It's launch day for my embroidery membership

I can't wait to stitch and chat with you!

Jan 30, 2024

EDIT 30th September 2024: I am working out some changes with my Embroidery Membership, so please bear with me! Most of these will come into effect in January 2025, but the Founding Member tier has been removed as of today. If you have any questions please ask!

I am so excited to launch my new hand embroidery membership through Substack today! 🥳

I’ve been creating content and designing patterns for quite a few years now, and it feels equally exciting and terrifying to be running this new paid-for space.

It’s a move into new territory, but I’m excited about the prospect of creating my own stitching community, where we’re all taking time out to be creative through the medium of hand embroidery. Every paid membership truly means so much to me, and I thank you for being here and for all your support. It has taken me months of planning and preparation, but we’re finally LIVE!

My membership will be the only place where you’ll be able to access new Hello! Hooray! pdf patterns that I release. It’s a more interactive space than selling them through my website or through Etsy, and I hope it becomes a place where we can connect and meet other stitchers whilst building our own supportive community. Everyone is welcome here and I can’t wait to stitch with you!

If you have pledged to join already, my understanding is that things will kick in automatically but this can take up to an hour. Please bear with me as the system does its thing, and just get in touch if you have any questions! The THRIVE hoop project is live now, but I will email it out again to paid subscribers shortly so that you receive it in your inboxes.

So how does it work?

My membership will alternate between a Pattern Month and a Masterclass Month.

This first month (January 2024) will be a Pattern Month, where you’ll receive the pattern for my THRIVE negative space embroidery. Included each month will be:

The pattern booklet - this includes colour and materials guides, templates and written instructions
An introductory video to get you started
The option to join in with the Q&A post for this project here on Substack - this is where we can really build our community!

Then the following month will be a Masterclass Month, which includes:

Masterclass video (recorded) related to the current pattern
Q&A video (recorded) based on community questions

After this, we’ll alternate between a Pattern Month and a Masterclass Month, with a total of 6 patterns and 6 masterclasses each year. I’ll also write exclusive posts from time to time as well.

I want everyone in my paid membership to really feel like part of a community, which is why I decided to call it a ‘membership’ rather than a ‘subscription’. But Substack does technically refer to paid options as ‘subscriptions’, and I just wanted to clarify that. I hope it’s not confusing, and please let me know if you have any questions about this.

If you’re new to Substack then you might find this post useful, as it explains the different elements of Substack and how I’ll be using them.

Paid subscription options at a glance

Here are a few more details about what’s included with the monthly, yearly and Founding Member options:

Monthly - £10 per month

Bi-monthly Pattern or Masterclass (depending on which month you sign up)
Free monthly newsletter

Yearly - £96 (equivalent to £8 per month, billed annually)

Bi-monthly Pattern or Masterclass
Access to the stitching community
Free monthly newsletter
Saving of £2 per month on the monthly plan

Founding Member - £150 for 1 year (equivalent to £12.50 per month, billed annually)

Bi-monthly Pattern or Masterclass
Access to the stitching community
Access to the full Hello! Hooray! pdf pattern archive for 1 year - worth over £130!*
1 hour live group Q&A session (to be arranged during the year)
Free monthly newsletter

*Excludes patterns included in magazines and in my books.

The Hello! Hooray! pdf pattern archive

From today (30th January 2024), the only place you’ll be able to access my complete back catalogue of embroidery patterns will be through my Founding Member paid membership on Substack.

The Pattern Archive currently contains 20 patterns, and as we move through the year all of the membership projects will be added. If you sign up for the Founding Member subscription, you’ll pay a little extra to support my work and receive access to the archive as a thank you.

The Pattern Prchive includes previous bestsellers, including Keep Going, Trust the Process and the Roald Dahl Sunbeams hoop and banner. You’ll be able to access and download any of these patterns direct from my Substack page throughout the time that you’re subscribed as a Founding Member.

You won’t be able to purchase these patterns anywhere else, they’re exclusive to Founding Members!

The first pattern that we’ll be stitching is my THRIVE hoop!

I’m really excited to be launching my membership with this design, and I know you’ll adore stitching it as much as I did. It’s perfect for stitchers of all levels - if you’re a beginner then you’ll be able to follow the video tutorial to see exactly how to stitch it. More experiences stitchers will also enjoy stitching this negative space hoop too!

Sign up in the launch month and receive a free bonus pattern!

