Help / FAQ

Here are some questions we sometimes get asked.

Just click on a question to reveal or hide the answer:

1. What will I find on this website?

This website is for people who love stitching and/or dollshouse things. We supply all the designs you can see in the Needlepoint Kit Store as kits, with some also available as charts. There are well over two hundred dollhouse needlepoint designs in our range – go to the Needlepoint Kit Store to see them. Several of the designs have a range of types of kit featuring the design, for example there may be a carpet, staircarpet, cushion, dining chair, and rectangular stool all using the same design – so it is easy to build up a collection of items with co-ordinating patterns on them! There is a special page showing each of these groups of matching kits. The designs cover many eras and styles – there is sure to be something to suit everyone. We also stock some accessories (such as canvas or silk gauze pieces just the right size for one project, varnish for wooden chairs and so on – for these see the Canvas, Gauze and Sundries page).

Prices for the kits start at just £5.95. They can be purchased direct from us, in our Needlepoint Kit Store, or ordered from our printed mail order catalogue.

REMEMBER – New things are added from time to time…so keep popping back to check!

Want to be sure you don’t miss out on new designs or special offers? Join our Newsletter list by clicking HERE.

2. How do I order?

Simply choose from the dollshouse needlepoint kits, charts and other items in the Needlepoint Kit Store. Select an item you would like to buy and click the ‘ADD TO BASKET’ button alongside the item. If you want to buy more than one, you can change the number in the box next to the @add To Basket’ button. You can view what is in your basket at any time by clicking the ‘View Basket’ button which appears above the product you just added to the basket, or the little shopping trolley icon at the top of the page (where you can also see a provisional order total and the number of items currently in your shopping cart). If you view your shopping cart (Basket) you can check you have what you wanted, and even change the number of an item or remove something from your basket.

When you click on CHECKOUT link, you will see the place where you add your address, and under that the items you have placed in your basket to purchase, with a total (please note that when you buy from this site, post and packing is FREE, worldwide, on orders of £50 and over. For orders of £49.99 and under, there is a flat rate of £2.25 within the UK, or £4.50 overseas). You will then need to fill in the cardholder’s name and address details (if this address is not the one you would like the parcel sent to, you have the option of choosing a different delivery address at this point). We MUST have a valid email address as well, so that we can inform you when the parcel has been shipped, in line with Distance Selling Regulations. You will see at the bottom your method of payment, which is by Paypal. Then click ‘Place Order’.

Paypal logoThis takes you to the PayPal website. There you simply follow the instructions to choose your preferred method of payment. If you already have a PayPal account, you can choose to pay with your PayPal balance, or nominated bank account, or your registered credit or debit card. If you do not have a Paypal account, you will be given the option to open one, or else you can pay by credit or debit card: you will need to fill in your card number, the type of card (VISA credit, VISA debit, Mastercard, for example), the cardholder’s name as it appears on the card, and the valid from and expiry dates. Complete your payment at PayPal, to finally send the order to us.

You will then be taken to an ‘Order confirmation’ page, which you are advised to print out and keep for your records.

Everything shown on the website is in stock, so despatch is usually within 2 working days.

3. How do I search for something in the Needlepoint Kit Store?

Use the ‘SEARCH’ box at the top of any page to find a product. Enter a word or two relating to the thing you’re looking for, and press your keyboard’s return key to see a list of matching results.

The search engine will only look through the words actually appearing in this online shop, so for instance if you searched for the word ‘Morris’, you would find the references to William Morris designs, but the word ‘prawn’ does not occur at all, so you will find nothing.

Once you have done the search you can browse the products as usual without having to put them in your shopping basket.

Tip – try to avoid using lots of words and/or very common words like ‘the’, because these will slow the search.

4. How do I check/change my order?

Click the ‘VIEW BASKET’ button in any of the Online Shop sections and you will see the status of your order. The number of items and brief descriptions of them is shown. If you wanted more than one of the item, you click the ‘EDIT’ button, to move to a page where you can change the ‘1’ in the little box, at this point, then click ‘CONFIRM’ . You may empty your basket by clicking ‘REMOVE’ for each item in turn, until your basket is empty.
If you have any problems please feel free to contact us by email.

