How to get the best deal and a few bargains

I wish we could offer free shipping.... Postage is going up all the time, and the rates for different regions, parcel sizes and values mean that it's impossible to flat-rate or reduce our postage charges.

So, I have a few tips for you on getting the BEST VALUE....
I pay three lovely ladies to work on each order individually - giving you the attention you'd get if you just walked into your local sewing supplies store. They spend a lot of time packing, weighing, invoicing your order, and then emailing you to personally to make sure you're happy with it, and organising payment. They're happy to discuss your order via email or on the phone and give advice on the products. We also ship things out as soon as payment is received.

We believe that this service makes us unique in the online shopping world - and it saves you the hassle of getting out to the shops (including saving on parking, petrol and hassles with small kids in fabric stores...) but the $3 packaging and handling fee we charge barely covers the cost to me. However, I'm aware that it can be a substantial add-on cost to a small order (say, for one pattern).

Have you thought about getting together with a friend or two - your craft group, perhaps? - and putting in a group order? You will only be charged for one handling fee and your portion of the postage will more than likely be cheaper than to pay for a small parcel.

Or think about what else you might need to complete the project you're working on and make one order rather than two. If you scroll down to the bottom of each age in the shopping cart, there is a tab called "related products"...take a look!

If your parcel is under 5kg and you're within Australia, the cheapest shipping is often via courier flat-rate 1kg, 3kg or 5kg satchel. These days, we're finding courier more reliable than the postal service and insurance is included in the price of the satchel (unlike the infinitely variable add-on insurance with the postal service). It can save you a substantial amount in shipping charges to have your parcel delivered by courier.

To request Courier delivery, make sure you give us a delivery address where somebody can receive the parcel during business hours... perhaps your work address. (You can update your address as you place your order). Then, when you choose your delivery method, choose "COURIER".

While we're on the subject of saving money, we have a few specials on at the moment... like this lovely medium-weight interfacing... I accidentally ordered the wrong code, and what we received is slightly lighter than our usual medium-heavy interfacing. Same-same but different....
The swatch on the left hand side is our usual Medium-Heavy and the one on the right is the new one. The new one is a little lighter, a little more gauze-like (you can see more green cutting board through it in the photo, above).

It fuses beautifully and gives almost the same support as the Medium-Heavy, but it's not what we usually supply. For the sake of consistency in our stock, I'd like to clear this roll at a discount price. We'll deduct 33% from the usual price (making it $7.37 plus GST, per metre).

To order it, just order the usual medium-heavy (HERE), but leave a comment in the comment box with your order to specify that you want the DISCOUNT INTERFACING.

We also received a ridiculously large proportion of grey zips in our last delivery of mixed zips. They are all sorts of lengths but all the same colour - a sort of mid-grey that reminds me of school uniforms. I'm happy to see them go at $4 per bundle of 15 ($3.64 if you live outside Australia). At that price, they are not the least bit precious and could be used for toiles (muslins) or for practising your zipper-insertion techniques. Goodness, you might even sew lots of grey fabric....

You can order them HERE. I've added a "grey only" option in the shopping cart, which will give you the correct discount price.

In these lean times, a few savings here and there add up. I hope these tips help you out....

Oh no! Not AGAIN.....!!!!

It appears that my website has been a bit too popular, and has blown bandwidth allowance again.

Hopefully we'll have it sorted out very soon. EDITED TO ADD: Lovely web hosties sorted it out for me. Thanks, web hosties. I'll upgrade my plan (again) very soon!

I'm listening....

We've had a few requests for double purse frames lately, so I thought I'd try getting a few in. These frames are 150mm (6") with a curved edge, and are available here. If you like (and buy!!) them, I'll be able to continue the supply. I may even get around to making a pattern for them ...eventually. I have a few 150mm purse frames in CHUNKY style (like the 200mm chunky frames, only shorter!!). They're available here. And we also have some 200mm Chunky frames with loops for a purse chain. (We also have the chain). I think these would look cute on the Kiss Purse. We've had a lot of requests for o-rings that can be opened and linked onto other loops or eyelets. I found these.... 60mm diameter with 4mm wire. We also have some new antique o-rings. These are 25mm (1") and in 3mm wire, and you can find them in the shop here.

