Excellent service, excellent product - highly delighted.
Wow, these people really saved my bacon. I was in the middle of making 3 quilted "Man's Best Friend" Advent calendars and realised I didn't have sufficient fabric to complete them.
I was using "In Snow" to back my Advent calendars and had 3 to complete. However, because I add borders and binding to my Advent calendars, they end up pretty wide and long. "In Snow" is a "one-way-lay" which limits the direction one can use it and because I add the borders, I couldn't get 2 backs out of one width of fabric.
I went back to the shop where I originally bought it and predictably they had none. I tried so many branches in different towns and couldn't get any.
"Holey Moley Crafts" came up on a Google search and seemed pretty good and had the amount of stock I required at a competitive price. Delivery charges were reasonable so I put an order in for 4 metres.
Then panic. I had never ordered from "Holey Moley Crafts" before. My greatest concern was that the fabric would arrive in 4 separate pieces and I wanted it to be a continuous 4 metre long length.
I needn't have worried. Poor patient Emma was very understanding when I was following up my order with email and answering machine messages. She responded really quickly and when she said that her Mum and sister were in the shop preparing my order I pretty much knew I had ordered from the right place. It was all really reassuring.
The order arrived the next day - very impressive and everything was perfect, no faults in the fabric and the quantity was what I had ordered.
Incidentally, I love backing my quilts and Advent calendars with a gorgeous fabric from the same range as the Advent panel. It finishes it off really beautifully and gives the recipient a lovely surprise when they turn it over. I figure the fabric manufacturers make these extra fabrics for a reason so why not use them. I also make a calico storage bag with a label for each calendar saying what's inside but because I top and tail it with the backing fabric, I can see from the outside what it contains. It harmonises the whole project and gives a sense of completion.
One of the "Man's Best Friend" Advent calendars is being given to our local veterinary practice today as a thank you for all their help this past year particularly with a 3-legged cat who got dumped in our garden last January during Storm Jocelyn. Although we have cats, we love dogs too and obviously so do the staff at the vet's. When I saw this Advent panel I just loved the doggy design. Fingers crossed, they bring out a cat one for next year.
This probably won't be my last order from "Holey Moley Crafts." They seem to be just the sort of local family business we should all be supporting. In the city where I am living we lost all our fabric shops and sewing machine sellers/repairers - basically because people just didn't support them. We have a few branches of a chain of department stores which sell some fabric but I'm beginning to suspect they only get stock in rather late in the season so once it's gone, it's gone. I'll be signing up for the "Holey Moley Crafts" email newsletter so I get notice of products I might need for later in the year. That should save some worry.
Thank you Emma, Mum & Sis. It's brilliant to see people still providing a service of high quality which has that personal touch. That's something that's sadly lacking with a lot of our retailers nowadays. Special mention for the fact that "Holey Moley Crafts" use recyclable packing products.
It's dreadful when your town loses those lovely family-run fabric and craft businesses. They add such colour, vibrancy and positivity to a place. So glad "Holey Moley Crafts" are there - I shall continue to support them when I can even if it's only through mail order.
