Sublime Stitching and Urban Threads (angry making)

[meexie]

Urban Threads. Although the post isn't from Jenny herself.
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"saving vegan dessert from the hippies" - knitting_pretty

[scarymonster]

wtf. that is fucked up.
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Cleo & Clark! My handmade awesome stuff.
Not a Stupid Blog! My showcase of beautiful things I find on etsy.

[BlueJedi]

That's messed up for sure.
BOYCOTT
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<3

“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” – Minor Myers Jr.

[scaredsi11y]

I saw the UT website a month or two ago, but I didn't poke around enough to notice the blatant copying. The designs I saw were generic and boring! I didn't bother looking at many of them. They seem like the kinds of things that would be mass-embroidered on Target merchandise, not marketed to the DIY community. The "About" section felt phony somehow. I don't know about everyone else, but I always look at the "About" sections, especially when it's craft-related.

At the end of the day, Sublime Stitching is much more authentic. Most people who are aware of the DIY craft community know that SS is the place to go for embroidery. I doubt many people have even heard of UT. While UT may sell well to some audiences (?), I can't imagine the craft community being very interested in them.
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[Aliceinwonderland]

Gross! Where can I write a letter of protest?
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Well, duh, but that's no reason to abandon ship. Work and fix it

[scarymonster]

[PurpleDoor]

Hmmm....that is pretty awful. I notice in the "about" section that she says she'll be posting new designs every day? That seems to me a major tip off that either a) there are multiple people producing the designs, b) she's just ripping the designs from somewhere else or c) the designs are just going to be crap.

Honestly though you'd think if it was a front operation secretly funded by a corporation they could have sprung for a better web design--the site looks terrible and cheesy as hell! I much prefer SS.
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my website and knitting patterns

and now I have a food blog

[Jzane]

I've seen Urban Threads before, but never found it or it's patterns especially interesting. I can't say I ever noticed the About Statement or any copying, but I've definitely liked Sublime Stitching better.

And besides, they charge you for patterns in different sizes. What? How do you rationalize that?
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[jackierocket]

This not only breaks my heart, but makes me think of the Revenge thread.

Jenny, if you are reading this, you know that I am one of your biggest supporters and have a huge girl crush on you. If needed, I shall call SpiderLady and her drill and we'll make a visit.

(BTW - the autographed pattern that you sent me for the auction went for $15! - THANKS)
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http://jackierocketarts.blogspot.com/

[Liat]

Just Yuck, yuck, yuck.
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[Kelly.]

[enzyme]

Word is spreading - here's a post on this at BoingBoing.
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Not into the whole brevity thing.

Zines!!

http://cardinaldirections.etsy.com

[meexie]

[greenbean]

:( This really sucks. Urban Threads (and Embroidery Library) is joining Sew Fast Sew Easy on my boycott-forever list.
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[glitter]

that flickr link is not working anymore.

i wanted to chime in here and say that i got a note from Jenny regarding the urban threads issue. i immediately deleted Niamh's glimmer account. i wrote her a letter concerning.

for your benefit i am pasting the entire note from Jenny here.

i am upset by these deceptive practices and cant believe that i now have to vet editors! but i am mostly upset by how this hurts jenny's livelihood and distracts her from her work.

its a long letter, enjoy if you havent seen it...

thanks

tsia

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Hey Tsia,
You have been a long time friend and supporter of Sublime Stitching which is why I feel you would want to be aware of an upsetting and costly situation that we at Sublime Stitching, and by extension, others in the craft community are facing. I know you are busy, and this is a long email. I greatly appreciate your kind attention.

Not long ago I noticed the sudden appearance of a fully-formed and stocked website called “Urban Threads” ( http://www.urbanthreads.com ) with ads reading “Cool Embroidery Patterns for Hip Crafters” and "The Cure for Tame Embroidery". The site claims that Urban Threads is the creation of Niamh O’Connor whose “About Us” page shares photos of her and states:

"I noticed that the design industry lacked a certain type of art
fitting today's savvy indie crafters. I wanted designs that fit a
different kind of style. Since I couldn't find them, I decided I'd
just have to make them myself. So I set about creating, and Urban
Threads was born."

Hmm. Not happy that my model was being copied so boldly, my stated mission re-stated by someone else, or the suggestion that Sublime Stitching didn’t already exist, I nonetheless explored Niamh’s site to see how we might work together. Sublime Stitching supports, cross-promotes and works with many other independent contemporary needlework designers. We often seek collaboration rather than competition with other businesses, large and small.

