What began as a simple phone conversation between entrepreneurs blossomed into a relationship with great benefit for fabric aficionados. Stitch Simple, aiming to provide more interesting solutions for quilt backing, and Harmony Art, hoping to interest sewing enthusiasts in more regular use of wide width fabrics, have teamed up to deliver the perfect solution.
Unlike many commercially available wide width fabrics, Harmony Susalla (Founder and CCO, Harmony Art) designs 100% organic cotton wide width fabrics with the modern sewing enthusiast in mind. Rich in color palette, Susalla’s prints delight the eyes and the sumptuous choice of sateen greige goods is equally pleasing to the touch. Obviously suitable for large home décor and quilting projects, the challenge was getting consumers past sticker shock to understand the full value of wide width fabric for everyday sewing projects.
At 110 inches wide, Harmony Art’s fabrics have just over double the square inches of standard (45 inch) fabric and so are priced accordingly. “I think consumers understand they’re getting more fabric per yard,” said Stitch Simple Founder and Owner Jen Madsen. “The problem is they’re not sure how to account for the extra width when determining how much fabric to purchase and since most of it’s pretty dull, nobody put much energy into educating consumers about it. Also many consumers, particularly quilters, want to purchase small amounts of fabrics and a wide width yard or even half yard is just too much. The popularity of the standard width fat quarter is hard evidence of that.”
That’s where Stitch Simple comes in. “I think Stitch Simple is the obvious retailer to educate and expose quilters to the joy of wide width fabric,” said Susalla. As a new and growing fabric retailer known for its “Ready to Sew” fabric products and refillable “Create-Your-
Already accustomed to cutting squares, rectangles and fat quarters, Stitch Simple easily adjusted its process to accommodate Harmony Art’s wide width fabrics. And to help customers overcome the burden of accounting for extra width when figuring fabric requirements, they created a free and easy -to-use yardage calculator on their website. Moreover, they offer Harmony Art’s fabrics cut to 55 inch width as well as in 26.5” x 18” cuts (appropriately dubbed “Super Fat” quarters)-all at the same price per square inch as standard width fabrics.
About Stitch Simple
Stitch Simple provides the customer’s choice of fully prepared (prewashed, precut) fabric directly to their doorstep. Stitch Simple products include refillable CYO (Create Your Own) quilt kits, precut shapes and fully prepared yardage. Founded in 2008 by Jennifer Madsen, Stitch Simple’s office is located in Minneapolis, MN and products are available on the company website.
Contact:
Jennifer Madsen, Founder & Owner
Stitch Simple
866-610-2577, ext. 701
jen@stitchsimple.com
http://www.stitchsimple.com
About Harmony Art
Founded by husband and wife team David “Sus” and Harmony Susalla in 1998, they have focused exclusively on organic cotton fabrics since 2005. Their current production run of fabrics are processed to the Global Organic Textile Standards (http://www.global-
Contact:
Harmony Susalla, Founder and CCO
Harmony Art Organic Designs
707-884-3347
publicity@harmonyart.com
http://www.harmonyart.com
