GR&DF my goodness what did I do??? You dear sweet stitching folks - how you rallied behind my blathering opinion!! Your the best! That post was very interesting and generated quite a few comments - last count 49 - and all one voice with the same basic opinion - I do hope that it will do some good in the long run. I look at this blog and comments - as it is a two pronged thing - as a stone thrown into a pond with the ripples moving ever outward - like good deeds.... you never know where or who they will touch.
Now, I also wanted to give some feed back....... and you knew I would!!! Sweet Terri - my goat got gotten also!!! I love that line!!! Missy Ann - I am with you - as I also will pass on limited edition floss - as it comes and goes to quickly.... and with all the over dyed out there I have never had a problem finding a colour I could use to replace something limited. It was an interesting point about the overseas market - in that specialty things may be harder to find and kits are an easier option. But, with the web making our world ever smaller I would think it would be getting easier to get specialty things using an OLNS. I know from personal experience that there are European designed things that are hard to get here in the US that I have ordered and gotten pretty quickly through international mail so I would think that looking from Europe or anywhere international you could order and get things from the US. JRae commented and told of working in a LNS and having a stitched model on the wall - and that when the designer of the piece came into the shop and saw the model she had a fit that there where changes made to her design. I am amazed at that reaction - first and foremost one should be ecstatic that any stitcher anywhere would find the piece worth stitching - all the time and effort that goes into even the smallest piece - how dare she react that way!!! No matter how wonderful the design is if no one stitches it up then whats the point???? These designs/charts are made to be stitched - changes are good and make the piece more personal to the stitcher not the designer. The basic design/chart and the model that is pictured is a jumping off spot and a beginning of the creative process that is this stitchery stuff we all love to do - and - if the model is stitched in or recommends using any over dyed floss at all then it is going to look different anyway since different dye lots of floss can be dramatically different in the extreme. Just look at my Hetty piece - even with a list of Belle Soie changes I am using no one will ever be able to exactly replicate mine. Belle Soie is notorious for dramatic shifts in colours and dye lots - that is what makes it so wonderful IMHO. I love that two skeins of BS can look like two different things with the same name. After all is said and done I think that designs - if they must be kitted should also have a chart only option!!
Last night was more exchange stitching - only a couple more pieces and I will have gotten them all done and even gotten ahead of the game with some exchange early next year!! woop woop!!
The flickers last night were more of TCM's month long tribute to the music of Johnny Mercer - and they were some early things I hadn't seen before. The first film was "Hollywood Hotel" - 1937 - starring Dick Powell and the lovely Lane sisters, Rosemary and Lola. The second film was "Garden of the Moon" - 1938 - starring Pat O'Brien and Margret Lindsey. Both films are light musicals and both directed by Busby Berkeley. I enjoyed them both and they seem to play often on TCM so if you get the chance stop for a few mins and give them a look.
There you go sports fans!! Thanks for stopping by and for your super de duper comments!! I do appreciate hearing from you all.
Take care,
edgar
Now, I also wanted to give some feed back....... and you knew I would!!! Sweet Terri - my goat got gotten also!!! I love that line!!! Missy Ann - I am with you - as I also will pass on limited edition floss - as it comes and goes to quickly.... and with all the over dyed out there I have never had a problem finding a colour I could use to replace something limited. It was an interesting point about the overseas market - in that specialty things may be harder to find and kits are an easier option. But, with the web making our world ever smaller I would think it would be getting easier to get specialty things using an OLNS. I know from personal experience that there are European designed things that are hard to get here in the US that I have ordered and gotten pretty quickly through international mail so I would think that looking from Europe or anywhere international you could order and get things from the US. JRae commented and told of working in a LNS and having a stitched model on the wall - and that when the designer of the piece came into the shop and saw the model she had a fit that there where changes made to her design. I am amazed at that reaction - first and foremost one should be ecstatic that any stitcher anywhere would find the piece worth stitching - all the time and effort that goes into even the smallest piece - how dare she react that way!!! No matter how wonderful the design is if no one stitches it up then whats the point???? These designs/charts are made to be stitched - changes are good and make the piece more personal to the stitcher not the designer. The basic design/chart and the model that is pictured is a jumping off spot and a beginning of the creative process that is this stitchery stuff we all love to do - and - if the model is stitched in or recommends using any over dyed floss at all then it is going to look different anyway since different dye lots of floss can be dramatically different in the extreme. Just look at my Hetty piece - even with a list of Belle Soie changes I am using no one will ever be able to exactly replicate mine. Belle Soie is notorious for dramatic shifts in colours and dye lots - that is what makes it so wonderful IMHO. I love that two skeins of BS can look like two different things with the same name. After all is said and done I think that designs - if they must be kitted should also have a chart only option!!
