Jenny Hart
Sublime Stitching
P.O. Box 15130
Austin, TX 78761

Dear Jenny:

Yesterday I came across Tiny Haus’s flickr page, where she reprinted your letter regarding your concerns with UrbanThreads.com. I’ve included a link and relevant sections from that page in this letter for your reference.

I am sorry that we must “meet” under such a cloud of negativity and contention. I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know of the history of Urban Threads, the history of the Embroidery Library, and the relationship between the two companies.

Embroidery Library, Inc. was incorporated in 1998, and its goal was to serve the machine embroidery design community. In preceding years, the options for machine embroiderers were limited, overpriced, and based almost entirely on clip art.

We wanted to serve these embroiderers more fully, and created a new kind of embroidery design business. Rather than using clip art, we employed artists to create unique, original pieces. Rather than charging $40 - $50 per design, we set the prices at reasonable and inexpensive levels so that everyone who had an embroidery machine could have access to designs that inspired creativity, and resulted in something beautiful and personal.

Embroidery Library, Inc. was owned by a family of four. In 2000 the Embroidery Library formed an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), and we employees began to purchase stock from the original owners. It took a long time (almost seven years) but at the end of 2006 we became 100% employee owned.

We’re a small company of sixteen people, composed of artists, IT geeks, and an enthusiastic marketing team – the idea people. Every employee has ownership in the company. Niamh joined us in 2005 as an intern, and I was deeply impressed by her passion for art. When she graduated from college, I asked her to join us as a full time artist, and was delighted when she agreed.

At the end of 2007 she approached me with the idea of starting a new design line emphasizing alternative, contemporary art. Because we’re employee-owned, I foster an environment where all ideas and suggestions are valued and pursued. Niamh and I worked together to identify the type of art that would be appealing and useful to the creative and crafty world. We ran a test series of those designs at the Embroidery Library’s site to see if they could be sold to our current group of customers. The feedback was mixed, so we explored the idea of starting a new website to feature those types of designs.

Because the idea was Niamh’s, she drives the vision, and I provide her support with IT and administrative resources, as well as my experience in an Internet-based business. I handle the non-artistic details, mostly – the trademarking, website domain purchase, etc. Niamh creates the embroidery designs, develops the projects, and connects with other crafters and stitchers. She is the brains and the brawn behind the site, as well as its heart and soul. The site reflects her as a person, and as an artist; it does not reflect her as an employee of Embroidery Library, Inc.

Is Urban Threads “an ‘indie’ front for a bigger, machine/digitized embroidery stock art company,” as your letter states? No, it isn’t. We have an unusual and non-traditional relationship. Not many companies would provide these types of support and resources, but Embroidery Library doesn’t do business as usual. It’s my hope that the relationship between Embroidery Library and Urban Threads will become an inspiration for other relationships, and maybe even be a model for big businesses to regain a little heart, and a little conscience. Both have been missing for too long.

I appreciate your concerns about your business model and mission statement being copied, but I must respectfully disagree. Urban Threads has always been focused on machine embroidery. The hand embroidery and digital stock art offerings are smaller elements of the business. The overwhelming majority of people who visit Urban Threads are machine embroiderers; only a small percentage is composed of hand embroiderers. Urban Threads products are all downloadable, and its business model was copied directly from Embroidery Library (with my full permission).

There is similarity in art, and that’s driven by the community that you and Niamh are both supporting and serving. Today’s indie crafters have a wonderful sense of humor that’s spread through their work: a bit of tongue-in-cheek, a bit of “snarky.” Your tagline of “This ain’t your gramma’s embroidery!” is so clever and true. The art that you and Niamh offer to today’s savvy, stylish crafter has its roots in the same free, adventurous, and non-traditional spirit. That is where the similarities between the two businesses begin, and that’s where they end.

Regarding Embroidery Library operating under assumed names, I’ll be glad to clarify that. I mentioned earlier that Embroidery Library was incorporated in 1998. We were a division of Starbird, Inc., which was incorporated in 1987. Starbird served the commercial embroidery market with business logos for promotional items. In 2002 Embroidery Library sold Starbird, so the companies are no longer related. In 2003 Starbird launched their stock design website called www.starbirdstockdesigns.com. Our former parent company became our competitor. But we’re no longer affiliated with each other in any way.

EmbroideryIsland.com is a catalogue site for Embroidery Library. Most of the designs you’ll find at www.emblibrary.com can be found on EmbroideryIsland.com, without the supportive marketing element. There’s no copywriting, no affiliated projects, no prices, etc. For those customers of Embroidery Library who have their own businesses, the site offers their customers a great selection of designs to choose from, without the supportive marketing elements being a distraction.

