Tag: shop update

Threads on sale

While we all wait for me to wind the latest batch of newly dyed threads, there are a couple of special offers in the shop right now.

**EDIT/UPDATE – now all sold out, thank you. Your threads are on their way.

These are the perle 8 silk skeins that are discontinued, and are reduced to clear. When they’re gone they’re gone forever as I won’t be buying this particular thread again.

Please read the full post before heading to the links – thank you.

There are some beautiful perle 8 sets here:

silk perle 8 sets

And there are some single skeins (not dyed by me; please read the shop listing for full details) here:

single skeins, perle 8 silk

Please, a caveat if I may – if you are in the US, please check that you’ve picked United States in the drop-down country menu and not United Kingdom. If you accidentally pick the UK option the system will charge the UK postage rate rather than the correct overseas rate, and this causes extra work and stress for me as I then have to email you to explain. Overseas shipping is expensive. I only charge what it actually costs, and I often make a small loss on international postage. The difference between UK and US shipping costs is about £10. This happens surprisingly often – several times a week, sometimes – and I simply can’t afford to lose £10 every time I ship goods to the US because the correct postage hasn’t been paid. It really isn’t fair to make exceptions.

If this continues to happen then I will have no option but to consider – with immense regret – discontinuing overseas shipping altogether.

Also – if you’re in Europe, please be aware that your country will charge import duties. This is an unfortunate consequence of Brexit and nothing to do with me; I have no control over the amount charged and I don’t profit from it in any way. You can use an online import tax checker to estimate what the additional cost will be.

Apologies for the ranting. Of course I could vastly inflate all my prices and call it ‘free’ shipping. I’d be interested to hear your views, particularly if you’re not in the UK.

Thread

Three weeks of thread-dominated days, and I think we’re almost there.

Shop update waiting

I’m taking the afternoon off, and then I’ll update the shop some time later today (UK time). If you’re waiting for thread, keep checking in. The ‘coming soon’ boxes will disappear when the threads are live.

Just a few announcements, while we’re here:

(1) There was an alarming point in early January when I discovered that some of my silk and cotton thread suppliers were no longer trading. I’ve managed to connect with new suppliers in the meantime, but their thread is more expensive so I have had to make a small increase in my prices. I think the prices are still reasonable, given that each thread is unique. I don’t dye by recipe so everything turns out to be slightly different every time.

(2) I’ve found some commercially hand-dyed silk threads that I’ve added to the shop. These are the only threads there that are not dyed by me. I’ve used these threads myself and I like them, despite the many annoying knots that appeared in the hanks. They do come with a warning about their colourfastness – I have thoroughly washed and rinsed them all before winding into skeins, and some of them did lose a little colour (mainly anything with magenta or dark blue in it, including purples and dark greens) but they may still lose more colour if they’re washed again. If you need to wash your project, then test the threads first (actually that advice probably applies to all of my hand-dyed threads, none of which can be guaranteed colourfast). If you do need to wash the thread, then I would suggest cool water, minimal detergent and minimal agitation. Rinse well in cool water and blot the excess water onto a towel; don’t wring or squeeze, and definitely don’t tumble dry. If you’re not washing your project, then none of this matters. I rarely, if ever, wash embroidered work and have never had a problem with rogue colours staining the cloth. If you’re making something that will need frequent washing then I’d suggest using commercially dyed thread that does have a colourfast guarantee.

Silk perle 8 (not dyed by me)

(3) This time I have made available some undyed skeins, in case anyone wants to have a go at either dyeing their own thread or painting it. You can paint thread quite successfully with something like Jacquard Dye-na-Flow fabric paints – these are very liquid colours that behave more like dye than paint, and they don’t alter the hand (the softness) of the thread. There are lots of dyeing tutorials and instructions online, for fibre-reactive dyes and for botanical dyes. You can also use the undyed threads as they are, of course; white thread is always A Useful Thing.

new for 2024: undyed threads

Other than these new additions, there are the usual ranges of cotton and silk in various weights, plus a few thread collections.

Cotton thread mini collection
Thread taster sets
silk thread perle 8/12

Enjoy!