Shop Name
Salt & Pepper Cross Stitch
One of the oldest shops on the internet - online since 1996!
A family-owned business, we are a small independent shop - not part of any corporation or website conglomerate. Just a bustling little specialty shop - the "Local Needlework Shop" for people who do not have access to a real one.
Backed by BuySafe, with security verified by TrustWave.
We have an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Location and History
Visit us at http://www.salt-and-pepper.com.
Salt & Pepper was founded in 1996 by Sara & Paul (the original "Salt" and "Pepper") in Texas. Originally from the UK, Sara and Paul spent some years in the United Arab Emirates. During this time, Sara, an avid stitcher, lamented the lack of supplies to support her hobby. The internet seemed like the perfect solution.
Paul & Sara then moved to Texas, and Salt & Pepper was born! Over the years, Salt & Pepper grew by leaps and bounds. In 2006, Paul & Sara decided to retire, and to sell the shop or close it.
Rachel grew up in rural Wisconsin (pre-internet!). The nearest "local needlework shop" was hours away, and she and her mother would choose their stitching projects out of magazines - but still limited by what they could find the supplies for.
Rachel stumbled upon Salt & Pepper while in college, hiding out in her dorm room, stitching away. It was an awakening! All the Kreinik filaments, or Caron Collection threads that had been unobtainable before, could be shipped to your door - no matter where you were.
A few years later, when she saw that the shop might close, Rachel was devastated (and sent in a $400 order!). Her soon-to-be-husband, Ryan (the gregarious one) suggested that she should buy it.
It was a dream! Rachel worried, but Ryan is not one to be intimidated. So, at the age of 23, just out of school and engaged to be married, Rachel went to the bank and borrowed the money to buy Salt & Pepper. In August of 2006, Salt & Pepper was packed up and moved from Richmond, Texas to Jordan, Minnesota. Being that Salt & Pepper is one of the online shops that carries inventory on-site, this was quite a production!
Years have passed since then, with Rachel & Ryan hard at work with upgrades and expansion of Salt & Pepper. On any given day, Rachel is happily up to her eyeballs in colorful threads from Caron Collection or Rainbow Gallery, typing away at the website, or stitching away at the Last Supper (she WILL finish it!), while Ryan takes your calls, answers your emails, and ships your packages.
Advice
- Use Salt & Pepper to order patterns along with their supplies in only one click - or the supplies without the pattern!
- Thread Heaven is the best stuff ever. Never work with metallics without it.
- Stitches really do lay nicer if you separate the strands ahead of time.
- For stitching with "2 strands", use 1 really long strand. Thread the two loose ends through the needle. Then anchor your thread by passing the needle through the loop on the back for the first stitch. If you're fussy about the back of your work, this means only half the tails!
- Follow your dreams!
What types of products and services are offered?
Cross stitch patterns and kits
Fabric - including hand-dyed
Threads - DMC, Anchor, Caron, Rainbow Gallery, Glissen Gloss, Weeks, Crescent Colors, anything else you're looking for
Beads
Accessories
Is framing completed onsite?
No framing services offered.
Why come back? What is special about this shop?
S&P is a small shop, and so can give everyone personal attention.
Plus, we have everything - but we're a specialty shop, not a conglomerate or corporate store. We love cross stitch; it's what we do!
Our store has been around a long time, and we take your privacy and credit card security seriously.
