Why I can't take in any more commissions for Christmas, and why I can't encourage people to copy my work...

 

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"You see the handprint cushions? They were inspired by MY children, whose hands I held on a late winter walk as we stepped across stones in the stream. I shed a tear at the speed my six-year-old's hand had transformed from other, pudgy, almost-two-year-old hand I was holding..."

I have turned down many, many requests for custom items this month, and it makes me sad. Not just sad that I can't grow my business at the speed that my customers can support me with, but also sad because in all honesty I could do with the extra boost to Christmas funds! Like everyone else who celebrates Christmas, it's pretty expensive for us, too. It's also my son's birthday in December, and extra money would be really useful. But I just can't take on any more work at the moment. Bear wih me...

I'd love to be able to help people out when they come to me a few weeks before Christmas, but I have already been working really hard for months to maximise best use of my time in the run-up to the festivities. I've been taking Christmas orders since July, offering an early reservation scheme to those who follow me on Facebook, because those are the people who are with me all year, and I think it's only right they get first dibs! Then there are people who have only just heard about my work, and who are really keen, so I save November for them. But still there isn't enough time.

Here's why I can't keep squeezing in "just one more cushion" or that Doodlebroidery commission that "would mean the absolute world" to your mum. You see, if I take on three more orders, that's another day's work. Like everyone else, there are weeks when I'd love to be able to tag a day onto the end so I get time to do everything on my job list, but - like everyone else - I'm stuck with the seven days! I'm also stuck with postal cut offs, and you are too: you need to receive your orders in time to admire them, wrap them and send them on to your Granny or your sister.

Bigger than all of that is that if I take on too much work, I risk jeopardising every commission I have in my order book. Nobody wants to think that the special embroidery they've worked hard to save for gets rushed off late on Saturday night after I've entertained a hall of five-year-old boys and I'm too tired to give 100% of my attention to the positioning Granny's glasses! When you commission a piece of work - something handmade, unique and extra-special - there's an unspoken agreement that there will be extra attention to detail and a piece of the maker in the finished item. If we makers take on too much, that is lost. 

And here's why I can't recommend someone else who might be able to rush you off a copy of my work. I have put almost five years of my life into Hop Stitch Jump. I have worked late at night - sometimes through the night - to build a business that helps to make ends meet while allowing me to take care of my children, too. It's hard, it's not that glamourous, and it doesn't pay that brilliantly, but I love the flexibility it offers us as a family and I have enjoyed every minute I've spent learning new skills and pushing myself. You know what else? It's MY work. Those are my ideas, my skills and my expertise in that near-perfect embroidery of your child's beautiful family portrait. Before those entirely handmade cushions that are designed and washed and cut and embroidered and piped and zipped and ironed and filled and packaged, there were mistakes: there were zips I couldn't attach properly, embroideries that were too big for the cushion fronts, handwriting I wasn't happy with. You see the handprint cushions? They were inspired by MY children, whose hands I held on a late winter walk as we stepped across stones in the stream. I shed a tear at the speed my six-year-old's hand had transformed from other pudgy almost-two-year-old hand I was holding. I went home and drew around three little hands, each one an echo of the one smaller, and I made myself a cushion. My own children and our memories of that lovely day are in every handprint cushion I make for you and your beautiful families, in the very fabric of the gifts you give. I didn't do all of that to hand it over to someone else at the last minute.

I'm genuinely sorry that I can't guarantee any more commissions in time for Christmas. I am very grateful to those of you who have already booked in to keep me busy in January, and to those who have ordered cushions for Mother's Day instead of Christmas. I am delighted that so many people are happy to give gift vouchers instead. Your dedication to supporting handmade is amazing! Thank you all.

Catherine xxx