As I kept up with Niamh’s work, I noticed increasingly blatant copying of Sublime Stitching designs, re-purposing of my instructional text, web content, blog topics, marketing advice for an indie business, creative ideas from my artwork (Niamh's French knots for a Braille message), even repeating quotes from interviews and well, adopting my personality! It was starting to get weirder and weirder and we didn't feel her actions were very DIY-friendly at all. Not to mention we were never linked or even acknowledged on her site. But, because the site claimed it was hers alone (with help from Karline!), I struggled with the right way to approach her about this.

It turns out, however, that Urban Threads is an “indie” front for a bigger, machine/digitized embroidery stock art company, Embroidery Library Inc. ( http://www.emblibrary.com/ ), that operates under numerous assumed names (Starbird Stock Designs Inc., Embroidery Island, and possibly others). “Urban Threads” appears to be their attempt to enter the “indie” market with hand embroidery, complete with a supposed “indie crafter” for a figurehead. The offices for each of these businesses are at a shared address, including “Niamh’s studio”, located in an industrial park outside Minneapolis (we Googlemapped it). We believe there are multiple artists contributing to the creation of the Urban Threads design catalog, apart from their "Artist Patterns", one of which is the work of a stock illustrator who designs for WalMart and Target.

Niamh claims on the Urban Threads website simply that “I used to intern for an embroidery design company” and that she later "started Urban Threads" while she is in fact currently employed by Embroidery Library Inc (since 2007) as an illustrator. We feel it’s clear the Urban Threads website is intended to look like a smaller, ‘homier’ operation to deceptively cater to those who specifically want to support independent businesses. But Embroidery Library Inc. owns the business name Urban Threads, has applied for a trademark for “Urban Threads” and owns the domain name urbanthreads.com (address and phone number are registered to their business), and they are apparently financing the marketing and operations from behind the scenes. As a true indie design company, we simply cannot compete with a larger, well-funded company that is targeting our business in an unfair way, while using resources that we, and others like us, do not have.

Niamh even wrote a blog entry on marketing and growing an indie business. I have offered advice to the DIY community on how to grow an independent business for years, with emails to those who ask, online forums, talks, workshops and my “Crafting a Business” column, based on my real, personal experience growing a non-funded, independent company. Niamh is active on Flickr, Twitter, and MySpace representing Urban Threads, directly targeting and building relationships with our customers, retailers and media contacts under the guise of an independent crafter and entrepreneur.

We feel these actions are willfully deceptive. Niamh O’Connor’s own website is here: http://www.artofembarr.com
As far as I can tell, she doesn’t have any history as a crafter, or needleworker. She has significant errors on technique for hand embroidery in her instructions on Urban Threads, and she appears to rely heavily on my text and instructions, which are unique explanations of embroidery technique based on years of research and personal experience as a passionate embroiderer.

I am an independent entrepreneur only recently helped by four employees that work out of a converted garage (a nice one!). I founded and built Sublime Stitching in 2001 on a loan of $1,000 from my late father and made it what it is today. Sublime Stitching has never been backed or funded by another company. It has taken me eight years to produce Sublime Stitching’s current catalog of patterns. Urban Threads appeared virtually out of nowhere, fully stocked with themes identical to ours. I have a true passion for what I do. We still struggle to grow and meet the enormous demand for our unique designs. I am incredibly proud of my team, my work. I am so deeply proud to be a part of the DIY movement and enjoy its support, and nothing pleases me more than watching new, real, indie businesses thrive on the success of their own, unique offerings.

I have no problem with big companies (hey, I hope to be one someday), but I do have a problem with bigger companies pretending to be smaller than they are in order to deceive those who choose to purchase from real indie businesses. What I don’t understand, is why this company never asked to work with Sublime Stitching.

Credibility and authenticity are the cornerstones of DIY craft movement, both for independent business owners and the customers who support them. I feel strongly that the DIY community should be made aware of Embroidery Library Inc.'s deceptive actions.

I do believe Urban Threads' disingenuous positioning as a small “indie” operation will be discovered, and you are free to share this information. Facts are facts, and there is no penalty for sharing them if you choose to. Everyone has a right to voice their own opinion about this.

What are we doing about it? Sublime Stitching has some specific, brazen copyright and unfair competition issues that we feel obligated to pursue in order to protect my company. We are taking aggressive legal action, but we know that our greatest strength comes from the support we have earned over the last eight years in this active, vibrant and aware community.

Thank you for reading this. If you have any questions for me about this matter, I will glady try to answer them.

*GIANT BELEAGUERED SIGH*

sincerely,
Jenny Hart
x - x - x - x
owner / founder
Sublime Stitching®
This Ain't Your Gramma's Embroidery!
http://www.sublimestitching.com
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ETA: this is Urban Thread's response: http://www.urbanthreads.com/content/view/326/