A little bit more about us....

The Sewing Palette is a low-tech, family project that got started when we ran out of space. Did we mention we're nuts about vintage needle arts and orchids?

We sold a few unneeded odds and ends on eBay many years ago. That led to selling a few treasures for family members (Antiques Road Show fever!). And of course, while you're online, you're browsing....

All sorts of wonderful vintage sewing and needlework items became available online. And then orchids became available online. And now we've got more vintage patterns and transfers and notions and books (and maybe even orchids) than we've got room for.

  Our outlook on customer service

Selling things on eBay was an experience, but our customer service (and our site design) is based on what we learned buying things on the internet.

For starters, we simply hate sites that show you row upon row of tiny boxes -- so small you can barely guess what the item may be. We especially hate it when you click on one of the boxes and then have to wait forever for an oversized, fuzzy photo to load. And then there's the frustration of poor packaging and undisclosed item faults ...

We should all expect better - and here at the Sewing Palette we've doing everything we can to give you better:

• Our main pages use larger cropped photos designed to show you the highlights quickly.
• Detail pages have a good-sized photo of the whole item and usually one or two close-ups.
• We include lots of information and note any damage that's not visible in the photos.
• All photos are sized to load quickly, even on a dial-up connection.
• We answer questions quickly and cheerfully.
• Your item is packaged securely -- just the way we'd like to receive it.

  Patterns or needlework items to sell?

We frequently get inquiries from people who have old patterns or other needlework items and want to know if we're interested in buying them.

We're always interested in patterns dating from before 1960 -- the older, the better -- and just about anything related to vintage needle arts. If you have something, send us an email at questions@sewingpalette.com.

Ideally, include photos or a link to photos with your email. If you don't have photos available, we at least need to know basic information about the patterns - how old are they, what sizes, what styles, are they used or unused, what shape are the envelopes in (and how much do you want for them).

The photo above is an illustration from a 1920s newspaper sewing insert in our collection. It's about children's clothing and illustrated by Frances Tipton Hunter.