Original Stitch

An interview with Catherine Lloyd-Evans the founder of recycled fabric loving Original Stitch.  Original Stitch make a range of beautiful handmade products for children, adults and the home using recycled fabrics and sell patterns of some of their products too.

Please tell us about OriginalStitch, what do you do?  What is your ethos?

We’re all about recycled fabrics!  More than that though, we’re all about British-made, lovingly stitched, environmentally friendly, and high quality product making.

How did you come up with the idea for the business?

I spent a year writing a blog all about my efforts to make the presents I gave – my main skill happened to be sewing, and so using recycled, second-hand, vintage, pre-loved fabrics only I stitched all manner of stuff.  Everyone loved what I made for them or for their kids and urged me to go into business.

What type of products do you sell?  What’s your bestseller?

We cut our teeth on the Kids Collection, which we still sell, and our bestsellers are the Dolly Sling and Backpacks, although the other products are great too!

Our up and coming 'Piece & Jam' Collection is free-motion embroidery and reverse applique styles in quirky, whimsical designs. We will have loads of different products available in these designs - so customers choose the product, and then select the design they want on it.  Plus we will also soon be launching our 'Stratford' Collection, which is a very classy patchwork-style collection made from beautiful soft furnishing samples, and featuring luscious cushions, suit carriers, and sofa throws to start with. 

Who sews the readymade products you sell?

Our network of lovely stitchers!  We always wanted to be scalable, not just to be making the stuff ourselves (mainly because I am rubbish at knuckling down and getting into a production line – big fault of mine!). The first stitcher I recruited, in the school harvest festival, is now my partner in OriginalStitch!  She’s a lovely stitcher – her work is meticulous, and that’s what we wanted from our stitchers. They undergo a gentle sort of ‘audition’ called the Stitcher Try Out, where they have to go through the processes they would do if they received an order from us – understanding the order, making the product, adding the labels and tags, packaging and posting to us just as if we were a customer.  Our current stitchers are Beverley, Jennie, and Katie, and we will be running another Stitcher Try Out for our new applicants from this year.

What made you decide to sell patterns of your products? 

This was a two-fold decision: firstly, I think in this business, trying to make money from your craft, you have to actually break away from some traditional business advice that says focus focus focus – in order to make money, you actually have to try and diversify and economise so that every inch and ounce of energy and effort you expend on anything can be put to use more than once.  We were working so hard on designing our patterns, that is seemed scandalous not to use the pattern-making process more, and we realised that the pattern download model could be an extra income for us.

More than that though, we also realised a key customer trend – no-one who stitches would buy products from our website!  Likewise, many people would laugh in your face if you suggested they make a backpack themselves, so we had a very unusual, very clear-cut market division – product purchasers, and stitchers.  This meant we could offer both a solution – beautiful, bespoke, homemade, handmade products for our customers; and the Pattern to make them for stitchers.

And of course, since we have to have the patterns in written format for our stitchers to use when making the products, we were halfway there already!

What format are the patterns in?

We employ a designer, Jon, who works his design magic to make our patterns look really lovely, so they are professionally produced.  I do all the sketches (and we really believe in using lots of visuals to explain the patterns), and Jon tarts them up!   And we pain-stakingly write, edit and check the recipes, often with backup from our stitchers.  Although there are difficulty ratings, we assume beginnership in every pattern, so every tiny step is thoroughly explained.

The best thing about our patterns is that there are no wordy cutting lists.  You can see at a glance exactly what you need. That’s why I call them recipes – you can easily see your ingredients.  The patterns are available for download through our site.  

Is there any kind of after sale support available to help people who may want help with the pattern?

Yes! This was borne of the online resource for our stitchers - our stitchers are ‘distance’ stitchers – they find everything they need online at the OriginalStitch Café.  It’s where they find out information about how to make the products, and check up on changes to patterns, or info on exactly where a label should go, and so on.