If you sign up to my paid membership from now until the 28th February 2024, you’ll receive a free bonus pattern! My JOY hoop is the perfect project to go with this month’s THRIVE pattern. Originally created for Workshop Week in 2022, this is the first of the trilogy of patterns creating JOY, BLOOM, THRIVE. Is it the new live, laugh, love?! I’ve written a post about that for everyone to read for free, which you can read here.

BLOOM was the second hoop I designed in the trilogy, which is a project from my new book The Modern Embroidery Handbook (out next month - eek!). THRIVE completed the set, and it felt right for me to launch with this design this month. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Please note: the JOY pattern will be included for anyone who signs up to any level of 28th February 2024. It will move to the Hello! Hooray! pattern archive on 29th February 2024.

Are you ready to get stitching?

You’ll find everything you need to get started on the THRIVE hoop here (and it’s also in the ‘Embroidery Membership’ section at the top of my Substack homepage too). Don’t forget to introduce yourself over in the comments there and tell us that you’re getting started!

FAQs

Here are a few things that will hopefully answer your questions about this membership. If your question isn’t answered here then please leave me a comment on this post or send me a message and I’ll get back to you asap.

Why isn’t every month a Pattern Month?

The reason I wanted to release patterns bi-monthly is mainly to give us a chance to stitch it. Because let’s face it, one design a month feels unachievable for many of us (myself included!).

I also wanted to be able to really focus in on a stitch or skill in a masterclass, and to give everyone a chance to ask questions about the project too. One pattern per month just felt really rushed, and hand embroidery isn’t something to rush or power on through. I want us all to enjoy the process, and be around to chat and support each other whilst we do it.

Another reason for bi-monthly patterns is that I’ll be stitching ahead a little, so from a personal perspective this allows me to plan my time around home education and other projects a bit better.

Can I start stitching the project before the Masterclass Month?

Yes! You’ll get full instructions and a video showing you how to get started when you sign up for the pattern. So you don’t need to wait for the Masterclass, you can work at your own pace and join in with the Masterclass in the next month if you continue to subscribe.

What if I want to sign up to your paid membership in a Masterclass Month? Can I still get the pattern?

If you sign up to my paid membership in the Masterclass Month, you will have the option to purchase the current pattern at any time within that month. You’ll need to contact me directly for this via the link in the subscriber area, so you won’t be able to purchase the pattern separately if you are not signed up to my paid subscription for that month.

When the next new pattern is released, the previous pattern and masterclass will then only be available to Founding Members.

Can I purchase one of the archive patterns individually?

Unfortunately not. The complete Hello! Hooray! archive is only available to Founding Members as part of their yearly membership (from 30th January 2024 onwards).

Can I upgrade my subscription?

Yes! You can upgrade at any time by updating your subscription plan. Find out more about how to do that here.

Please note that if you cancel your membership, you will no longer have access to the paid posts once the end of the billing period is reached. You can find out more about cancelling your subscription here.

Substack have a really great FAQs page for readers here, where you’ll find everything you need to know about paid subscriptions.

Are physical materials included in this subscription?

No, physical materials are not included in the subscription. You will need to source any fabrics, threads etc. yourself to stitch the designs. A full materials list is included in each new Project Month. Any materials referred to during a Masterclass will also be listed for paid subscribers.

Why is it £10 per month or £8 a month for yearly subscribers? Isn’t that a bit expensive?

The cost of my subscription has been carefully calculated, and reflects the amount of work required to create the visual, written and downloadable content. Designing and running my subscription is no small task, and I believe it is excellent value for money. Here is a breakdown of costs for transparency:

Substack takes a 10% fee for paid subscriptions, and Stripe payment fees are also an additional cost.

For a yearly subscription at an equivalent of £8 per month (billed annually at £96), Substack takes 80p and Stripe fees are roughly 50p. This means I receive around £80.40 (equal to £6.70 a month) per subscription, which is in line with the cost of previously purchasing one of my PDF patterns from my online shop at £6.50. For a monthly subscription at £10, I receive around £8.50 per subscription.

The Founding Member subscription works out at an equivalent of £12.50 per month (although billed annually at £150), and I receive around £127.56 per subscription. This level also includes full access to the Hello! Hooray! Pattern Archive for the duration of the subscription at this level.

I really hope you’ll join my new membership and I can’t wait to stitch with you! 😊