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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
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From: salex_us
Date: 11-29-2004, 12:54 PM (1 of 9)
| New to posting so bear with me...I am interested in taking items to craft sales. I am a quilter and wonder what is popular as far as others are concerned. I am also wondering the opinion of others as far as how many quilts to have available when I do go to craft shows. Don't want to sit with a card table and one quilt...ha. Also what sizes are most popular. Craft shows in this area are not very large. Thanks for any ideas you may have. |
User: salex_us
Member since: 10-08-2004 Total posts: 8 
|
From: akire
Date: 12-01-2004, 08:21 AM (2 of 9)
|
Great post, i'm glad to see posts about quilting/sewing and craft shows as I am thinking of heading in that direction myself. I am planning to do quilts that are more like 'throws', ones that you would keep on your sofa, and the occasional dbl. I am also planning to do it in a very basic, easy style, using one piece tops and bottoms, sewing all layers together and turning (no binding), and then tieing. At first I assumed people would think this method not very traditional, then I found two old quilts my mother in law had that were done this way...and I realized quilts were made all sorts of ways, so I shouldn't be so concerned about what's traditional or not. This way I can make more and keep prices very low. In my area price seems to play a big part at local craft shows...and quilts as we all know are often so expensive (rightly so I will add) that they don't sell well at craft shows. I'll get bigger if the smaller ones sell. I would also like to hear opinions on volume..how much to bring with you. |
User: akire
Member since: 03-06-2001 Total posts: 61 |
From: karenthibodeau
Date: 01-01-2005, 03:43 PM (3 of 9)
| for the 2005... my plans too like many of you is to sell some of my makings.. at caft shows ect... but how do you get started. and what are the pro-and cons |
User: karenthibodeau
Member since: 12-31-2004 Total posts: 9 |
From: MaryW
Date: 01-02-2005, 10:10 AM (4 of 9)
|
Your best bet is to attend the shows in your surrounding area. See what everyone else has to offer. You can also contact the promoter of the different shows and ask him/her about booth costs, setup regulations, etc. Usually one of the booths at the shows is run by the promoter. As far as volume, that is a tricky question. I used to have half a dozen or more baby quilts at each show. All different tops. They sold well but were panels, not pieced or appliqued. Put them with a bib to match and you had a nice gift set for a new baby. Small things under $20.00 sell easily so you should have more of those. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
|
From: shirleyp
Date: 01-03-2005, 12:01 PM (5 of 9)
| I have done a few craft shows. One of the important things I noticed around me was to make your table attractive. People seem to stop faster at an appealing table. Don't lay you quilts on top of each other. Try to make each piece you have eye catching. Put a nice table cloth on. Make a small tower of boxes and cover them. I just put a table cloth over them as well. Then just lay things on the boxes at different heights. |
User: shirleyp
Member since: 02-12-2002 Total posts: 352 
|
From: momto7
Date: 01-22-2005, 03:07 AM (6 of 9)
| I was wondering if you got to do any shows before Christmas? I know some shows advertize a lot before the show and that helps. I did see some quilts that were really nice and they did sell I hope that you will still do the shows. I know some places hace craft fairs year round. |
User: momto7
Member since: 09-02-2004 Total posts: 16 |
From: ksnative
Date: 01-24-2005, 08:17 AM (7 of 9)
|
My experience has been that quilts do not sell well at craft shows. I think there are several problems. First the prices tend to fall outside of "impulse buying." Most people have to think awhile before they spend $100 or more. Second, a lot of the people who go to shows are crafty people looking for ideas. You hear more I could... you could... grandma did... aunt mary does... kind of comments about quilts than you do other items for some reason -- I think the price contributes to that also. But I am not telling people to underprice their quilts.. just that you may be able to get your prices at other venues. Third, it is very difficult to display quilts well in a small space. If you fold them up people will be unfolding to see them or just walk by. What does seem to go well at craft shows are smaller, lower cost items as well as novelty items. Potholder, photo album covers, coasters, etc. are better craft show items than full sized quilts. The people who seem to sell baby quilts usually have them priced very low and use "cheater fabric or just bind pre quilted fabric. If you can come up with something small, inexpensive and very unique (the next "hot" item) you may do very well. Better venues for quilts are art shows (people are used to paying higher prices there), home decor stores, etc. I don't reccommend "craft malls" -- it's too easy to be taken advantage of and not even realize it. Plain old fashioned word to mouth also works very well. Passing out business cards when someone mentions quilts works surprisingly well. |
User: ksnative
Member since: 01-24-2005 Total posts: 8 |
From: MaryW
Date: 01-25-2005, 09:35 AM (8 of 9)
|
Ks native, welcome to Sew Whats New. Good advice, I machine quilted pre-printed baby quilt panels and sold them for $45.00 They were very popular but this was 15 yrs. ago. I did one in an afternoon. I was lucky because no one else around was doing this at the time. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
|
From: ksnative
Date: 01-25-2005, 12:22 PM (9 of 9)
| Thanks for the welcome Mary. It's good to be here. |
User: ksnative
Member since: 01-24-2005 Total posts: 8 |
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