5. Can I pay using a credit or debit card?

Paypal logoYes – once you get to the PayPal page, you can pay using your Paypal balance, or your nominated bank account, or you can use the card you have registered with PayPal.

Credit card logosIf you do not already have a PayPal account, don’t worry – you may either open an account when you get there, or PayPal allow you to pay using a VISA credit card, debit card, or Mastercard, for example. Our online shopping system is very safe.

You may, however, prefer to place your order by mail, in which case you will need to send a cheque, in Sterling, drawn on a UK bank, and made payable to “Janet Granger”.

6. I live in the UK - can I send a cheque?

Yes, of course you can, but not when ordering through the online shop – only by mail. So – if ordering by mail, you can send a cheque (but you cannot pay by credit card). You can send a cheque along with the order form printed in our catalogue. Orders placed by post need to have postage added, though – the rates for this are listed on the reverse of the order form.

7. Can I place an order and arrange for it to be sent to another address?

Yes, we can send to any address you specify, though we reserve the right to ask for extra details, sometimes, in the interests of the security of your credit card.

8. What does the postage cost?

For orders placed online, postage is FREE OF CHARGE when your order totals £75 or more, to any destination in the world (except Germany). On orders of £49.99 or less, postage is £2.95 to UK addresses, or £6.00 overseas.

9. How quickly will I receive my order?

UK customers:
We can usually offer a ‘by return’ postal service, as we try to keep all dollshouse needlepoint kits and charts in stock at all times.
Overseas customers:
Parcels destined for overseas addresses are sent by airmail, but will take a little longer to arrive – for instance, it may take seven days for a parcel to reach the USA, and fourteen days to reach Australia. Delays caused by Customs, industrial action, bad weather, etc., are out of our control, however.

In any case, please allow 28 days before querying non-delivery. Even though Royal Mail will start a ‘lost items’ procedure after 15 days, in our experience virtually every parcel turns up eventually and Royal Mail’s tracing procedure has never once worked for us. Therefore, we ask you to be patient if your parcel is taking longer than you would like to arrive. Please note parcels are not sent by a trackable method, so as to keep costs down and because we feel it is unnecessary.

10. What guarantee do you offer?

You have the right to cancel your order at any time up to 7 working days from the day after receiving the goods. You may cancel, in writing (by email or post), to the address given on our home page. We guarantee to refund the full purchase price within 30 days of cancellation. Any such unwanted goods remain the property of Janet Granger and must be returned to us at your own expense, unused and in perfect condition. If they are not returned, we will collect them, and deduct the direct cost from the refund.
Of course, if a kit is faulty or has any component missing, then we will replace the kit immediately on its return to us, and refund any postage cost you have incurred. Refunds will only be made to the original PayPal account, or credit/debit card account, or by cheque payable to the signatory of the original cheque. Please note that chart packs are non-returnable.

This guarantee is in addition to your statutory rights as a consumer.

11. Do you have a printed catalogue, or a downloadable catalogue?

I do not offer a printed catalogue or a downloadable one. Everything that you can see in the Needlepoint Kit Store is available for purchase, so simply browse through the Store Categories to see what you would like.

12. Do you deliver outside the UK - to the USA, Canada, Australia or Europe, for example?

Yes, we do. We will ship to any country, worldwide (except Germany) POST FREE on orders of £75 and over. There is a postage charge of £6.00 on order values of £74.99 or less, when sent overseas by airmail.

13. Can I pay in another currency, other than British pounds?

You can pay in any currency, if you buy online using PayPal, with a credit or debit card. All the prices are listed in English pounds, but your credit card issuing bank does the conversion and takes the equivalent in your currency from your account automatically. For example, if you are in the US, you pay in dollars; we get paid in pounds!

14. I live in the USA/Canada. How do I convert pounds to dollars?

The simple answer is – you don’t need to! Just follow the normal shopping cart procedure, agreeing to buy in pounds, then your credit card issuing bank does the conversion and takes the equivalent in dollars from your account automatically. You pay in dollars; we get paid in pounds!

