A luxury embroidery and needlepoint brand founded by Eppie Thompson which produces beautiful, considered kits designed for makers who want to slow down and create something they're genuinely proud of. With strong organic foundations, loyal customers, and press coverage from some of the UK's most respected titles, The Fabled Thread came to Nutshell with one question: could ads work for a brand like this without compromising what made it special?
THE CHALLENGE
Eppie had built the business over five years without paid advertising, and was sceptical about starting. Her concern wasn't just about spend, it was about authenticity. She wanted ads that felt like a genuine extension of the brand, not a departure from it.
We were her first ads agency. No broken account to fix, no previous benchmarks to beat, just a blank slate, a healthy business, and a founder who wanted to understand what ads could do for her new customer acquisition.
THE RESULTS
New customer acquisition grew x2.5 year-on-year in 2025, with organic activity largely unchanged. The growth was ads.
Beyond the numbers, we've supported new product launches, consulted on CRO, and helped the business build a paid media engine they can rely on whenever they choose to use it.
WHAT THE CLIENT SAID
"I started working with Nutshell after nearly five years of running the business, during which time I’d been quite anxious about starting any kind of paid advertising. Lots of people had encouraged me to go in that direction, but I always worried about how it might affect the authenticity of our business, and about becoming dependent on ads.
That completely changed when I met Julie and Sophie. They really understood my concerns and the way I wanted to present our business - which felt quite different from the typical approach to paid ads. They also understood the balance we were trying to strike: growing the business without becoming reliant on paid ads, and making sure any advertising still felt like a genuine extension of what we offer rather than just a sales tool.
Since working with them, we’ve been amazed not only by how well the ads have performed, but by the partnership we’ve built. Julie and Sophie feel like an extension of our own team. They consistently go above and beyond - offering thoughtful advice, adapting to our needs, and suggesting improvements that go far beyond their immediate role, including ways to improve conversion across other parts of the business.
Most importantly, I trust them completely with our budget and how we scale. They understand what we’re trying to achieve and manage spend in a way that never makes me feel like I need to micromanage. Working with them has genuinely transformed our business.
I recommend them constantly. In the advertising world it’s surprisingly hard to find people who aren’t trying to sell you a dream, but are willing to talk honestly about the reality. That’s exactly what makes Sophie and Julie so unusual."
Eppie Thompson, Founder, The Fabled Thread