We've all been there, standing in a fabric shop, wondering if we do actually need a new zipper for our next project or not. You go ahead and buy it anyway, just to be safe, only to find out that you actually had four different zippers at home that could work. Damn.
Hopefully, with the notions stash you won't have to wonder anymore.
How to add notions
Similarly to fabrics; when you add a new notion, you will first be given a short form for basic details. Type in a name and choose your notion category. Depending on the category you choose, you will get some additional fields to fill out, like quantity/length, size/width and style. You have to choose a category, but the rest of the fields are optional (meaning you don't have to choose a style, for instance).
For some notion categories, it makes sense to add just one listing for multiple items. For example, you often purchase multiples of buttons and hardware, while elastic might just be one continuous item. In the example above, we're adding 10 buttons of the same style and size, so it will just be one listing. When the buttons are saved, we can then add a couple more details, like the main material and color.
Every notion, no matter the category, will have more fields you can fill in related to when and where you purchased it, how much it cost, where it's stored, in addition to tags and notes.
Notion example; sourcing and additional details
Notion categories and types
The following notion categories are currently available: button, zipper, elastic, hardware, trim/tape, label/patch and thread.
For each category, there are variations in what other options are available:
Button Buttons are tracked by quantity (pcs) and size (mm/in). Additional options include style, main material, and color.
Zipper Zippers are tracked by quantity (pcs) and length (cm/in). Additional options include style, teeth material, pull, and color.
Elastic Elastics are tracked by length (m/yd) and width (mm/in). Additional options include style, and color.
Hardware Hardware are tracked by quantity (pcs) and size (mm/in). Additional options include style, and color.
Trims/tapes Trims and tapes are tracked by length (m/yd) and width (mm/in). Additional options include style, and color.
Label/patch Labels and patches are tracked by quantity (pcs), length (mm/in) and width (mm/in). Additional options include style, label type, shape, and color.
Threads Threads are tracked by spool status (empty-full). Additional options include length (m/yd), style, color number, and color.
Threads are quite different to the other categories, as this is tracked by spool status instead of quantity, to keep track of approximately how much you have left on each spool. This means you can't add multiple spools of the same type to one listing. If you do have multiples of the same spool, you'll add one listing for each of them. If you have Plus, you can duplicate similar thread spools. For specific situations where multiple spools are used up at the same rate, such as overlocking/serging, you can opt instead to just note the spool count in the title if you'd prefer.
Can you add more notion types?
We would very much like to add more categories and styles so you can stash all your different notions.
However, it's not trivial to justadd them. As you can probably tell, each category has its own differences and options, and most importantly; its own way of being 'tracked'.
What that means is that it's not super easy to create categories for some of the missing notion types. Here are just some of the types we know we are missing, and not all of them can use the same options or be grouped together:
Shoulder pads, Bra inserts/foam cup, Sleeve heads, Boning, Busks, Underwire, Embellishments, Misc bag accessories…
There are probably hundreds of other missing notions if we were to include everything one can buy at a haberdashery. We are hoping to solve this when we have some spare time to sit down and work out some solutions.
Can't you just add a 'misc' category? We like to keep a consistent user experience across the entire app. Part of that is avoiding 'other' categories and groupings when we can, because this inevitably will lead to mess. If we did have a misc/other category, we'd have to let you choose what options that item should have, and this could become quite clunky.
In addition, it would be very hard to deal with what kinds of filters we'd include for the category if we allow you to choose whatever options you want for each misc listing. Right now, the filters are based on what makes sense for the category i.e. you can filter buttons by quantity, size and main material. The same filters would not make sense for trims and tapes because they have different options.
Also, you might not want to use the same size scale for each of these notions. For example, zippers use cm/in and buttons use mm/in. If we were to allow you to choose this as well, the interface could become complex and very hard to use.
What about sewing needles? We have explored adding needles as a notion category, but we decided against it. Everything else currently in notions are things you use in or on a project. Needles are more like tools than notions, in that you use them to create your project - instead of being a part of your finished garment or item.
So.. tools? We do want to (and intend to) add a Tools section to Threadloop, which would include things like needles, sewing machines, and more. We're just not sure when we can get around to it, so thanks for your patience!