To work out how much a price in pounds means in dollars, you need to know the exchange rate on the day. If, for example, it is 1.5 dollars to the pound, you multiply the price in pounds by 1.5 to get the price in dollars. For example, £15 = 15 x 1.5 = $22.50. You can check the latest exchange rate on any day by going to xe.com’s currency converter site.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not send currency through the post, as it is not safe. Also, we would be charged a lot by our bank to pay in foreign currency to our bank and this charge would have to be passed on to the customer, unfortunately. However, we can accept payment from overseas customers by Paypal – see question 5, above.

15. Where can I buy your kits if I don't live in the UK?

The best way to buy our kits is from our Needlepoint Kit Store, because we ship worldwide.

16. What is in a kit?

Some features of the FULL KITS:

  • Easy-to-follow, computer-generated COLOUR BLOCK CHARTS (the canvas, evenweave fabric or silk gauze is not printed)
  • Detailed instructions
  • Colour photo on the front of each kit shows how the completed piece of stitching will look
  • 18 count interlock canvas (carpets), 22 count canvas (wallhangings and cushions), 28 count evenweave fabric (samplers), 32 count gauze (firescreens, traycloths, teacosies, chairs, rectangular stools, bellpulls and some of the handbags), or 40 count gauze (Christmas stockings needlework stands and some of the handbags).
  • Plenty of crewel wool, stranded cotton thread, or rayon silk (depending on the type of kit), and a needle
  • Fine thread to add a fringe on a carpet (where sensible, i.e. not in the staircarpet kits!)
  • Cushion kits have backing fabric and wadding
  • Sampler kits have a finished wooden frame
  • Chair kits have a whitewood components
  • Rectangular stool kits have whitewood components
  • Christmas stocking kits have ultrasuede backing fabric
  • Bellpull kits have a cast metal bellpull end
  • Firescreen kits have a cast metal frame kit
  • Pole screen kits have mahogany wooden parts to make the pole stand and frame
  • Wallhanging kits have iron-on interlining, ribbon for “tabs” and a hanging pole
  • Traycloth kits have wooden parts to make a tray
  • Needlework stand kits have the wooden parts for the stand
  • Handbag kits have gold thread for the handles and a tiny bead to represent the closure.
  • Bolster kits have some wadding, and thread to make the tassels.

The CHART PACKS (available for carpets and wallhangings only) do not contain any fabric, needle or wool/threads, but DO contain the following:

  • Easy-to-follow, computer-generated black and white symbol CHARTS
  • Detailed instructions
  • Colour photo on the front of each kit shows how the completed piece of stitching will look Additional information included in the chart packs only:
  • Shade number equivalents given for DMC, Anchor, Madeira & Paterna threads

17. Why do the kits have colour charts?

All kits contain a computer-generated colour block chart which is simple to use and easy on the eyes. If you haven’t used a colour chart before, you will probably find that you can finish your project much quicker than when you work from a black and white symbol chart (when you have to keep converting symbols to colours in your head, or laboriously colour in the chart before you can start stitching)!

18. I am colour-blind, so I can't work from colour-block charts. What can I do?

You have two options: If you want to make a carpet or a wallhanging, we sell chart packs, which have a black and white symbol chart in, as standard.

Alternatively, if you prefer to buy a full kit for a carpet or wallhanging, or you would like a type of kit that we do not provide in chart pack format, please state when you order that you would prefer to have a black and white symbol chart substituted for the colour chart. This is a FREE ‘substitution’ service.

19. Can I buy just the chart?

For those who want to adapt the colours or canvas count of a design, chart packs are available for carpets and wallhangings only. These packs include a clear, black and white symbol chart and detailed instructions. For carpet charts, the colour key lists Appleton’s shade numbers, as in the full kit; it also gives colour equivalents for Anchor, DMC, Madeira and Paterna. For wallhanging charts, the colour key lists Anchor shade numbers, as in the full kit; it also gives colour equivalents for DMC and Madeira.