During an overhaul of postage prices (thanks Australia Post for giving us reason to do this on a regular basis....), we've taken the opportunity to make a much-needed increase to our packaging and handling fee (from $2 to $3 per order).

This will go some way towards paying for the time it takes the lovely office gals to give you the best service they can and find the most economical postage method for you.... as well as pay for bubblewrap, tissue paper, labels, sticky tape and envelopes. Rather than increasing all our prices, I felt that the "user pays" method would be fairer.

(So... the more you order per order, the better for you..... How's that for justifying your stash-building???)

Ummm....we have a problem....

Something about BANDWIDTH...... and a disappeared website. (Me no understand.... me pay for huge bandwidth allowance).

Back soon.... I hope. EDITED TO ADD - we're back!

We're now part of the Pattern Review Shop!

It's all happening over at the Pattern Review pattern shop. Have you seen the latest addition to their pattern range?

Yep! Nicole Mallalieu Design patterns are now available through the PR shop!

You can place your order through Pattern Review and benefit from the Friends of PR discount (and at the moment - the drop in the value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar! We had to standardise the currency conversion and the shipping rate when our dollar was stronger, so right now if you're in the USA, Europe or Asia, you can get a better deal through Pattern Review than through us).

For now, it's just the patterns in the PR shop, as it's nigh-impossible to calculate a single flat-rate of postage that would take in the size and weight range of the kits (and still be fair to all). But as PR takes on more international suppliers, the options for postage may become more flexible. That could open up all sorts of possibilities.

If you want to do some calculations, here are a few links -
Currency Conversion calculator
Our Pattern Review Shop page
Our shop
Our shipping rates (or link from this page)

We'll still be shipping from Australia (hence the postage rate differeing from those sent from the USA) and the PR store has no field for a "within Australia" rate, so if you're in Australia or New Zealand, you're probably better off shopping directly with us or one of our local stockists.

We're a bit excited about it. Hope you are, too....

...
PS. Yes, the new pattern will be available on PR when we release it here.
PPS. Did you join the giveaway?

Special Clearance

We have a finite quantity of these lovely 50mm "antique brass" o-rings in stock, so we're running them out at 20% off the usual price. See them HERE.

They're made with sturdy 4mm wire and are versatile rings for all sizes of bag. Get in quick before they're gone!

A welcome surprise!

The business of bag hardware supplies is a tricky business, indeed. Sometimes you can search for a product for years and be told that it can't be done ...and then one day, when you least expect it (read: when you've ordered something completely different) it arrives, and is LOVELY. That day was yesterday.

We now have 38mm square edged rings in antique brass, and they're in the shop. (The light was terribly for photos today so we have to make do with this pic til the sun shines again).

We're wondering what happened to our order for 32mm antique brass flat rings, but we're really not too cross that it was botched.

Question time

Question mark made of puzzle pieces
Originally uploaded by Horia Varlan

We've finally organised an FAQ page for the website. It answers (strangely enough) all the questions we find ourselves answering a lot.

So we now have...

• an ordering information page (updated tonight)
• an about the patterns page
• a tips and tutorials page (to answer your sewing questions) and
• a Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you can think of anything I need to add to any of these, please let me know!

SERIOUS ANNOUNCEMENT -
We're having a bit of an issue with our emails being rejected by some servers. Apparently we look a bit like spam (especially to COMCAST and HOTMAIL addresses).

If you ever email us and never hear back, please check your junk mail filter, add us to your "allowed" list and email us again. If you have an alternative email address, perhaps you could send us an email from that. You can read more about it on the FAQ page...

Special Deliveries

One delivery today stopped me in my tracks and made me make a Fedora in Anna Maria Horner fabric.

Very exciting to see Vilene S320 again - come all the way from Germany especially to see me. I'm still as besotted with it as I was was time it was in town. It is the BEST hat interfacing I've ever used (and I've made a LOT of hats!). For this Fedora I used two layers of S320 on each piece of the hat. Even after being scrunched to bits while I was sewing, it pressed back into perfect shape and holds its form. It's in the shop HERE!