So when we launched our first patterns, we realised this was also the perfect place to welcome stitchers to – for help, guidance, and advice on making their patterns up. It also has photo walls, comments, status updates, etc so you can make friends there and admire each other’s stuff! When you buy your pattern online, you’re encouraged to come and join up so you can use the OriginalStitch Café as a resource.

What patterns are available at the moment?

We have the Pencil Roll, which is a perfect beginner’s recipe – lovely for kids’ presents; the Backpack recipe, the Dolly Sling which is just fabulous, and for grown-ups, the iPad Slipcase!

What new patterns are you working on at the moment?

During our design sabbatical, we’re not actively publishing patterns – but that’s where you can step in! We’d love to know which pattern people would most like to see next, and we’ll work on that one.  You can let us know your favourite pattern - and win a ready made version of the product plus a copy of the pattern here.

Do you welcome pattern ideas from others or do you design them all yourselves?

Absolutely – starting with our stitchers, we welcome designs from others. To offer a design, a maker would need to check our design guidelines to make sure their product met all our parameters, since they would be made by our stitchers, and we have very particular quality and standard guidelines; and then we would negotiate a commission they would be paid every time the product or the pattern for the product is sold. It’s worth it for us to do this, because designing products is a wonderful, exciting, but time-consuming role, and of course we are just two of the talented individuals on these shores! It would be wonderful to see a broad range of designers’ products available to buy from OriginalStitch.

What stages are involved in creating a pattern and how long does it usually take you from concept to saleable pattern?

The patterns are borne out of the product – so when we decide on a new product we want to make and sell, we are mindful that we will want to sell the pattern too. This means that even at prototype stage, we are already writing up instructions as we go along, and taking photographs which I then use to do the little sketches.  We usually make two or three prototypes to ensure we’re happy with the pattern.  Then the publishing process starts – we work with Jon to assemble all the artwork and text, and when it’s ready, we upload it to the website.

Since we’re doing this alongside all the other jobs we do running this business, and because perfectionism and attention to detail is absolutely imperative, it’s never a straightforward week’s work.  We never rush it, because it’s not fair to lumber our stitcher customers with incorrect seam allowances or sketches printed in the wrong place! That’s why we only have four patterns up at the moment – it’s a gradual process that we have to get right.   

Did you not worry that people would use your patterns to make items to sell themselves, therefore taking customers from you?

We state very clearly on our patterns that they are for personal use only and not for resale, and the patterns are our copyright, so the law is on our side.  The reality is you have to trust that people know this, and won’t do it – if they do, and we found out, we would quietly have a word, and if necessary pursue further.  There will always be dishonest people, and we can’t stop that, but I am happier selling my patterns to stitchers than hoarding them so no-one can use them.

Having said that, we are also intending to license our patterns for use by people selling stuff at fairs or online, because again – I think there are very few patterns out there that people can legitimately use – it’s a definite gap in the market.  So we are planning ‘boutique’ joint ventures – designed by OriginalStitch, made by you!  It will probably involve paying a monthly fee to use the patterns, and may also include specially designed labels, tags, pricing advice, use of the OriginalStitch Café and so on, so that it’s clear that there is a design partnership.  This was borne out of a desire to cater for makers who don’t necessarily use recycled fabrics in their products; we do, and it’s important for our brand that we can guarantee that.  But by licensing the patterns for use, and making it clear they are made by someone else, we don’t need to insist on the use of recycled fabrics, which would be very difficult to police. 

Are you on Facebook & Twitter?

Yes; please come and follow us – it would be lovely to meet you all!

www.facebook.com/originalstitch

www.twitter.com/originalstitch

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about?

Do come and say hi at our blog – it’s a no-holds barred place where OriginalStitch and life collide – we’re both mums working from home, with husbands who work long hours, so like very many of your readers, it’s a real juggling act! The blog is meant to be a light-hearted reflection of that, plus tutorials, giveaways, and other stuff. Come and say hello – don’t be shy!

Original Stitch are offering an exclusive discount code for anyone wishing to purchase any pattern or product from the site!  To get 25% off use the code 'lovesewing' at the checkout.