Chart packs are not available for any other type of kit that we produce.

20. Will I get good instruction sheets?

Detailed instructions are included in every kit, covering the stitches used (including fringing stitch for the carpet designs), and general finishing details. The staircarpet instruction sheets cover how to measure the staircase of your doll’s house. The oval, circular and tiger-skin instruction sheets have special finishing instructions, explaining how to deal with their irregular shapes, as hemming is impractical for these. The wallhanging instruction sheets explain how to add the “tabs”. For kits which have extra components, there are details of how the kit is completed by making up the other parts. There is a large tutorial section on the website giving detailed help.

21. Some carpets have fringes. How is this done?

The carpet kits include a skein of cotton thread for adding a fringe, where fringing would be sensible (i.e. the staircarpets, for instance, do not include any). Detailed written instructions, and several diagrams, guide you through this decorative stitch, which is a little like a cross stitch with a loop, worked over the canvas edge. There is a tutorial which explains how to do that, here. If you choose to finish the kit without a fringe, there is always enough crewel wool to hem all four sides instead.

22. What is included in a wallhanging kit?

The wallhangings are worked on 22 count canvas using Anchor stranded cotton (you use two strands at a time) in tent stitch. When finished it is hung by ribbon tabs on a wooden pole and backed with iron-on interfacing. There is a tutorial which explains how to do that, here. The kits include all the materials needed. As with all the other kits, the design is counted from a colour-block chart.

23. Does a cushion kit contain all I need to make a cushion?

Yes. These kits make a good introduction to miniature needlework, and co-ordinate with many of the carpets and staircarpets in the range. Each one will only take a few hours to complete. Each kit contains a piece of backing fabric and some wadding, as well as the usual canvas, thread, colour block chart, and so on. Finishing instructions are also included.

24. What size staircase will a staircarpet fit?

Each staircarpet kit contains enough materials to make a staircarpet 20″ long (50cms). This is enough for a 15-step flight in your dollshouse. The width of the staircarpets varies with the different designs – dimensions are given alongside each picture. Remember when ordering your staircarpet to take into consideration the width of your staircase, whether you want a little or a lot of tread to show at the sides of the carpet, as well as any space taken up by spindles.

25. What sort of fabric are the kits stitched on?

The fabric used for all carpet kits is 18 count white interlock canvas. It is very smooth and pliable, and helps produce a very flat carpet. All the carpet kits contain a piece of canvas large enough to enable it to be attached to a 12″ (30cm) wide rectangular tapestry frame. When worked on a frame, the canvas should not even need to be blocked when completed. If you do not use a frame, and find that the canvas has become a little distorted, you can iron the canvas with a steam iron (on medium setting), gently pulling the canvas square again. I have found this is much better (and quicker!) than blocking. After hemming and fringing, a final press with a medium hot iron will benefit each carpet, giving a very professional finish.

For the cushion and wallhanging kits, 22 count interlock canvas is used, to give a more detailed finish. The sampler kits are worked on either 28 count or 32 count evenweave, in a suitable background colour for the project (so that you do not need to ‘colour in’ around the design – you only need to stitch the actual design).

The other kits are worked on mainly 32 count silk gauze (the stockings, needlework stands and some handbags are on 40 count). This is a flexible mesh fabric, which, although the count size sounds as if it would be difficult to work on, is actually just as easy as working on 18 count Aida fabric, as the fabric threads on the gauze are very thin. This means that the holes you are aiming your needle for are comparatively large, when compared with Aida, which has thicker threads and tiny holes.

26. Are the kits stitched in silks, cotton threads (floss) or wool?

All the carpet kits contain 2-ply crewel wool. This type of wool gives a very realistic look to your finished carpet. I have deliberately chosen muted shades, so that when placed in your doll’s house or room setting, the carpet doesn’t ‘jump out’ at you visually.

All the other kits are stitched with stranded cotton, using two strands for the wallhangings and cushions, and one strand for the other kits. The Christmas stockings, however, are stitched with one strand of rayon silk thread.

