Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

For charts:

I'm waiting on my first order from http://www.store.xstitchgirls.co.uk" target="_blank" to arrive in the mail. I asked for the charts on disk rather than by PDF because I ordered enough to choke my webmail account and I'm stuck with only dial up net access for another two months! Since the CD has to make it halfway around the planet, I'm anticipating a couple weeks wait.

I love http://www.orencooriginals.net" target="_blank ! I'm working on one of the charts now and have 5 more in my new project pile.

Just made my first HAED purchase, waiting on it's arrival! Went with hard copy rather than download.

For floss:

I've been buying from harbor_crafts808 on eBay. Bulk purchase of 100 DMC skeins (your colour choices) for around $0.51 each depending on the exchange rate. Shipping speed is okay (2 weeks).

For fabric:

I've just been watching eBay for lot sales of fabric for bulking up my personal stock and I've got some good deals. My first project specific purchase was just yesterday for my HAED project as I had only small pieces of 25ct in my arsenal. So, a 17.5"x26.5" piece of 25ct Dublin linen cost me just under $15 (includes shipping) from practical*and*pretty from eBay.

Re: Review sites you've ordered from

Re: Review sites you've ordered from

I've ordered from www.sewandso.co.uk and they have always provided excellent service helping me with any questions, I have also recently tried www.groupon.ie for daily greats benefits.

VERY happy with Sewandso. Items ordered on Sunday, dispatched on Monday (first class post), received Tuesday morning. Great service!!

Hi

I often order from http://www.sewalong.co.uk" target="_blank and have always had excellent service. Get all my flosses from http://www.dmcthreads.info" target="_blank - again good service, amazing prices and super fast delivery. AND I can't leave here without saying heaven and earth designs - beautiful designs, reasonably priced and company owned by a lovely lady.

for shopping online and quick delivery from the US I always go to 1-2-3-stitch - great place.

I also want to sound the plaudits for the Plaid Company who put out Bucilla charts and kits. My sleeping cat one I was working on the butterfly but sadly the backstitching lines where so numerous and thick I couldn't see large areas of it.

Sooo a late evening email to Plaid headquarters in Europe and an answer when I logged on next morning complete with the chart portion I was working on and much clearer and easier to see.
What was even nicer When I emailed back to thank them for it, I got a reply by return "thanks - we appreciate you too"

Service over and beyond the normal me thinks.

Sally

Ditto on the 123 Stitch reviews. They are awesome. Great prices, great selection, and they ship your order so quickly. I placed an order on their website last night and just got a notification saying it's been shipped. I've never had a problem with them.

Xstitch4u - they have loads of charts to choose from but they take ages to arrive and the customer service is not great.
cross stitch heaven - I love this site the dmc threads are really cheap 39p each, and the fabric is good too. They have fab customer service always keeping you informed as to where your order is.

After some time of not using them because of a few disappointing experiences, I tried Tandem Cottage again last week and they were helpful and extremely quick even though they had to order in for me -- will come back to them again!

I discovered a beautiful breast cancer ribbon mandala freebie chart on Ink Circle's website (http://www.inkcircles.com/html/Goodies.html" target="_blank). The colors suggested are some hand dyed threads from Carrie's Threads (http://www.carriesthreads.com" target="_blank), so I decided to place an order on her website. I got them very quickly, and they are beautiful threads. I'll definitely order more from her.

In case some people didn't see me complain about them at the end of last year, and because I had forgotten to come here and leave a review for them, I'll say I had a major headache trying to order from Crafter's Market.

I ordered a box from them to mount a cross stitch and when first ordered they said it'd ship out in 2 weeks. Almost 2 months later and after several e-mails (their phone number is a machine telling you to e-mail) without a single reply, they finally got back to me after 4 angry e-mails in the same day, to apologize for the delay and to say the order was gonna be sent out within days.

At that point I got charged for the order and waited another month. Again I had to go a week e-mailing twice a day to get a response from them, and then they told me the box I ordered was out of stock, and they'd only have it in stock again A YEAR from then. They offered to send me another box instead (with dimensions completely different from what I had ordered) but of course, I asked for a refund.

That refund took over a month to come through. Needless to say, I'm never ordering from them again.

Mystic Stitch was awesome. They emailed me a copy of the pattern immediately, so I could get to stitching, and still mailed me a hard copy as well as a free bonus pattern. I will definately order from them again.
I've wanted to order a head pattern. I think I have my next one already picked out.

Can I agree with the recommendation for Jayne at SewAlong ? http://www.sewalong.co.uk/Index.asp

I've made two orders there and both were processed, packed up, and dispatched within a couple of hours, an email letting me know it's on its way, and arrived next day with a handwritten 'thanks for the order' - a modest p&p charge and a great customer experience.

Top class!

I too have been meaning to mention Tandem Cottage! I used to use them regularly for fabric as they are usually cheaper than Sew and So (e.g 32ct Belfast FQ £9 compared to Sew and So's £12), but had a few bad experiences so stopped using them. Recently I purchased from their Ebay shop and the fabric came the next day! I think I may well be a regular customer again......

Cross Stitch Collectibles - http://www.xs-collectibles.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank

They have a buy 2 get 2 free offer. I placed an order with this site on February 21st for 5 patterns so I could get free shipping & the free fractal pattern cd. I got my order on the 25th! Super duper fast! I eagerly opened the package, only to discover the 2 free patterns were not included. I emailed them that day and received an email within a few hours with the 2 missing patterns. The patterns I did get were great. The front page was in color, and all the pattern pages were nice and clear. I'll definitely order from them again!

Mostly use Sew and So, have used Cross-Stitch-Centre, but the size and colours of their Aida is limited and I've ordered a few kits from Past Impressions.

Has anybody used sewinspiring.co.uk, they have some lovely kits

I must recommend this ebay seller, lovely designs, fast service and I got a refund on postage.

http://www.riversidecrossstitch.co.uk

Only little moan I have is that the chart could be printed on a thicker paper and red centre lines are not on the chart

I recently ordered from Cross Stitch Heaven, received part of my order promptly but the order invoice had said next to the threads - to follow. It was about a week before they were able to post. The coaster I ordered had a scratch spanning the width of the underside...I emailed them about it but didn't get a reply, I wasn't expecting a refund or an exchange but at least an apology.
With the prompt delivery of the coaster, sample fabric, ribbon and pencil I'm not ruling them out.

I agree that 123 advising you of what you need to complete the pattern is A-MAY-ZING! I absolutely LOVE that feature. And I love all the different hand-dyed stuff they have, too. I ordered from Sew and So a week or so ago and received everything in the mail today, in perfect condition (all the way from the UK)! I am extremely happy with both websites!

Melissa