Also SUPER-CUTE little zipper pulls arrived!! The motifs are a very tactile rubbery material. The attachment rings connect directly to the existing zipper tab to make zippers easier for little hands to manage on kid's clothes. They also make a simple coin purse look special (and make it easier to open and close) and would be sweet on handbags (or kid's backpacks) as well. Practical and cute - gotta love that.

They're $3.65 each... AND THEY'RE NOW IN THE SHOP!

We also have a small quantity of Birch Bias Maker sets - sizes 12mm, 18mm and 25mm for . They're not Clover (although these days they're trying hard to look like them... notice the colour scheme...?) but it's a set of 3 for $17.95. A cheap and cheerful alternative - NOW IN THE SHOP.

And we have a small quantity of 19cm round bamboo handles - a really nice quality handle - running out at $6.50 a pair. They're being discontinued so they're a finite resource.

PS. Ok, I admit the Fedora is only blog-finished. That hatband is just sitting there, pretending to be sewn on. I thought I'd get away with it but it's looking a bit loose and free there.

Great Excitement!!

All button-covering addicts will be happy to hear that the BULK quantities of our self-cover buttons have now come in!!

12mm bulk packs are available HERE

19mm packs are HERE

and 23mm packs are HERE.

The tools are sold separately. Remember to add one to your order if you don't already have one from a previous kit.

And do you remember those fabulous zipper pulls that we used to love and sell....?

They really add that certain-something to a bag or garment, and they make zips a lot easier to grip, open and close.

I'm VERY excited, because we now have the full range BACK IN STOCK! Still $1.45 each. Check them out HERE!

We still have the tutorial here in case you need to see how (easy it is) to attach them.


And of course, there is still great excitement about the TULIP DRESS being nearly finished, and about my GIVEAWAY.

Smoke and Mirrors... and duckbill scissors.

In the past, taking photos has involved more of my multi-dextrous and contortionist skills than my ability to use a battered Kodak Easyshare.... There are often reflector boards (usually Peltex or Vilene S520) held with one hand (or foot ...or teeth) while the other does the camera-work.

After a brief hiatus (while I manned the office so Ann Marie and Leah could attend sick kids for a few days), today I got back to the business of finishing a magazine article that needed photos. But first I built something amazing...... out of foam-core board and balsa wood.

I held it to the benchtop with the clamp from an Ikea lamp ...and made hinges out of strapping tape. All super high-tech.

It reflects the afternoon light in my studio perfectly.


...so I can get on with the business of sewing and snapping those necessary step-by-step shots. I can move the sewing machine and tilt the "wings" to soften shadows without having to look like I'm playing a game of Twister.

Sorry - can't show you what I'm sewing. Instead, I'll show you what came in today (along with fresh supplies of button kits!).

Duckbill scissors!! - AVAILABLE HERE!

Apparently they're not as easy to find in Spotlight or Lincraft as I thought.... so it's high time I stopped teasing people with mine and offered them for sale in my shop.

Edited to add - Don't know what duckbill scissors are?.... You can see them in action here.
I also use mine for everything that needs sharp pointy scissors (thread trimming, snipping holes for magnetic snaps...) because they have super-sharp points and have ergonomically designed handles that make them comfortable and easy to use. I love them so much I have TWO pairs (so I can always lay my hands on them without having to go looking!!)

A very... very... deep breath....

and press "publish"....

Take a peek here, and let me know what you think.


When we set out to upgrade the website we had no idea what a can of worms it would be. (Poor Joe, our ever-patient web-developer had no idea what we handed to him, either...). We eventally tamed those worms and we now have a functional shopping cart that ties in with the "brochure" pages of the original website.

Page redirects are still being done, so there may be a few links to old pages today. Links from this blog (and from others) to my old website may or may not work after the page redirects are done (depending whether the bookmark is to a particular part of a page or to a simple page address) and there may be a few other "quirks" left to iron out. Please bear with us and let us know if you can see something that needs to be fixed.

But mostly - have a look. Tell your friends to have a look....

A lot of "AAARRRRGGH!".... a bit if "Oh!" ... and a big "Awwww!"

