The Story Behind “The Thredyl”

Every name carries a story, and The Thredyl is no exception.

When I began writing The Hidden Village of Mills Beary, I thought I was crafting just one tale. But the story kept growing, and soon I realized I was building a world, a hidden village in rural England where the SnipPets and Duffels Bear, their Guardian, live.

It’s a place I’ve walked in my dreams for many years, a place stitched together from both imagination and love.

From the start, I knew what the SnipPets would look like. They were never meant to be perfect. They had mismatched eyes, quirky smiles, and were made from scraps of fabric that might have otherwise been thrown away. Yet that was the point. Their worth wasn’t in looking the same as everyone else, it was in what they carried inside. They were stitched on an old treadle machine by Duffels Bear, and each scrap was bound with magical silver thread spun by the silk worms. Every SnipPets bore a curly-cue nose, a symbol of the magic within them.

That curly-cue began to appear throughout the village and the mill. It became a symbol of truth and belonging. And it taught me something: we don’t have to be perfect to have a place in the world. It’s what’s in our hearts that truly matters.

The name itself came when I blended two words, Thread (the silver thread of magic that binds scraps into something whole) and Treadle (the old sewing machine that stitched them together). Out of these came a single word: The Thredyl.

For me, The Thredyl is more than a symbol. It is a reminder that scraps can become something beautiful, differences can become strengths, and every story has a place to belong. That’s why, when it came time to name this creative space, there was only one choice: The Thredyl Press.

Because just like in Mills Beary, this is a place where threads come together, imperfections shine, and something magical is created.

With warmth,
Janis / The Thredyl Press