Regarding the statement that multiple artists are contributing to the design catalog – yes, that’s true. Up until recently, Niamh drew about 95% of the designs for Urban Threads. The guest artists composed most of the remaining percentage, and another Embroidery Library artist drew a couple of skulls and cars, not a significant amount. In March, Urban Threads asked a former guest artist to draw 10 pieces per month, and he’s compensated for those pieces. The reason why Niamh isn’t drawing all of the designs is because she wants to offer a variety of subjects and styles to the community. The community has diverse desires and tastes, and the art at Urban Threads will reflect that.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’d like to tell you that I’m signed up for your mailing list, and I’m your Facebook friend, too. My user id is xxxxxxxxx, which is my personal email address. Before you think that it’s suspicious that I didn’t use my business address – let me state that I wasn’t intending to hide my identity as the President of Embroidery Library. I used my personal address because I’m personally interested in your art and your business. I respect good businesses. I love how you nearly single-handedly revitalized and revolutionized the art of hand embroidery. You’ve not only done a fantastic job of providing the indie community with inspiration and excellent resources, but you’ve also emerged as a real, authentic, and respected leader in that community.

In your letter you write, “What I don’t understand, is why this company never asked to work with Sublime Stitching.” Three months ago my answer would have been that your business and Urban Threads are in different realms. Urban Threads focuses primarily on machine embroidery, and your history is with traditional hand embroidery.

However, earlier this year I read a recent poll that you conducted. I can’t remember all of the specifics, but it was the one where you asked about the usefulness of downloadable files for hand embroidery, and asked to see if machine embroidery designs would be popular. When I read those questions, I was really excited, because Urban Threads has always had downloadable hand embroidery designs, as well as machine embroidery designs. It seemed as though our different realms were going to come together and overlap, which looked like a great opportunity for a partnership.

I made a note to write to you and see if we could work together on the machine embroidery aspect – but I never did. My only excuse is that life, and business, got in the way of that communication. I do regret that I didn’t write to you. Had I contacted you sooner and told you our story, and introduced you to our incredible, amazing, talented team, you might be feeling a little better about Urban Threads right now. Please accept my sincere apology for that.

Did the Embroidery Library act deceptively? No, we did not. We filed the proper “DBA” notice with the Minnesota Secretary of State, and publicized similar notices in the newspaper, as is required. We set up the relationship as a “DBA” because it was more economical to do it that way. It’s our hope that when Urban Threads becomes financially self-sufficient, it can become its own legal entity.

After the site was launched, I sent an email to Embroidery Library customers, under my signature, asking them to visit UrbanThreads.com, to explore a great site that Niamh had started. I’ve never hidden the relationship, because hiding something implies that it’s wrong. Embroidery Library doesn’t do things that we’d be ashamed of.

Is Urban Threads disingenuous, pretending to be a small indie operation? No, it’s not. Niamh is the face, voice, and spirit of UrbanThreads.com, and she gets help from those with expertise and experience, the same as any other savvy business owner. And yes, she owns the business, along with 15 other employee-owners who are part of the Embroidery Library ESOP Trust.

And the DIY label? Is Niamh truly independent? Not in the concrete “indie” definition, no – she gets help from others. But no one ever does it alone. We all draw on the resources available to us to get things started. At the root of every indie business is a person trying to live their dreams. Embroidery Library helps Niamh to live hers.

I’ll be honest about the money, too. Urban Threads doesn’t make much – it makes enough to cover Niamh’s salary and the advertising. As Urban Threads is part of the Embroidery Library ESOP, anything left over is given to the employees through an annual stock allocation. We’re a pretty unique company. As I mentioned before, we don’t do business as usual.

But Niamh doesn’t do it for the money, and neither does anyone at the Embroidery Library. We all have a real passion for creating, for creativity, for art. That’s our focus, and those are our goals.

There are some concerns in your letter that I didn’t address, but I hope that I covered most of the main ones. I understand that you have some thoughts that different things were copied or re-purposed from your site. I’ve examined some of the examples that are posted on various blogs (I’m not sure who created those comparisons), and they’ve been manipulated to tell a story that doesn’t ring with truth. I’m not able to find any designs that are the same between the sites. I do believe that it’s a matter of inspiration being drawn from the same well.

I want to let you know – emphatically – that violating another person’s copyright is not tolerated at Embroidery Library, or at Urban Threads. We’ve been ripped off before, and we don’t like how it feels. Therefore we don’t do it to others. We respect others so that we can have respect for ourselves.

If you have specific examples of things that in your opinion are too similar for your comfort, please let me know. I won’t engage in a fruitless exercise of “she said – she said.” But I do take any allegations of infringement very seriously, and will work with you to resolve those concerns.

Thank you, Jenny, not only for reading this letter, but also for giving so much of your passion and heart to the embroidery community. I have a tremendous amount of respect for you and your company, and hope that we can work together some day to serve such an amazing group of creative, crafty folk.

Sincerely,

Debra Mundinger, President
Embroidery Library, Inc.

deb@emblibrary.com