Well.. after MONTHS of editing and linking and tweaking.... checking and tweaking and testing... at last the new whizz-bang shopping cart was ready to go live. I installed the SSL certificate to make it all secure and hunky-dory....

And now THIS MESSAGE is popping up all over the place!!

AAAARRRRRGGGGGGH!

The offender is the new Internet Explorer (and yes - I've happily switched to Firefox, but 67% of people using my website use Explorer). The worst thing is that it's the embedded Flickr images that are not SSL compliant.... the images that are right throughout the website....

So... the last few days have been fairly stressful - phone calls and emails and fiddling with web code.... and whichever way we do it, it's going to be a LOT of work.

In the meantime, a bit of information about the message is a good thing. Thanks to Carmel, I have this very useful link - including a way to stop the message popping up. The other option is to keep clicking on "NO" every time the message pops up. It's safe to do that but it's very, very annoying.


Oh, and there has also been good news (which will involve a lot of work, too). I'd rather be doing that than the web stuff. More on that later.

And the "AWWWW".....?


My assistant went out on her own yesterday. "I want to make a bag," she said. I gave her the fabric and scissors and threaded up the machine - electricity ON. She needed help with the strap placement but she did the rest all by herself. It's just the right size to hold a small post-it note pad, and we're all as proud and as pleased as punch with it, I can tell you!

News to me.. and to you.

I was about to give up on the new "DONE BUT WITH ERRORS ON PAGE" version of Internet Explorer (in fact, I still might...). Too many things that are supposed to scroll, roll and appear simply don't.... until you click this little button....

Apparently it's the "compatability view" button. I had no idea it existed... did you?

One little click and things magically work again! ....Sometimes. (I still can't get the Amazon "look inside" reader thingamy to work... which could be seen as a good thing for my visa card, but is slightly annoying because it worked perfectly on the old version of Explorer).

SO... I'm thinking of changing things here. If you have any hot tips for what I should be changing to, I'd love to to hear what browser you use for the internet.. and why...?

Anyway - the news to you is that the winner of the September "Spend over $50" draw prize was Gillian H in Canberra. She won a $20 voucher to spend in our squeaky-clean and nearly finished shopping cart website. (There are virtual "wet paint" signs and stepladders everywhere, but that's part of the charm, hey Gillian?). We drew the prize and told Gillian but I forgot to mention it here (sorry!).

Which brings me to this months draw prize.... If you spend over $50 in the month of October, your invoice number will go into the random number generator and you could win some haberdashery or gadgets. You can choose two from this list...

Clover yo-yo maker, Clover seam ripper...Clover iron-on transfer pencil, Clover white marker Pen...

Rajah cloth, air-soluble marker pen...

Saddlers punch or a packet of each of the sewing machine needles (two packets as one choice). And I'll throw in a little surprise something-or-other on top of that.

And the new shopping cart is close... very close... to completion. Yay.

Looking up...

I've been lost in a sea of HTML... tweaking and tidying. Making things consistent. Checking links.

Not allowed (my rule) to while away the hours roaming the blogosphere until I get this *!@#% new website sorted out.

Lately, photos all look something like this... (By the way - these are the new 25mm antique brass flat o-rings.... cute, huh?).

Today there was a whiff of jasmine on the breeze and I realised that Spring was here. I looked up and around... and decided that COLOUR was needed in my mind's eye (and indeed my blog). I picked up my battered happy-snapper and took some shots around the studio.

The replacement Fedora. Still orange - and yes, it's Ikea fabric.

I used a combination of my medium-heavy interfacing and Vilene S320 in the crown, and it worked a treat. S320 is like a fine version of S520 and sadly you can't get it in Australia... yet (but watch this space!). You may be able to find it in Europe - it's well worth a try if you're into making stiff fabric hats or bags.

Fabric and hardware. Contrasts of colours and textures. New ideas brewing.

A small slouch and kids hat set... started before I went to Sydney but not finished in time (...and still no flowers on the hat).

A line of make-up purses... with their nice neat zipper ends!

Then I realised I was 10 minutes late for kinder pick-up time.... oops!

And now it's back to the HTML.... apologies for the lack of bloggy visits and comments while I'm flapping around in web code. See you soon.