Our face to face classes have been temporarily suspended, as you might imagine. The day after we put our website live, the situation in the UK started to drastically changed. It soon became obvious that the Easter classes would not run. The classes planned for June have been unable to go ahead. Funding streams for community art projects have temporarily closed and the opportunity to work with schools has halted.
Our biggest issue going forward is that we now have no income and most of the money we had planned to use to buy equipment is now being spent on daily living costs. As a new business, we are not entitled to government support. Undeterred, we have been thinking of different ways that we can deliver our sessions and reach people in new ways. It also gave us the chance to think about how we could reach a wider audience, on a national and international level. We decided that we would use Kickstarter as a way to each people and raise funds (in return for rewards).
What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a crowd-funding source for arts projects. The main difference between Kickstarter and other crowd-funders is that is is all-or-nothing funding. We set a target and a time limit to reach it. We set out our story and what we want to achieve. We offer rewards for pledges of varying amounts. Then we ask people to pledge. If you pledge, the money is only taken from your card if we reach our full target. If we reach our target, your pledge goes ahead. This way of raising funds is a way that we can raise money up front to get materials in bulk to fulfill our project. More about how Kickstarter works can be found here. We have set a target of £1500 by the start of July. If we meet this target, we can then use this money to get supplies and ship the rewards in August. Kickstarter is designed to help creative projects to be realised. It's a great way for us too share what we want to do. The money you pledge will also get a reward of your choice so you can be one of the first to test out kits. The money raised will be used in the following ways:
Phase ONE Phase one of our new plan is to create user-friendly kits that learners can purchase and use at home. Not just any kit, these kits will come with years of our teaching experience, explained clearly and in a way that all learners can understand. We also want to create kits that give users more creative control over what they do.
Phase TWO
These kits will provide a small profit margin that will allow us to develop more kit ideas that we have planned and to purchase vital equipment that we need to get our classes running. The recent difficulties we are all experiencing have made it very hard for us to follow our original financial plan. We would like to use any profits from the kits to invest directly into remaining equipment and resources needed for our classes to begin running and to operate efficiently. We plan to return to face-to-face classes as soon as it is safe to do so. We would also like to provide an opportunity for learners to attend our classes from home. To do this, we need to expand on our remote learning equipment and purchase additional equipment to allow this to be loaned/hired as appropriate. The assets that we still need to acquire are:
Over-locker - we can offer an enhanced experience on our sewing courses with another over-locker.
Video cameras - we need to upgrade our video recording equipment to allow us to record quality sessions that we can send to home-learners.
Printing press - we would like to upgrade to a better press suitable for wider range of print-making options.
Adjustable dummies - our sewing courses have raised a lot of interest. To offer the best experience, we would benefit from the purchase of additional adjustable dummies.
Other areas we need to address with any pledged money is as follows:
Marketing - it will take a significant amount of marketing and promotion to re-address the time lost due to Covid-19. We fully appreciate that we are all unsure of the route back to normal life. We want to adjust with the information that is provided to us and be ready to act when the time is right. Therefore, we need to work quickly and with focus with our marketing and advertising when the time is right. A percentage of the money you pledge will help us to act on this quickly and efficiently.
About the Kits
All of our kits are available as rewards. Choose a pledge amount to choose your reward.
Pencil case/sewing accessories case with SECRET SURPRISE INSIDE
For a £10 pledge you get a branded Thread and Press pencil case. Also perfect for storing your sewing accessories! In each pencil case is a special arty surprise! Could be a pencil, pen, eraser... wait and see what you get!
For a £15 pledge you can be one of the first to get one of our Draft and Create Pattern Kimono top kits!
These sewing kits don't just give you a pattern to follow - they guide you through the process of self-measuring and drafting your own pattern. Learn the basics of dressmaking and sewing construction to allow you to begin creating from the very beginning! Each pattern kit guides you through the measuring and drafting process. You also get the option for you to alter or customise your outcome! Suitable for older children or adults alike, it's a great way to learn the fundamentals of dress-making and begin your sewing journey!
Each Draft and Create Kimono top kit contains:
Instructions and measuring guidance
Pattern drafting paper
Tailor's chalk
Flexible ruler
Tape measure
Pins
Suitable for adults or older children under direct supervision (ages 9+). Please note, all instructions are in English only. Please note, this kit does not come with fabric - we want you to be able to choose your own. We also do not provide scissors - any large kitchen or multi-purpose scissors or dress-making scissors would do. For a £20 pledge you can be one of the first to get one of our Design and Make a Character kits.
This kit allows you to design your own original character design. You can then turn this into a stuffed sewn character and personalise it. Learn to sew by hand or use a machine at home to make these original and imaginative creations.
Each kit contains:
Instructions and examples
Drawing paper for your designs
A selection of fabrics (these are selected at random)
Pattern paper
Pen
Pins
A selection of embroidery threads (these are selected at random)
A reel of sewing thread
Stuffing
Needles
Felt pieces and buttons
Suitable for adults or older children under direct supervision (ages 9+). Please note, all instructions are in English only. Please note, we do not include scissors with this kit. These kits are not designed as appropriate to make toys for young children. Young children should never be given a toy you have made which is not suitably constructed as per CE standards or with any loose seams/parts. Children under 3 should not be given toys that have loose parts such as buttons or anything that could be considered a choking hazard. For a £20 pledge you can alternatively chose our Embroidery kit.
