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Hi @handdyedfibers_l7nu4k – Inquiring minds want to know! What is your story? How did you end up a couturier of thread? Where did it all begin? Why did you drop out of circulation and what inspired you to come back on the scene? Are you yourself a stitcher?
I always loved your thread from stalking Jill and Abi’s stitching on Instagram, and have completely fallen down the rabbit hole. 🙂
Gia
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RIGHT!??! Sometimes I wonder myself how it all happened.
I love textiles. Right now I don’t have time for any crafts, but I have been at various times in my life an avid spinner, weaver, crazy quilter, crocheter, and cross stitcher. I love fibers and textiles!
But way back then I was a nurse – board certified, shock trauma, ICU, neonatal open heart, psych, you name it. And one day, I just couldn’t anymore. I came home and told my husband I was going to dye silk for stitchers for a living. Don’t ask. I don’t have a clue. He believed in me and while it took us almost a year and a half, we were able to quit our jobs (he also was an RN at that time) and just do floss from home.
I never feel like I launched a business. I have always felt like I was just responding to what stitchers wanted in a dyer. They wanted more colors. They wanted the DMC line so they could substitute silks for charted pieces. They wanted comparatively low prices. They wanted to create their own colors. And because I wasn’t in shops I had the flexibility to do all of that.
I had a massive site crash. The software that the site was built on was so old there wasn’t any resurrecting it. That along with the low number of customers launched us into the yarn business and we traveled all these years to shows around the world selling our wares. Because all the yarns were made on machines my husband invented, they weren’t commercially viable, but again, low priced and unique so we did well at shows.
Covid hits and Veena pops her head up and says I should try floss again. I was not convinced that anyone would buy. When I looked into silk floss prices and what I’d have to charge I was even less convinced. But she pushed and she pushed and we started with the fabric and the floss that we had to get our nest egg to make a silk buy and VOILA!
This comeback has been beyond our wildest imaginations. Never ever expected that there was this kind of interest in hand dyed silks still. So I’m gratified – to all of you, and to Veena who never gave up the dream of getting her beloved floss. 🙂Vikki
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I think stitchers these days are willing to invest more in quality products for our projects. When you were first dyeing silks, I was using DMC for the majority of my projects and silks for the “special” ones. And now, I want silk for all m projects and only resort to DMC when I have to. Before you restarted, I was also using a lot of WDW, CC, GAST, etc. because I enjoyed the beautiful color variations. And other silks are lovely but I can’t afford to stock up on the majority of them. Your silks meet my needs on all levels- quality, colors, and price. And then covid gave me back my stitching mojo and caused your reemergence. 🙂
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Well, darn. I could have BEGGED years ago huh??? You can ask @abibellastitch and @sim-swank HOW MANY TIMES I asked for color names and begged them NOT to say HDF. It was always HDF.
I am thrilled you are back! And hubby just guaranteed I won’t be stopping any time soon… he bought a $1200 3D printer. He has a new toy….I have a new toy!Thank you for coming back Vikki!!!
@handdyedfibers_l7nu4kYou need to login in order to vote
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Oh she didn’t whine or beg – she is SO much more subtle. She listened to me and discussed all my possible problems, especially the pricing issue and was cross stitch strong enough for me try. It was a big money investment and I had no idea if the market would sustain yet another floss business.
Vikki
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@handdyedfibers_l7nu4k I definitely begged but I didn’t whine! LOL
Good job @Veena — we are forever in your debt!You need to login in order to vote
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and the limited edition set was a great way to see what response you would get. 🙂 I’m using many of them in Mary Wigham and they are lovely! And because I was selfish and wanted you to start dyeing again, I was pushing the LE on various boards to help prove to you there was still strong market for your threads. 🙂 And I made sure I had Veena’s blessing first since she is the unseen king maker. lol
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I KNOW YOU DID! That put it over the edge for me, honestly!
Vikki
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OMG, a couple of days away from the chat room and y’all start whispering all kinds of things about me! I really didn’t do anything. @luv2stitch2 and I were forever whining to each other about HDF shutting down and how we missed the silks and the forums, how much fun we had in those days. I am sure I wasn’t the only one nudging Vikki in the past five years 😅
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🙂 Whining is putting it mildly…it was pathetic at times. *LOL*
Happy dancing now!
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I am glad that whatever listening you all did helped Vikki to see there is still a need for her gorgeous silks. I am thrilled to be able to grab some along with the fellowship and camaraderie the HDF forums bring into my life.
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@robininvirginia, Robin, you nailed it! I get the warm fuzzies interacting with this group again. 🙂
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@gingercat Hi Ginger! Good to see you here! Hope you are well!
And @lyarrow So true about the fuzzies. Sort of like a family reunion, but never ending!
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I, for one, was ecstatic to see Vikki back. I have never been much a facebooker, so when the old site went down, I was afraid I was missing out on something! In the meantime, I was afraid to use my silks. Micro’s were fair game, but the variegated mini’s were strictly in hoard mode until something totally special came along that I absolutely had to use HDF on it. Time to slowly add to the inventory AND use some of it along the way.
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SO MANY PEOPLE have said that!!!! I was surprised at the number of you that admitted to that!
Vikki
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One of my favorites is Yawning Mountain and I have a fair amount of it. Someone had been searching for 6 months trying to collect enough to complete a large project. I shared the equivalent of a skein with her but couldn’t bring myself to give up any more than that, because even though I didn’t have a project in mind, I felt like a dragon protecting my gold. 🙂
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As I said I missed the whole she-bang but buying the usualLy called for brands of silks at $6-$7-$8 for 8.7 yds was a luxury for me. Affording then wasn’t the issue it was what my Nama used to say..
“I didn’t find anything I liked better than my MONEY!” So it was rare for me to spend $230 or more to kit up ONE color heavy sampler project. So I soo appreciate you coming back and being able to make up whatever our hearts desire in color combos!!You need to login in order to vote
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