Behind the Scenes: Production Milestones, Color Waves, and a Surprising Material Discovery!
It has been an absolutely whirlwind of a week here at Thistlecraft, and I am typing this with a massive smile on my face. If you’ve been following our journey to bring premium, high-quality perforated paper back to the needlework community, this week brought some of our biggest milestones yet.
Here is exactly where things stand and a sneak peek at what’s coming next!
From Rolls to Sheets: Production is Officially Underway!
The biggest news of the week is that our base paper has officially arrived at the converter to be perforated! Watching this project transition from technical specifications and material sourcing into actual, physical production is incredibly exciting.
Alongside production, we finalized our standard packaging strategy. We want our paper to arrive at your door safely and beautifully, so we’ve locked in a sturdy, protective design that prevents transit damage while keeping the materials sustainable and eco-friendly.
An Overwhelmingly Enthusiastic Response
With production in motion, we began reaching out to local needlework shops and independent designers in earnest to introduce them to Thistlecraft Heritage Paper. To say the response has been enthusiastic would be a massive understatement.
The feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive that it has completely disrupted our original timeline—in the best way possible! We originally didn’t plan to offer colors until Year 2. However, based on the immediate demand from designers and shop owners, I have officially moved up our timeline for producing colors. I am already in discussions with our paper provider to see what colors we can secure and how quickly we can get them into production. Stay tuned, because by spring we might have a whole garden of colors to offer you!
A Surprising Breakthrough: Yes, You Can Dry-Clean It!
While reviewing the technical specifications and structural safety sheets for our base paper this week, I uncovered a major, unexpected win: our paper can be dry-cleaned.
Traditional perforated papers can twist, degrade, or completely fall apart if they get wet. Knowing that our heavy-weight, rip-resistant substrate can safely handle dry-cleaning adds an entirely new layer of heirloom durability to your finishes. If a finished ornament or framed piece collects dust over the years, it can be safely refreshed without ruining your hard work.
How to Stay in the Loop (and Join the Community)
We are actively building our launch mailing list ahead of our February Kickstarter campaign, where we need to reach an $80,000 funding goal to fully establish our operations. We are currently setting up a regular newsletter to give our subscribers exclusive, behind-the-scenes production logs and first notice when reward tiers go live.
We also want to make sure you have a space to connect right now, so we have officially launched the Thistlecraft Facebook Group! Whether you want to share your current works-in-progress, ask for guidance on paper stitching techniques, or connect directly with indie designers who are just as passionate about paper needlework as we are, we would love to have you.
Over the next week or two, my sister and I will be staging and taking photos for our Instagram and website. We’ll be showcasing unique finishes and dimensional projects that truly only work when using a crisp, sturdy medium like perforated paper.
Thank you all so much for your incredible support, your trust, and your shared excitement. We are building thoughtful tools for intentional makers, and we are so glad you are on this journey with us.
Happy stitching!
Jessica
Founder, Thistlecraft
