finer tips. They are, in my opinion, the best Dovo embroidery scissors so far, because the tips are extra-fine, which makes them super functional for all kinds of embroidery where you need to get your scissors into delicate spaces (like cutwork, drawn thread, Hardanger, etc.). But they are wonderful, too, for any regular embroidery – so they’re multi-purpose in that way.

“Anne” (the 3.5″ regular blade Dovos that we had a little earlier this year) are expected with the next manufacturer’s batch, and I don’t know yet when that will be. Shortly, we will also have the 4″ Dovos that are excellent, slightly larger, all-purpose embroidery scissors.

If you wrote to us about Dovo backorders or advanced notice, we will let you know as soon as any of the new Dovo stock arrives.

The Art Nouveau Project – It’s a Kit

The Art Nouveau project we just finished will be a full kit. The supplies have been ordered. The kit will include everything – design, silk ground fabric (pre-printed), batiste backing fabric, full skeins of silk, generous amounts of goldwork threads, silk couching thread, beeswax, needles, embellishments, and written instructions.

These supplies are in the works, but much depends on the manufacturers, especially of the specialty threads. I can’t give you timing just yet on that kit. But it is coming! Thank you for your many, many inquiries. When I know, you’ll know! I promise!

Thank You!

As always, your patronage is deeply appreciated and ever-so-encouraging! We will continue to do our best with your orders, to get them to you in a timely manner, and to find the things you want and need for your needlework pursuits.

I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that this particular missive today is mainly because I can’t keep up with responding to the many emails that we’ve received in the last week, inquiring about these things.

If you wrote for advanced notice, we will put you on the list – whether it’s for the books or the scissors, if you emailed, we will let you know when stock is ready.

Thanks for your understanding!

Have a Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
Please don’t drink green beer.