Melinda and I have finished our Try A Little Kindness crewels!
Looking at our finished pieces together like this, my color “mistakes” are pretty obvious, but I think they both look great! I’m not upset that I messed up the colors, but I like the colors as called for in Melinda’s as well.
I just need to nail my frame on there and it’s all done!
Here’s Melinda’s added to her perfectly balanced and staged collection:
And here’s mine slapped up on my wall with the others, not staged or spaced or anything, with no thought to balance or design.
I need to work on making this wall look better, but I’ve got something in the works that needs to be added first. I’m currently working on my first, original crewel design! I can’t wait to show it to you – I’m super excited about it! I actually have several in the works and I’m thinking about making kits available for sale if people like them. Maybe you can help me with a little market research. How much would you pay for a crewel kit for a wall hanging the size of the Try A Little Kindness or God Bless Our Pad one? How much would you pay for a pillow kit? The style will be similar to the things you see in this last picture here. Thanks friends!
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19 COMMENTS
Tasha
12 years agoWhat an awesome idea!! I think one of the reasons I haven’t tried crewel work is that I don’t have any kits and most modern kits are kind of butt ugly, so I totally get the idea of wanting to create kits. Although frankly I have no clue as to pricing! My initial help in your “market research” showed a huge range of pricing, from the $25 range for something basic but similar-sized at JoAnn’s to over $150 at Purl Soho for a pillow kit. I’m going to guess that folks wanting a vintage-inspired crewel kit aren’t likely to spend $150 on it. lol Whatever you come up with, I know it will be amazing. Good luck!
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORTasha, those are my thoughts exactly! It’s SO hard to find the good vintage kits at any price, and the modern ones are definitely butt ugly! Plus, there are very few modern crewel kits to be found at all.
Kate
12 years agoI hope that you do make some kits and that you will ship internationally. I’d love to do one. For a sampler I’d happily pay £60, which is about $100.
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORKate, I will gladly ship internationally, and I am hoping to price the kits quite a bit lower than that!
torie
12 years agoI want to try making one!
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORYay! I’m glad I’m bringing you over to the dark side 🙂
Melinda!
12 years agoI actually love the way you hang them! To me it looks legit, like a vintage way of hanging things. It reminds me of estate sales. Your photos look like they could have been taken decades ago! I’m so in love with my ‘TALK’ crewel and I can’t wait to see your design! I would buy more crewel kits if I could find awesome un-butt ugly ones for $50 or under. But since we payed $90 for my talk kit I would go higher for an amazing design!! Thank you so much for including me in the stitch along!!
tammyCA
12 years agoBoth turned out great. I prefer the lighter color background of yours and I really don’t see any “mistakes”…but, you both did a nice job.
LaurenT
12 years agoLove how both of them turned out! I am interested in crewel and would for sure be interested in buying a kit! I’ve done a lot of needlework in my time but never crewel, so this would be fun. The top of my personal price range for a kit of the size you are describing would be in the area of $50. But maybe other folks have deeper pockets than me! lol…
linda h
12 years agoWhere did Melinda put the crewel picture that was originally in that spot.?
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORGood question Linda! I’ll ask her 🙂
Kat
12 years agoNow the song, “Cruel (Crewel?) to be Kind” is going through my head! As for pricing, I find lots of ’70s-era Sunset Stitchery and similar kits at our local thrift store, and the ones on eBay seem to go for $20 or less.
Rachel Meyers
12 years agoI cannot find these anywhere and absolutely love your crewel decorating! Thank you so much for sharing it… would you please email me if you do decide you could put together a set… I really, really, really did I say really? want to make one for our home and they just are not available. Pretty, pretty please… with chocolate on top. I cannot pay $100 but know it would be more than $25 for a kit. Please let me know!
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORHi Rachel! I should have my first kit ready in the next couple of weeks so keep checking the blog and I’ll email you when they’re ready too!
Rachel Meyers
12 years agoWonderful, thank you for letting me know!!
Allie
12 years agoI would buy any and all of them. I drool over your hangings all the time. If you make some I would love to know. Also, I have a few pieces I have collected over the years, do you have any experience getting stains out (especially if the stain is on the wool thread)?
Betty
12 years ago AUTHORAllie, I would recommend soaking the piece in the bathtub with OxyClean and warm water. That’s my go-to usually and I’ve had good luck w/ crewel pillow covers this way.
As for the wall hangings, my first one is available now in the Shop portion of my site!
Mel
12 years ago$50-$75!