I have included generous amounts of each shade in every kit, but if you run out due to mis-counting and needing to unpick a section, contact me for further supplies of the shade you need, which I will be happy to supply free of charge.

27. I have done cross stitch before, but not needlepoint - is it easy?

Yes, but it’s even easier than cross stitch (it’s like half cross stitch) – only half as many stitches to do! Some people think of needlepoint as “tapestry” though, technically, tapestry is woven. See the tutorials section for help on the stitches used in my kits.

28. Can your designs be done in cross stitch?

There is plenty of wool or thread in a kit to do it in tent stitch, as recommended, but if you intend to use cross stitch you would definitely run out, as that stitch uses twice the amount of thread. For carpet and wallhanging designs, I would suggest that you buy the chart, instead, if you really want to do them in cross stitch. Working a design that was originally intended to be done in needlepoint, in cross stitch instead, will mean that the finished stitching will look much more intense, as the way the colours work together in cross stitch (in squares) differs from the way those same colours work together as diagonal needlepoint stitches.

You may also need to adapt the canvas mesh size and thread thickness in order to make the design work in cross stitch. (We cannot be responsible for the outcome, if there is any deviation from the way a kit is originally designed to work!)

29. The fabric count seems fine - will working on it harm my eyesight?

No more than any other kind of hand-sewing. The designs look fine, because they are designed to go in a miniature setting, but the actual stitches are similar in size to the cross-stitch, tapestry or needlepoint that many people do all the time. We have many elderly customers who enjoy working our kits, with no problem at all. As with all embroidery, working in a good light is recommended, and stopping for a break occasionally is a good idea !

30. How will I know the sizes of the finished items?

In the Needlepoint Kit Store pages, near each photograph, the dimensions for each carpet are given in Imperial and Metric measurements. These measurements are of the stitched area of the pattern only, before it is hemmed or fringed in any way. Hemming, in the way I suggest on the instruction sheet, adds an eighth of an inch (3mm) to the total width and length of the carpet. Fringing adds about three quarters of an inch (15mm) to the total length.

Dimensions are given for the other kits, usually in the first introductory paragraph of each section, or alongside each design.

31. Will there be any new designs in the future?

I have tried to design dollshouse needlepoint kits suitable for most eras and types of dollshouses, but I am always striving to improve the range. I design all the time, and tend to launch new kits every so often throughout the year. There always seems to be more ideas floating around than there is time to realise them, but I’ll try!

If there is a particular type of miniature embroidery item you are looking for, please let me know and I will try to design something appropriate as soon as I can. When a new design is ready, the website is the first place it gets seen!

To be sure you are one of the first to see any new designs, or to hear about special offers, join our newsletter list, by clicking HERE.

32. Why do the designs all have names, not numbers?

People seem to be curious as to why the designs have names. This began with the carpets, which were the first type of kit I produced. The reason for this naming is that if I name each design after someone I know, I am more likely to be able to remember it. Therefore, when I am designing, I try to think of a relevant name for each one.The ‘Karen’ carpet, for instance, is named after a needlepoint designer friend of mine, who really admires all things Arts and Crafts – so naming a miniature William Morris carpet after her seemed ideal.

However, there are exceptions to the rule – I don’t actually know anyone called Bathmat!

33. What if I get stuck, or make a mistake?

We want you to be able to successfully complete your dollshouse needlepoint kit. If you are having problems with your kit and would like advice, you can email us. Alternatively, UK customers can telephone us on 01538 308860 between 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.

34. Can I send you pictures of the stitching I have done?

We have a special gallery featuring examples of Customers’ Stitching where you can see pictures that stitchers have sent us, showcasing the miniature embroidery in their dolls houses, room boxes and so on. Why not add pictures of your finished projects to this page? We would love to see what you have achieved! If you have completed one of our kits, take a photo and send it to us (either as an attachment to an email, or as a ‘real’ photo, by post) – it’s always exciting and inspirational to see how many ways people find to be creative!

35. How do I know if the colours of the designs on my screen are accurate?

The photographs in the Needlepoint Kit Store are as accurate a representation as browsers, monitor screens, etc., will allow.