Holy cow, people!

You guys? You fans of Storied Threads? You guys ROCK.

Thanks to all of you, Storied Threads has had a record breaking month this November — I have never before done so much online business in a 30 day span as I have this month! And the surprising hot seller?

Patches.

Time Lord Seal

That’s right — in one month, without selling a single pirate coat or gambeson, I have sold enough items under $13 each to have made record sales.

There’s no question that this is, at least in part, thanks to me creating more designs in the last few months, and many of them of a decidedly geeky vibe. This Time Lord Seal patch, for instance, has been my hot seller in the last couple of weeks — I sold three of them in one day earlier this week in fact. I learned at CTRF last month that Doctor Who fans are some of the best shoppers out there — I couldn’t keep my Whovian patches in stock through a weekend at that show. And my Etsy sales this month have only reinforced that. Proabably 75% of my Small Business Saturday sales were of Who patches.

Winter is Coming

Game of Thrones fans have been coming out in droves, too. While the Starks’ “Winter is Coming” patch has (unsurprisingly) been the big seller among that set, I’ve sold at least one of almost every other House as well. I’m particularly pleased with these designs. I had originally thought to simply use the HBO images and turn them into patches, but the more I looked at them, the more they didn’t appeal to me for this project. So instead, I went out and found public domain images that I liked, and designed six patches that represented the individual Houses, while still maintaining a common aesthetic.

There are, of course, down sides to selling this many patches in such a short time. For instance, I ran out of crucial supplies much faster than I had expected, which has put me behind schedule in fulfilling orders. I have a huge stack of addressed and stamped envelopes in the studio, ready to be filled with patches just as fast as I can make them. At least one day this weekend will be spent madly running the embroidery machine to fill orders, hopefully getting enough done that I can use the second day to make patches for stock for next weekend’s Dickens Christmas event.

But you know what? That’s a small price to pay. I seriously don’t mind working my butt off this weekend, if it means filling orders for all of you awesome people.  This is the work I love, and I love that you are all helping to make it a reality for me.

Thank you.

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Small Business Saturday Deals

Storied Threads is gearing up for the upcoming Small Business Saturday on November 26, and we have some pretty awesome deals (plus a Patch Give-away Contest) for you all that day.

Deal the First

Buy three, get one free!

Okay, “Buy Three Get One Free” is not precisely correct. More accurate is that if you buy $25 worth (or more) of patches on November 26, and include the phrase “FREEWHO” in the notes of your order, you will get a free Doctor Who Awareness Ribbon Patch! You can buy three patches, as pictured here, two expensive patches, a $30 Magic the Gathering patch set, any combination of patches you want — as long as it adds up to at least $25, and as long as you remember the “FREEWHO” coupon phrase!

I recommend ordering your patches through Etsy, which has a lot more variety up than my website does. You do need an account to shop there, but it’s free, and easy to set up, and will make available to you a whole slew of small crafty businesses.

Deal the Second

Custom Pirate Sashes

On November 26, order a custom pirate sash, and get 1/2 off any embroidery you want on it. Depending on the embroidery you want, this can be a pretty good deal — the Clockwork Octopus, for instance, normally adds $13 to the cost of the patch. Ordered on Small Business Saturday, you would save $6.50.

To place a custom order, simply send me an e-mail letting me know what you’re interested in, and I’ll send you an invoice for the total. The invoice MUST be paid on 11/26/11 in order for you to get this deal!

Deal the Third

And last, a collaborative deal! The Connecticut Renaissance Faire is offering some fantastic deals on ticket sales this Saturday, for both their spring and fall shows.  So here’s what you do — take advantage of their Small Business Saturday sale, and buy your tickets for either (or both!) show now. Send proof of your purchase to me via e-mail, and I’ll send to you a coupon for 15% off your total purchase at the Storied Threads booth at that show!  If you buy tickets for both spring and fall, I’ll send you two coupons, one good at each show. Brilliant!

And finally, our Small Business Saturday Patch Give-away Contest.  It’s super easy to enter.  All you need to do is share this blog post on your Facebook or Twitter, comment here to let me know you’ve done that, and you’ll be automatically entered in our contest to win one free patch of your choice! Also, keep an eye out on the Storied Threads Facebook Page, as we’ll be offering more opportunities to enter as the week goes on.  And yes, if you share multiple eligible posts, you will be entered multiple times. The drawing will be utterly random, so the more you share, the more likely you are to win! The winner will be drawn at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 26, EST.

So, what are you waiting for? Spread the word!

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Craft Fairs and New Stock

This Saturday, we will be vending at the Nine Lives of Norton Craft Fair, a fair to benefit the Nine Lives of Norton Cat Shelter. Since CTRF closed, I’ve been attempting to find a good balance between working on commissions, and building stock for this (and other) events.

Part of the trick for this one is that it’s the first time I’ve ever vended at a craft fair — every other show I’ve done has been a renaissance faire.  I’ve had to assess the things I typically make, and figure out what will be appropriate for this kind of venue. Pirate coats? Probably not.  Fur lined Barbarossa hats? Absolutely!

Once I’d narrowed the list down, it was time to find some new products to make for the show.  And on Friday, Kate came down to the studio and we spent the day getting stuff prepped and made. Storied Threads will now have in stock (both at this fair and at the Watch City Dickens Christmas):

Lace Christmas Ornament. Photo Copyright Urban Threads.

 

Lace Christmas ornaments and bookmarks! There are three different designs of ornaments, and three different bookmarks. So far we only have a few of each, simply because of time limitations — each one takes at least half an hour on the embroidery machine, and I still have a million other things the embroidery machine needs to be used for as well.  One of the things I like about these is that they are a very inexpensive item — they range in price from $5 to $8, making them an easy impulse buy, and perfect to pick up as stocking stuffers or gift toppers.

Embroidered Christmas Stockings

 

 

 

Awesome handmade Christmas stockings! I’ve got seven of these in stock right now, and I’m really happy with how they’ve come out.  They range in price from $20 (for an un-embroidered stocking) and go up from there. Most of them are under $25 — the one exception being the stocking pictured here, because this was a CRAZY complex piece of embroidery that took over two hours to run! But, it’s a very cool design, and hopefully some shopper will think it’s worth it.  Personally, I love fancy stockings — when I was a kid, we had stockings that my mother hand hand-made (literally, every bit was hand stitched), with a felt pieced design of a kid sitting in front of a fireplace hung with actual three-dimensional stuffed stockings. They were gorgeous, and I’ve always felt like stockings should be that awesome. Hopefully I’ve at least come close to that with these.

Warm, embroidered flannel scarves

And finally, warm and cozy scarves, with embroidered awesomeness.  The half dozen I’ll have with me on Saturday are all made of flannel, and Kate will be finishing another half dozen or so before Dickens, of a variety of cozy fabrics.  They’ll run in the general neighborhood of $20, give or take, depending on what they’re embroidered with.

When I showed the first few scarves to Mike, he said, “They’re awfully wide…” as if that was a bad thing. And it’s true — they are about 10 inches wide, far more fabric than it takes to cover your neck. But personally, I believe a scarf should be able to cover you from your nose to your clavicle if the weather demands it, and so that’s how I made these.

So, I hope to see you all at one of these winter events — the Craft Fair for Cat Care is this Saturday (November 19) at the Holiday Inn in Taunton, MA. And the Watch City Dickens Christmas will be December 10 and 11 at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, in Waltham, MA.

Come say hi!

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