News for the New Year
New for 2012 ~ Crafters Packs
A 'one off' compiled for our recent studio sale. Crafters Packs contain quality commercial dyed fabrics, antique to contempory, ribbons, lace, glass beads, hand & machine embroidery threads and assorted embelishments. All packs are different, please state your preferred colourway and be surprised! Ideal for embellishers, collage, patchwork . the possibilities are endless. @ $10 a pack. To order, please add a note with your order, or simply email your request.
We are 'Spring-cleaning' and have found a few Steiner rainbow dyed silks packs containing at least four generous squares, discounted to $5 a pack.
A word about Habutai 8mm ~
Recent changes in the way silk is regulated for manufacture in China, has led to an adjustment of the weight variation permitted for the category, this is particulary relevant to Habutai 8mm. In simple terms, the quality has been going slowly downward.
An 8mm can now be a 7.8mm, and often is, because it's cheaper to produce; they still charge the same, in fact more, as the world currency affair is affecting everything.
Whilst we have long-term reliable suppliers who seek out the best quality available for Silk Wholesalers, it is becoming harder and harder to find Habutai as we expect it to be. We are now paying a premium for the best available, and will have to adjust our own pricing for this line in the very near future. To counter-balance this trend, we will soon be offering three weights of Habutai, 8mm, 10mm and 12mm.
Not all silks are affected by this, and it is still a wonderful and very affordable fabric. As always, we stand by our promise to find the best available quality silk available, at the best price for the quality, but we will never compromise quality for price. That is our promise.
We have to remember that China is no longer a third world country. The people now demand better wages and working conditions, than ever before, and along with their fair share of natural disasters in recent years, the Chinese economy is on the up, and silk is going up with it.
and a word about hand hemmed scarves ~
For the same reasons concerning the rise of the Chinese economy, there are less and less people willing to hem scarves by hand, for very little return. It is now necessary for silk manufacturers to reach out further into the countryside where people have less options to earn, and quality control in these circumstances is unrealistic. We can guarantee that silk thread is always used, but the 'hand' will vary, some scarves are very neat, others less so. A time will come, when hand rolled scarves are no long available. They will be replaced by machine rolled hems ~ much less charming for an artist's canvas. I love the hand-rolled hem and we will keep on top of our suppliers to manage the situation as best they can, meanwhile, please enjoy the character and know that someone, somewhere has a job and a small wage thanks to us, and the miracle is, they somehow keep the silk spotlessly clean!
and on the subject of scarves ~
We are pleased to offer a Habutai 8mm scarf 90cm x 90cm for the gallery artist, by popular demand, available from late February. We still have our old favourite in Paj 6mm, the same size.
Our Silk Gauze wraps 180cm x 45cm are proving popular for summer evenings, as are the Silk/Cotton lawn scarvf/wrap 160cm x 45cm ( fantastic for Indigo )
What is new?
Great news ! We have stainless steel, round, three prong, traditional SILK PINS for you in boxes of 100. No more staining. Of course, we still have the amazing silk claws too.
In our SILKADASHERY RANGE and for a limited time only, we have a range of coloured machine embroidery threads at $7.50 a spool, 1000 mtrs 40 wt.
On the book shelf ~
BACK ISSUES of EMBELLISH and FELT @ $5 a copy.
Indigo: from mummies to blue jeans, a re-release of the original Indigo; by Jenny Balfour-Paul and India Flint's beautiful new book Second Skin.
We hope the new year will be a fruitful one for you all, and for our new friends,entering the exciting and dynamic world of textiles, please explore our website for the tools and inspiration that will help you begin your journey.
New Fabrics just arrived ~.jpg)
