Saturday, March 16, 2019

Review: Cotton & Twine Stitchy Boxes


Giveaway Win: February 2019 Cotton & Twine Box

DISCLAIMER: This is not an advertisement and I am not affiliated with Cotton & Twine or it's parent company, The Historical Sampler Company. The giveaway win had no obligation to review or post about this box; all opinions are entirely my own.

I was absolutely delighted when I found out that I had won an Instagram competition for a stitchy subscription box from British company Cotton & Twine (on Instagram as @cottonandtwineboxes)!!! I rarely win anything, so it was a very lovely surprise ๐Ÿ˜Š


You have probably noticed that there are all kinds of subscription boxes around today, ranging from beauty products to books. Why not needlework supplies? This is my first experience with a subscription box of any kind, and this pretty printed box came in a protective plain cardboard liner box. I like that you could easily reuse it for other mail!


The printed floral motifs would make a nice embroidery pattern!

Cotton & Twine Subscription Boxes are produced by The Historical Sampler Company, run by two friends, Joanne and Suzanne, who design cross-stitch and tapestry (also known as needlepoint) patterns. In April 2018 they started the subscription boxes, and you can see the themes/contents of past boxes to get an idea of what they are all about.

Although you can sign up for a continual, automatically-renewing subscription, you can also buy one-off boxes, if a slot is available (there are a limited number produced each month). The March 2019 box is currently sold out but you can register for e-mails about future boxes right here.The Historical Sampler Company also offers Gift Boxes, available for order at any time with a similar idea and make up.


The box contents came prettily wrapped up in pink tissue paper, sealed with this lovely sticker of the C&T logo! It makes you feel like you're opening a present ๐Ÿ’•

The Cotton & Twine boxes are super fun: they each contain a small stitchy project with full kit, some related goodies and some sweet treats, along with some type of tea (very British!). It's a wonderful idea - take some time for yourself, make a cup of tea and stitch away for an afternoon! My box arrived on Friday morning, and I couldn't help but think it would make a great weekend entertainment ๐Ÿ˜Š


Here are the complete contents: Sherbet Pips candy (totally new to me!), Green Tea bag, 3 cute wooden Gift Tags, a DMC floral hoop and the March 2019 Pattern and kit.


The stitchy kit comes with a full size, easy to read Black & White pattern insert in the pamphlet, with a full colour photo of the finished design on the front. The little pink organza bag contains the contents: a piece of Zweigart 16-count tan Aida, pre-folded into quarters, the DMC threads (with thread numbers) on a presorted cardboard keeper, and a gold tapestry needle in a sealed plastic slip.

But my absolutely favourite part is this super cute DMC floral print hoop, which you can use to frame your stitching when it's done ❤๐ŸŒธ I had no idea there was anything like these on the market, and they are adorable! Each box came with one of four different colours (shown with the photo from the pattern pamphlet):


I was hoping for the pink, but I got the yellow and I truly love it! Cheerful and sunny ๐ŸŒž


I love how the Cotton & Twine patterns are modern while still being classic and pretty. I've gotten the fabric hooped up and I'm stitching the little sheep right now; I hope to have a finish to share soon! Overall, I'm super impressed with the quality of the Cotton & Twine boxes, and I would recommend them to anyone interested. If were to offer suggestions for future C&T boxes, I would ask them to consider some minor changes:

๐Ÿงต The organza bag is cute and reusable, which I love! You can just squeeze the tiny hoop in empty, but not with the fabric in: if it were just a few inches larger, it could serve as a project bag while you're working, which would be great!
๐Ÿงต The wooden gift tags are lovely but I couldn't help thinking it would be better if they had holes along the side to serve as thread keeps! I really don't know how I'm going to use three either; maybe one tag and another little something would have been better;
๐Ÿงต I would personally rather have had no tags at all (since they aren't stitchy) and another hoop - one to use to frame the project, one to use on a future project;
๐Ÿงต Small stitchy supplies and tools - thread skeins, needle minders, thread keepers, themed scissors could be included in future boxes along with projects.

Have you ever tried a stitchy subscription box (of any needlework technique), or have you been considering one?

6 comments:

Katie said...

Thanks for sharing your review. I haven't tried one yet but there are sure a lot around.

Shannan said...

Thank you for writing such a fab and detailed review of the subscription box, I really enjoyed learning more about them and your suggestions for improvements. The pattern and hoop are both so sweet and look good fun to sew :) Looking forward to seeing your finished hoop.

rosey175 said...

Interesting review! Sherbet Pips sound delicious; they were, right? I had no clue there were such cute hoops either. Is it wooden or plastic? I would've wished for the green hah. I have never tried a subscription box, either stitchy or otherwise. I really, really prefer to know what I'm getting in advance. This also applies to mystery a-longs!

Meari said...

What a nice box. I haven't tried stitching subscription boxes, but I do get a quilting one. The floral hoops made me think of washi tape. I wonder if painting a hoop and adding tape would make a neat display hoop?

kcsguys said...

Very nice review. I have been observing this particular subscription box for a while now, they do beautiful postings on Instagram, but can't justify doing monthly subscription. I love the hoops, I have done washi wrapped ones similar to this. Do you believe these hoops to be hand painted? They are so cute!

Aurelia Eglantine said...

So sorry for the delay in responding, thank you all for the lovely comments!

Katie: Glad you enjoyed it! I'm not a big fan of mystery boxes, I like to know what I'm getting when I buy ๐Ÿ˜‰

Shannan: Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm actually thinking about finishing it off as a little Easter Egg ornament, even though I was late and overshot the holiday (again) this year ๐Ÿ˜Š

Rosey: I'm happy to report that the Sherbet Pips taste just like lemonade! It's a wooden hoop, with a sort of floral decal placed over the paint, which is lovely and smooth. I agree with you totally, I'm not a fan of mystery anything but due to popular request Cotton & Twine have now gone mystery and are posting "teasers" of the main pattern. I know a lot of people really love that, but I'm like you - I don't ๐Ÿ˜‚

Meari: A quilting box sounds like a great idea! I actually saw Floresita on Instagram (@nyfloresita) (who also blogs at Feeling Stitchy) recently use washi tape to finish a hoop and it was gorgeous - and the tape is so much thinner than ribbon! Definitely worth some experimentation ๐Ÿ˜Š

Kcsguys: Thank you! The hoops are by DMC and although the base colour is painted I think the flowers are some sort of transfer; but the finish is lovely and smooth and there is a lot of detail in the pretty little flowers! I couldn't do a yearly subscription, but I think it's wonderful that you can buy one month if you're interested in the contents!