Sew and So

[Chalet School Fan]

I've just been on the Sew and So website to buy supplies and was amazed to discover it had shut down. Since the local needlework shop closed its doors this has been my go-to website for my embroidery needs. Latest purchases in the past few weeks were the threads for the map of Great Britain in the last two editions of Cross Stitcher and the material and threads for a cross stitch cushion I am making for our departing choir master. They were always good for downloading charts so I could get stitching the moment something caught my eye. It's a company I will miss! :(

[Lioness]

That is a shame. I have used them a few times and found their service to be excellent.
It seems they were negotiating with a new owner back in June. Maybe that did not work out. There was reference to a tough few weeks so I don't know what happened

[tricia]

Goodness I had no idea. Their unit wasn’t that far from where I live.

[Waterlily]

What a shame, thanks for the news CSF. I used this site for most of my cross stitch stuff.

[RozMinis]

Definitely a very sad state of affairs as I bought most of my Mill Hill kits from them. Christine pointed me in the direction of Lakeside Needlecrafts https://www.lakesideneedlecraft.co.uk but compared to Se 7 So, they are considerably more expensive. Not that I am exactly in any need of any more kits as I still have loads, plus quite a few charts that I have exchanged with other folks.

Lakeside also sell DMC threads at a reasonable price, ditto the Mill Hill beads. The perforated paper is expensive, especially compared to The Nutmeg Company.

Roz

[tricia]

Anybody else had an email from lovecrafts about Sew and So. Seems they have taken over some assets from Sew and So.

[RozMinis]

Anybody else had an email from lovecrafts about Sew and So. Seems they have taken over some assets from Sew and So.

Received the email, but on checking them out I discovered they sell even less of what I want than Lakeside Needlecrafts. At least the latter sell Mill Hill beads, which is probably what I will require more than anything else. I have all the DMC threads, in some cases multiple skeins of them. I will have to check out Nimble Thimble and the ladies from the USA who sell Mill Hill kits, assuming they are both there that is, when I go to Harrogate. Can't seem to find the brown perforated paper anywhere, not even from The Nutmeg Company. Hope Meg is going to be at Harrogate, hoping she wasn't one of those who was flooded earlier in the month.

Roz

[Waterlily]

Anyone know of any other good sites for cross stitch stuff. We have a small knitting shop in town that sells a bit of cross stitch stuff but not a big variety.

I'm particularly interested in any costume/dress stuff historical or current.

I've just ordered two Lavender & Lace charts (wedding dresses) not really interested in the angel stuff but might have to resort to that as some of it is quite pretty.

[Little Jan]

Such a shame these small well established companies are going to the wall
I expect a lot cannot compete with larger companies who buy in bulk probably from China
Although we had a lovely proper old school store in Ely
You had to ask for what you wanted and they knew without looking what they had in Stock
And they would take time to advise you on what you needed for any craft job
The staff were daughters or relatives from past staff
But alas as the younger generation had no interest in knitting or sewing
Finding suitable interested staff was hard
They sold up lock stock and barrel ,new owners put the prices up so high no one went there unless
the item was urgent and the new staff knew nothing about what they were selling
In the end they started to sell toys to get more custom,that way any Tom,Dick or Harriott could work there
It ended up more like a overpriced pound shop

[Fenpeper]

I used to use this company but have no insight as I haven't done any stitching in many many years and so haven't bought any supplies. x https://www.blacksheepwools.com/