Terms of Service + FAQs
Please carefully review the information below to ensure your piece is ready for finishing and you aware of our requirements.
We have taken great care to provide answers to many of the questions stitchers in the following text.
If you didn’t quite find what you were looking for, please feel free to email us with any questions or requests.
JoAnn@IslandHouseNeedlepoint.com
General Policies
- Island House finishes work directly for you! We do not outsource any of our work. All work is checked in, tracked, and cared for as our own.
- We finish all items directly for stitchers and offer wholesale finishing of specific items to Local Needlepoint Shops.
- Island House reserves the right to use photos of finished pieces for social media, website, advertisements, and the like.
- If you prefer your work not to be shared, you must include a note on the finishing form indicating such.
- We prefer to give credit specifically to you for your beautiful stitching! We understand that many pieces are stitched for gifts so please let us know if it is ok to tag or acknowledge you as the stitcher.
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- If you do not respond in a week to the invoice sent to your listed e-mail, we will give you a call at the number listed on your finishing form to confirm you received the e-mail.
- Items not paid in full 90 days after invoicing become the property of Island House Needlepoint.
- Island House Needlepoint is not responsible for bleeding of fibers, or canvas markings (painted design, border lines, etc.).
- Island House Needlepoint is not responsible for damage to loose beading and/or stitching that is not firmly attached to the canvas.
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TimiNg
- Beginning January 2024 Island House is endeavoring to finishing all work (except custom trays) with an approximate 2 months turn around time. Please be sure to review our studio calendar / studio updates for work day details.
- Acrylic trays for items not stitched to Island House standard acrylic dimensions are currently taking between 6 and 12 months to complete.
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If you have a specific need to for rush finishing we may be able to help. Please reach out via email or phone.
Do not submit any rush finishing without prior authorization by Island House Needlepoint
Pricing
- Each type of item to be finished has a different cost, for example there is not one price for “an ornament”.
- If you would like an estimated cost for finishing please e-mail us a photo and we can provide an estimate. However, the final finishing cost will be established once the canvas has arrived at Island House for evaluation with all finishing specifications have been defined.
- Prices do not include return shipping. Return shipping will be charged based on current rates.
- CT sales tax will be added for customers with addresses within the State of Connecticut.
- Upon completion of finishing, an invoice and photo(s) will be emailed to to the address provided on the finishing form.
- As a small business, we have strived to maintain fair prices for our finishing. All pricing shown assumes payment via credit card.
- We prefer payment in the form of a Zelle transfer. Invoice totals are reduced by 2.5% for Zelle payments. Please indicate this preference on your finishing form when submitting your order.
- We do not accept PayPal, Venmo or other 3rd party payment method.
- Finishing will be shipped upon receipt of payment.
Shipping
- Finishing slot deposits MUST be purchased from the shop on our website. One slot deposit shall be purchased for each piece being finished.
- Include a finishing form for each canvas submitted.
- Please ship all canvas inside a watertight bag (inside of packaging) to prevent accidental damage during shipping (rain, snow, package opening).
- Please track your shipping so that you know it has arrived. We do not send an email upon our receipt of your package. If you email us, we can verify that the package was received and has been checked in.
- Send in your finishing to Island House Needlepoint at the address located on the top of the finishing form.
- We receive shipments from the USPS, UPS and FedEx on a daily basis.
- Shipping is typically via the USPS with tracking (Priority or Ground Advantage); other shipping companies can be used for larger bulky items if necessary.
- You will receive and automated e-mail from the USPS with the tracking information once we generate your shipping label. Be sure to have USPS informed delivery set up to track your shipments progress.
- Shipping is FOB Island House Needlepoint. If you would like to insure your package for more than the included $100 you must include the requirement and amount that we should insure your package for on your finishing form. Additional insurance costs will be calculated into our shipping price on your invoice.
- Finishing will be shipped promptly upon receipt of invoice payment.
Stitching Specifics
- DO NOT include any “finishing rows/ turning rows” around any canvas submitted to Island House Needlepoint.
- If an added border is an aesthetic choice intended to be shown, then that is acceptable. Do not add extra rows for the standardized acrylics as we have specific dimensions required.
- All pieces are finished up to the stitched edge. Extra stitching may cause the finished piece to be bulky or uneven or make finishing by IHN not possible.
- It is preferred if you do not stitch the hole in the grommeted tags. This area of the canvas will be removed during the finishing process.
- If you did stitch over the hole the stitching will be removed (punched out) during finishing. It is typically ok, however, if you have used long stitches the stitches in the adjoining areas may loosen.
- To ensure a uniform look to the finished piece, needlework with open backgrounds will be lined behind the work with a sparkle or solid color fabric prior to finishing.
- There is an extra charge to line canvases with open work.
- Needlepoint with very skinny areas such as necks of small bottles, legs of animals, and the like do not make for stable finishing. It is often better to add a border to make these pieces stronger.
- Finishing with very narrow sections will be fragile and as a result we can not be responsible for damage to the piece / finish.
- We will reach out to you if we do not feel the piece will be stable when finished.
CORDING
- All cording is fabricated in house!
- We have many cotton and metallic fibers to choose from.
- Please include any preference for cord colors on you finishing form, please try to give options if possible.
