INDEPENDENT NEEDLEWORK NEWS

This week’s Stitching Blogger’s Question is:

Do you like to buy “chartpacks” that include charms, buttons, and/or beads or do you prefer to gather all materials yourself?

This is a really good question, and I think designers and shops would benefit from studying the stitching community’s answers to it. So far, the large majority of answers I’ve seen (i.e., a very unscientific tally) favor chartpacks. However, those who dislike chartpacks say they tend not to buy them even if they like a pattern — at least not unless they plan to stitch it right away. I suspect designers who offer chartpacks are missing out on a fairly large market — the pattern collectors — unless they offer stitchers the option to buy charts and chartpacks separately from each other.

I definitely like the option of a chartpack, but most of the time, everything is automatically bundled with the chart — which means I don’t have a real choice regarding the chartpack. If everything is bundled together, then I have to buy the chartpack if I want the chart.

Since I am just as much a pattern collector as I am a stitcher, I would prefer to spend my money on materials and supplies when I am actually ready to start a project, rather than to have my funds tied up on the supplies during the pattern-collecting phase. For this same reason, the more expensive the items in a chartpack are, the more I want to be able to purchase them separately from the chart.

At the same time, I really appreciate the convenience of chartpacks when I am actually ready to stitch. But what I think provides the best of both worlds is what I call a supply pack. It’s wonderful to have all the materials you need — especially hard to find items — made easily available to you. I like being able to buy a supply pack that includes enough specialty floss to stitch a design (and enough extra that I’m not going to run short if I make a mistake; this is very important for a chartpack’s or a supply pack’s materials to be truly useful), rather than having to pay for an entire skein of specialty floss in order to kit a design myself.

For instance, Just Nan and Victoria Sampler are two designers who offer supply packs separately from their charts, and whose supply packs are also of excellent value because they contain numerous specialty fibers, beads, charms, and so on. I collect patterns from both of these designers — but I buy the supply packs when I need them (and keep my eyes open for news of certain patterns going out of print so that I can decide whether or not to pick up the supply pack before that happens). Because I know I can get them separately, I choose not to buy Just Nan or Victoria Sampler patterns from shops who automatically bundle these designers’ charts with their supply packs — creating what amount to chartpacks when I actually DO have the choice of buying the supplies separate from the chart. (In this case, it’s the shop who loses some business from me because they are neglecting to recognize that it’s my prerogative to dictate how and when I spend my money.)

All that said, when a chartpack is in the under $10 range, I will generally go ahead and buy it. It’s been my experience with chartpacks of this dollar value that I’m getting the non-chart or supply items in the chartpack for $4 or less, that this $4 amount is cheaper than what I would pay if I bought the items separately myself, and that the chart and supply pack are probably not available separately. So because I see these chartpacks as a good value even if I don’t get around to stitching those designs for a while (or, ahem, ever), I go ahead and buy them … but I’d still appreciate the choice to buy only the chart in many cases.

Technorati Tags: cross stitch, stitching bloggers, SBQ, chartpack

Have you ever heard of the weekly Stitching Bloggers Question? It provides an interesting and fun way to participate in the continually growing international community of stitchers who blog. If you have a blog, answering the SBQ is one way to help increase your readership. And whether you blog or not, reading SBQ answers can be very informative. For more information about the SBQ, click on the button below:

Today’s SBQ, suggested by Danielle, is about stitching retreats:

Have you ever been to a stitching retreat?

I’ve been to several. My first stitching retreats were Heart of Cross Stitch and then the Creative Arts and Textiles Show (CATS) in 2000; I attended both in Pennsylvania because at the time, I lived in New Jersey. Unfortunately, 2000 was the last year for Heart of Cross Stitch.

But CATS, whose name has been changed to the Consumer Arts and Teaching Show, is still running, although sadly they’ve reduced the numbers and locations of the shows offered down to just one this year. However, CATS offers the largest market open directly to stitchers anywhere in the US so is well worth attending just to shop. It will be held September 27 - 29, 2007 at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. You’ll find lots more information at the CATS website, which will be updated in the near future with 2007 information. Don’t forget to sign up for their newsletter!

Other retreats I’ve attended include classes/retreats available through several needlework guilds and online classes available through a number of different sources. I’ll post more about these resources very soon so you, too, can join in the fun!

What about you? Have you ever been to a stitching retreat?

I know of a number of other retreats, but I’d like to hear from anyone who has actually attended others and can be more informative than I can. I’ll pass on all information I receive in later blog posts, so watch this space!

Technorati Tags: CATS, Creative Arts and Textiles, Consumer Arts and Teaching, SBQ, stitching bloggers, cross stitch, retreats