This year the annual Wire Lace Supplies Christmas Sale started late. And it was all because of the wires! Since the late summer I was having difficulty communicating with the manufacturer, and eventually it turned out they had difficulty with supply chain. After time of uncertainty, I was able to reorder the wire, but on different spools. Which meant that I had to redo all wire listings in my online shop (WireLaceSupplies on Etsy) and furnish them with photographs that show the new product. 

After all, I was happy to be able to restock the wires, because to my knowledge there is no better material on the market. And for lacemaking and other textile techniques, wire really has to be the best quality in order to work!

The new stock of wires is wound on spools that hold 175m (574’) wire, 50meters (40%) more than the previous size. You might remember that the metallic colours were wound on those spools already before. And now all colours come in that size, which means that more projects can be finished from one spool.

Price wise, the larger spool costs CA$10.95, $2 more than the small spool. But since the larger spool is priced at a bulk rate, it actually works out to 15% savings per meter. That’s a good news, especially for lacemakers working on large projects. 

For now, both sizes are in stock, so if you prefer the smaller spools, it’s time to buy them now. I don’t know whether they will ever return. Each colour now has a separate listing, and you can choose the available spool sizes. I hope this will make browsing and shopping easier and more enjoyable for you.

Also, there are some colour variations between the small and large spools, therefore the best opportunity to expand shading potential of your colour palette. The new wire colours are gorgeous – rich and bright –  and so inspiring. Just unpacking and photographing them, I am already excited about all exuberant lace that they will become! 

And not just lace, others textile techniques as well. I learn from my Etsy Shop customers that they are using the wires for knitting, crochet, flower making, basket weaving, model building and more… And I am so happy to be able to provide the best material for all those creative projects.

While I still have only limited time for my lace studio, I remain committed to running the WireLaceSupplies online shop. Despite challenges stemming from ever changing rules and requirements of e-commerce, together with rising fees and taxes, my shop is still here and earning the Etsy Star Seller badge month after month! Positive feedback from my customers is my reward, as well as incentive to stay on track and keep the quality of products and customer service at high levels. 

Shipping remains the biggest concern. While the post services are reasonably efficient and the delivery time has stabilized, the costs has been rising steadily. Especially within Canada, where  fuel surcharge is added to the postage price. Now mailing one spool of wire from BC to Quebec costs almost three times the item value!  Ordering more spools at once, perhaps even pooling orders with friends and thus sharing the shipping, would help decrease the overhead and keep the cost more realistic.

To reduce expense for European customers, Lenka’s Bobbins for Wire Lace (Medium and Fine) are now available from the Belgian manufacturer, Jan de Maertelaere bv. Customers in European Union are encouraged to place their orders directly with Jan by by sending email to : info@bobbins.be and therefore save on shipping and taxes.  

Talking about savings, the annual Wire Lace Supplies Christmas Sale is on – until December 29th, 2022. Save 20% on all Patterns&Tutorials, and 10% on wires, bobbins, tools and kits!
Have fun browsing the new colours and let them inspire many brilliant future projects.

Wishing happy lacemaking to you all,

Lenka