Our embroidery kits allow YOU to design a contemporary and creative embroidery. Use our examples and instructions to find out how to design your own personal imagery and compile this into an original embroidery design. We provide quality resources and with all of our kits you can contact us for help or feedback if you want it.
Each embroidery kit contains:
Instructions, example images and guidance
Drawing paper
Tracing paper
Embroidery hoop
Poly-cotton fabric
Needles
Embroidery thread (selection at random)
Fusible webbing fabric
Patterned fabric swatches (selected at random)
Fineliner pen
Magic vanishing pen
Felt for backing
Suitable for adults or older children under direct supervision (ages 9+). Please note, all instructions are in English only. Please note, we do not include scissors with this kit For a £30 pledge you can choose our Monoprinting Kit
This kit will provide you with all you need to begin experimenting with this effective printing technique at home. Out kits not only give you the resources, but provide detailed and clear instructions to help you make the best of your prints. We provide plenty of examples and inspiration to get your started. Our monoprinting kit is a great way to experiment with printmaking to create original artwork. You can use your own images or use some of the many examples we provide.
Each monoprinting kit contains:
Instructions, example images and guidance
Roller
Water-based ink (300ml black)
Poly-cotton fabric pieces
Papers
Masking tape
Ballpoint pen
Fusible webbing fabric
Tracing paper
Watercolours and brush
Suitable for adults or older children under direct supervision (ages 9+). Please note, all instructions are in English only. Please note, we do not include scissors with this kit Multi kit (monoprinting and embroidery) + gift
Pledge £45 and get the monoprinting and embroidery kits together, along with a sewing accessories bag to keep your sewing accessories in! We show you how to combine these kits for outstanding results! You won't be disappointed. Suitable for adults or older children under direct supervision (ages 9+). Please note, all instructions are in English only. Please note, we do not include scissors with this kit How your pledges will help us
To put these kits together, we need to spend time making our instructions perfect. We won't settle for anything other than the best and we need to make sure these are as fluid and easy to understand as possible. We also need to bulk buy and sort all the packs. Cash-flow is difficult at the moment, so these pledges will allow us to get the money to buy in bulk and send kits to follow. We also need to ensure out kits are compliant with any health and safety regulations as appropriate. The best bit is that you can choose a kit for the pledge that you make and be one of the first to try them out! We will keep you updated of all stages of the project via the blog on our website www.threadandpress.co.uk
Why pledge to us?
Our kits will not be like most other kits you can buy. Here are some reasons why:
We're teachers: We have years of experience teaching these techniques to learners of all ages and abilities. We know how to explain concepts and what issues to look for as you learn. We know the best way to explain things and what the best resources are for you to start with. Our packs include not only appropriate and useful materials and equipment, but also clear and thorough instructions, like you might get in a classroom environment, with the benefit of our years of experience.
We're happy to help as you learn: We want you to enjoy and learn how to use the kits. We provide the option for users to contact us and seek advice or feedback if they need it. We are teachers and we like to teach.
Our support service is exemplary: We also provide access to videos and recordings to help you make the most of these new techniques and skills.
We want you to take creative control: We want users to learn, but also to enjoy taking control of the design process. Our kits encourage you to take part in all stages of the creative and design process. We give examples and inspiration for you to use if you want it. Once you feel ready, we encourage you to create your own designs or make amendments to suit your tastes. We don't just give you instructions, we teach you how to design your own work.
Future discounts: With each kit purchased, you get a discount off future purchased kits.
Combining kits: We show you how to combine the techniques from different kits to really develop your skills.
We want to offer creative opportunities to as many people as possible: For every 10 kits purchased, we will offer one kit to someone on a significantly low income. With your pledges, we can help those in financial hardship to enjoy some of the techniques we can offer (terms and conditions apply).
By pledging to us, you are helping a creative organisation to establish themselves and provide creative opportunities to others. Community is at the heart of our objectives and we want to make a better community for all. Creativity has been the salvation for many during these periods of isolation and confinement. During these weeks we have been working hard to build and maintain a social media creative community that allows us to participate in daily creative tasks. You can find out more about the Facebook drawing group Draw and Create by clicking here to see some of the thousands of artworks that have been created since the start of this pandemic, We want to support people to continue this creative journey as we move towards a return to normality. We appreciate that this return will be difficult for some and we hope that by providing creative learning opportunities from home we can help others to stay engaged with artistic and creative endeavours. We don't expect your pledges for free and we welcome you to choose a reward from our list. We want to show you what we can do. Your support is invaluable to us and will make a huge difference to our creative offer.
Going Forward
Our classes WILL go ahead, we are just waiting for confirmation as to when it is safe to do so. We are also planning to trial some remote learning opportunities, and more details will follow. We are starting a newsletter which will allow you to find out when we are planning to be up and running. Details of how to sign up to out newsletter can be found by clicking here.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. We hope you like what you see and we are grateful for your support.
Holly and Sarah x
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