- To have Island House select cording colors and fibers please indicate “finishers choice” on your finishing form.
- For “finishers choice” cording we will work with colors within the piece and backing fabrics to select the best options. If we are unsure, we will make up samples and send you photos for your selection.
- Cording can be one, two, or three colors.
- If a one-color cord matching the main color of the piece is desired, and the fiber used has a dye lot we, suggest providing the fiber of the same dye lot for the cording. Please keep this in mind when purchasing your fibers.
- We can add multiple strands of different colors within each of the “cording colors” to produce a speckled look cording.
- Customers may supply cording fibers, however; skeins must not be cut.
- There is not a cost reduction for using customer supplied fibers.
FABRICS
- We have hundreds of fabrics to choose from! Please be sure to let us know what you prefer.
- We typically use mid-weight fabrics such as moiré, cotton, and silks.
- We can use cotton velvets; however pieces typically have a bulkier look to them. Velvets cannot be used on pieces with sharp corners as the material frays.
- Please let us know your tastes so that we can do our best to match them. Do you like solid colors, small prints, polka dots, etc.? Let us know.
- If we have questions about your fabric choices we will reach out with options.
- Yes, we can usually use your fabric. However please remember that we hand sew all of our work. “Bullet proof” fabrics do not make our finishers happy ….
- Consider that heavy fabrics may cause undesired bulkiness of the finished piece.
- Lightweight or stretchy fabrics do not provide adequate structure to keep your piece finished in its intended shape.
- There is not a cost reduction for using customer supplied fabric.
- We will return any unused fabric with your finishing.
MONOGRAMMING
- Yes, we have a professional multi-needle embroidery machine.
- Let us know your preferences for size and types of fonts for your embroidery. If not specified, we default to block type fonts.
- Take care to print all embroidery lettering legibly on the finishing form. We use upper- and lower-case letters exactly as you have written them.
- Please keep in mind the available space when requesting monogramming. Lettering is machine stitched, reducing font sizes to fit large amounts of text on a line will cause wording to be illegible. The smallest legible letters are approximately 1/4″ in height and width.
- We do have a few special characters and Shuler fonts that can be added to your monogramming.
- We cannot embroider on your stitched work (e.g. add a name to a stocking cuff).
- Embroidery is charged on a per character basis.
- Yes, we do monogram velvet. Keep in mind that the monogramming may not be as legible as on a smooth fabric due to the texture of the surface.
- We do find that tone-on-tone colors look best on velvets.
BLOCKING
- Ornaments stitched on tightened frames (stretcher bars) typically should not require blocking.
- If blocking is required IHN will do our best to put the piece back into shape. Please note, not all pieces are able to be properly reshaped.
- We highly recommend stitching on a frame when your piece is not able to be supported by the structure of the finish.
- We will block the piece but often the work will go back to its angled shape when released from the blocking board. The resulting finished piece may not be square.
- We have custom blocking boards that enable us to “pull” misshapen work back to the original shape.
- Once items are pulled into shape, we can lock the piece into shape with an organic glue that we make ourselves. We will always contact to discuss options with you prior to gluing anything!
- Island House is not responsible for bleeding of fiber colors during the blocking process.
- Blocking of tightly stitched pieces with long stitches may cause gaps to appear between the canvas threads.
MAGNETICS
- Please always keep in mind magnets are not suitable for children and pets!
- Magnets are strong and are a choking hazard. Please be sure to keep them away from children, pets, medical devices, and electronics that may be affected by magnetic forces.
- Magnets are breakable! When two magnets are locked together (e.g. needle minders) slide them apart instead of trying to pry them apart.
We have A LOT of experience with magnets and can include them in many of our finishes
EMBELLISHMENTS
- Yes, we can add embellishments such as beads, bows, tassels, or special trims to your finishing.
- We suggest contacting us to discuss your embellishment specifications prior to submitting your work. This helps ensure we have (or can source) the elements you are looking to have included.
- Please specify any special embellishment requests on the finishing form.
Yes, we will do our best to integrate your special pieces into our finishing.
Embellishment of finishing is charged on a time and materials basis.
STITCHING SERVICES
- Based upon availability we may be available to (ghost) stitch your needlepoint canvas. Please e-mail for availability and pricing.
- If we find during finishing small areas that need to be stitched, we can provide this service. We will always contact your prior to adding stitching to your work.
INSTRUCTION
- We love consulting with you to generate ideas for your needlework finishing! There is no charge for basic consulting.
- Please feel free to e-mail a photo and give us a call so that we can share our creative process.
- Yes, we love sharing or love of needlepoint!
- We teach both in person, or online with Zoom.
- Please e-mail or call for availability and pricing.
No. Our patent pending techniques have been developed after finishing thousands of pieces and are proprietary to Island House Needlepoint, LLC.
Get in Touch
As a stitcher herself, JoAnn firsthand understands the love, passion and heart that goes into each needlepoint project. Whether it is your first project or your hundredth, she infuses decades of finishing experience and engineering to elevate your stitches into treasured keepsakes and gifts.
If you have any questions that aren’t answered in our FAQ page, please feel free to email JoAnn with your inquiries.
JoAnn@IslandHouseNeedlepoint.com