Last night was more exchange stitching - only a couple more pieces and I will have gotten them all done and even gotten ahead of the game with some exchange early next year!! woop woop!!
The flickers last night were more of TCM's month long tribute to the music of Johnny Mercer - and they were some early things I hadn't seen before. The first film was "Hollywood Hotel" - 1937 - starring Dick Powell and the lovely Lane sisters, Rosemary and Lola. The second film was "Garden of the Moon" - 1938 - starring Pat O'Brien and Margret Lindsey. Both films are light musicals and both directed by Busby Berkeley. I enjoyed them both and they seem to play often on TCM so if you get the chance stop for a few mins and give them a look.
There you go sports fans!! Thanks for stopping by and for your super de duper comments!! I do appreciate hearing from you all.
Take care,
edgar
Wow Edgar - you certainly did stir the hornets nest yesterday! It's been interesting to come back today and read all the comments.
ReplyDeleteI don't even suggest any fabric or threads for my little designs - I wonder if I can call myself a designer? - let alone sell as a kit. You can use whatever fabric you want from aida to low and high count linens, from plain DMC threads to silk variagated threads. This way my designs become individual to each and everyone who stitches them!
Edgar, I had Another Thought while reflecting yesterday. As a relative newcomer, I can really relate to the absolute newbie who has no idea all what's going on in the cottage industry side of stitching. So many of these kits are all ready to go and are a good "starter" for people who don't know the stuff; a nice little kit with some silks and linen is a good thing for them--can give a chance to try silk and linen, which is a whole new (and expensive) world after Michael's and etc.
ReplyDeleteIf you have nothing, a $30 kit is cheaper than a pile of stash (understatement of the year, there.
So, I think I vilified kits too much. HOWEVER--we still NEED a convenient chart only (and download) option.
I loved reading all the comments from your last post. I would really like the option of a kitted piece or a non-kitted piece. And I have on several occasions found someone or later sold the chart to get some of my money back - and like you said, who wins then? But like a couple of other commentors, I sometimes will buy a kit just for convenience sake or because I don't have that particular brand of fibers and don't want to go to the trouble to convert it. My Cat's Whiskers kits come to mind.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of other big beefs - I'm starting to HATE designers who are producing multi-part designs and charging a ton of money for each segment.
And don't even get me started on the quality of some charts. Many times I pay more money for a photocopy of a photocopy then some wonderfully printed books (CHS vs. BBD come to mind right off).
Voilà comment on rallie la foule!!
ReplyDeleteThe best is Edgar!
Well said, Edgar! Well said!
ReplyDeleteI would like everyone to know that Brenda of Blue Ribbon Designs was very supportive when I started changing out threads on Postcard from Paradise. At first I was terrified that she would be annoyed by my strong dislike for Crescent Colour threads, but even when I started using metallics she was nothing but pleased that I was stitching her design. Not all designers are control freaks.
ReplyDeleteHi Edgar, I read a very nice lady's blog and last year she removed a post because the designer saw it. The designer was irate that the very nice lady had taken liberties and (oh horrors!) personalized the piece. I think once I have paid my hard earned money for a chart, I can do whatever I like with it. At some point the designer must either be thrilled that someone chooses to make the design their own or just keep the thing in a closet and let no one near it!
ReplyDeleteWell, Edgar, the worm can is now open and I agree with everything that came out of it! I hate kits. I am an Aida gal, so I wind up giving away the fabric if it's a specialty fabric. Kits are so pricey and I have so much thread in my stash that I don't need the threads from the kit.
ReplyDeleteIt's been very interesting reading everyone's comments. I agree with Margie who hates when designers produce multi-part designers where each design is sold separately. I think it's a little game to get people to spend more money. For example, most people wouldn't spend $70 for a leaflet with 10 patterns.
I am disgusted to read about the designer who was annoyed that the stitched model in the LNS had been "personalized". In my opinion, an xs pattern is like a sofa. You buy the sofa and put it in your home. Then you drape a throw over it, add some pillows of your own taste, artwork on the wall behind it, and voila! the sofa has turned into "your sofa". The same sofa will look totally different in different people's homes. Same with Xstitch. What I find so inspirational about stitchers' blogs is seeing the different things people do with a piece - different fabric choices, changing the thread colors, different finishing. It's amazing that a designer would want a stitcher to stick exactly to the script - you'd think the designer would be thrilled to see all the various finishes. OK, I'll stop my rambling now.
Carolyn
Edgar - As a newbie/lurker I have to chime in, as this is my (now) biggest complaint. I want to spread my wings just a bit, and I would LOVE having the option of kitted vs, non-kitted. Now, of course, I just put my toe in with changing out some small thing, but I can forsee where this may become a much bigger component of whether I buy a design or not. Thanks for bringing this up for all of us.
ReplyDelete