From midnight every day you can open a new 'advent window' and see what the special offer is for that day. Be quick though - there are only a limited number of items available each day so when they're gone, the window will close! x

When we first started selling sashiko threads many years ago, most customers hadn't even heard of sashiko never mind tried it. The ones who were brave enough to try something 'new' often stuck to traditional colours - white or cream thread on indigo fabric.

Over the years we have introduced more colours to the range and we now stock the entire range of sashiko threads from Olympus Thread Mfg. Co., Japan. These threads come in 20m and 100m skeins in a wide selection of plain and variegated colours. We have found that as sashiko becomes more well-known, customers are happy to experiment and use different coloured threads for their projects.

We have also found that a lot of customers buy multiple threads at a time online, so we have introduced a special range of sashiko thread bundles, featuring a selection of colours grouped into themes. When you buy a bundle, you get a £2 discount on the full price, which is basically a free skein of thread!

Remember, these threads are not only perfect for sashiko but can also be used for Boromono mending, big-stitch quilting and other stitched embellishments.

For a bright, fun selection, how about the 'Rainbow' bundle? All the colours of the rainbow, plus black, white and a variegated rainbow thread.

The 'Autumn' bundle evokes feelings of changing seasons, falling leaves and a long walk in the countryside followed by hot chocolate next to a roaring fire.

'Cool and Calm' is a beautiful, soft palette to soothe and refresh.

With many other thread bundles on offer, there is bound to be something that takes your fancy. Maybe this would be a perfect gift for the embroiderer or quilter who has everything? We hope you enjoy having a browse through these lovely colour collections, and let us know if you have any ideas for other themes!x

The Japan Crafts elves have been beavering away the last few weeks, not only preparing for the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate next week, but also devising some cracking '12 Days of Christmas' offers for the website.

In fact, we got so excited that we made a fun little video for you to watch!

We have also set up a special Christmas Shop page in the form of an advent calendar. There is a special offer behind each window! Check back each day to see what the offer is for that day. Can you guess what some of them might be...?x

I'm trying to give customers as much choice as possible with the sashiko samplers, and am finding that these days, people have had a go and are coming back for their second, third or more designs. It's great to be kept on my toes! But I find people like to see the finished result rather than just being told "this pattern would look nice in this colour thread", so I am constantly stitching up new designs as they are sent from Japan, as well as reworking older designs to see if they look better (or different) in other colours.

Recently I have finished the Hanabishi (Diamond Flowers) and Hanazashi (Stitched Flowers) patterns and am very happy with my colour choices. Apparently, so are customers - the Hanabishi kits sold out at the Duxford show before the end of Saturday!

I've also reworked the Kakinohana (Persimmon Flower) kit with a different colourway. Originally I wanted to make it look like persimmon fruits, with orange fruits and green leaves. It does, but since I finished the design on Halloween I also thought it resembled pumpkins! Either way, I like the calming colourway as a an alternative to the original bright pink one. At some point I will also make a sample using lemon and green thread, to resemble the actual flowers of the persimmon tree.

While I'm waiting for another order to arrive from Japan, I'm working on a Linked Crosses hitomezashi sampler. Hitomezashi uses much more thread so there is more work involved. Usually, I work the horizontal and vertical stitches first, but this time I'm starting with the diagonals. The packet calls for 6 x 20m skeins of thread(!). Originally I was going to do the horizontal/vertical crosses in cream thread and the 'links' in 100m variegated pink (the colour is much more 'pink' in real life), so I wanted to stitch the variegated thread first to see how it looked. I really like the look of the pinks, so will probably stitch the whole thing in them. I also want to see if I can get it all done with a 100m skein...wish me luck! The kit will be available as soon as I've finished x