Pinky and Boo have had their debut!
Claire October 29th, 2007
And to a bit of a mixed reception. I had my first craft fair on Saturday. I found it so hard to stay on my stall and not go wondering round and spending money on bits and bobs that other people were selling. There were 3 other craft stalls apart from mine – a stall selling handmade bags, a stall selling cute doggy sweaters and another stall selling lovely turned wood pieces.
Everyone that came in seemed to really like what I was selling, but I think the prices I charged were a bit beyond what they wanted to pay. I took along my pin cushions, needlecases, some crochet baby blankets, crochet dishcloths, embroidered vintage pillowcases and peg bags and aprons with embroidered patches on them (you may recognise some of the embroideries from the ones I have shown previously.
I tried charging what I thought was a fair price for the work I had put in and the quality of the fabrics and design. However, so many people loved my peg bags, but would not want to pay £12, when the stall selling handmade bags had some ones from plain fabric for £2.99. I sold 4 pincushions in all, so I made £8 profit after travelling. One of the ladies from the handmade bags stall told me not to be disheartened, and seemed a bit surprised that I wasn’t. I don’t feel many of the people that went to the craft fair wanted to buy craft things (it was on the back of a Victorian Christmas Market and a Dolls Fair), and the sort of things I make possibly have a different audience.
I did however have some lovely conversations with ladies, of a certain age, shall we say, that told me all about the things they made when they were younger, and how young people don’t know how to sew (if they had access to t’Internet they would see how wrong that view is…) and what made me feel better about it all, how they thought my work was very neat and well made (something I have a real paranoia about, and in some ways I can be a bit of a perfectionist, which is no bad thing when I am trying to sell things) and how it toook them back to their child hoods, or their grandparents.
I was really pleased with the stall – I took some of my vintage tablecloths along to cover the table with, and my china and glass cake stands to display the pincushions and needlecases on. In the time I was on the stall I managed to complete 4 more needlecases to add to the ones pictured (I was a bit bored, and can’t abide having idle hands, so I took some emroidery and other bits to do). Had a disaster with the clothes rail I took – one bit was missing and so ended up having to borrow my friend Angela’s clothes airer to display the aprons on, but apart from that I was happy with what I took and it was a real learning curve having the experience. I am going to try and do some more before Christmas if I can and in the meantime try and get my Etsy account set up to sell. So, I shall leave you with some more pictures of what I may list here in the next week or so for sale.
If you are interested in anything please feel free to email me for more details. Thanks for stopping by and all your positive comments – it’s appreciated! xoxo
- craft fairs
- Comments(12)
Well done on getting your first one under your belt. I’ve found that ‘proper’ craft fairs aren’t as good as christmas fairs. Many of the crafters do it just for a hobby and don’t factor in time to their prices. My most profitable ventures have been parties because you have a captive audience who all come prepared to spend money. Your stuff looks fab – I especially love the aprons and needle cases.
How funny we have the same things! Btw your comment always gets left in multiples – today it was 5 times!
Cathy XX
What a colourful display – your stall must have really caught everyone’s eye. I’m sorry you didn’t sell more, but suspect you’re right and your creations really appeal to a different audience. The aprons especially look fabulous, such gorgeous vintage colours, plus your beautiful embroidery adds a perfect touch. Fabulous.
Hello! My first visit here…You have a lovely, charming spot here in blogland! I smiled so much seeing this entry in particular, with all your pretties on display. All that embroidery is exceptionally wonderful. Sorry your fair didn’t turn out to be a lucrative result. Hope you find your target audience soon. Etsy and Ebay are great places to sell from, if you’ve not tried those before. I have and Etsy shop and am really enjoying it. Best wishes to you!
)
You have some lovely things there on your craft fair, you blankets are adorable and i can’t believe they are only £12, they are lovely and so much work goes into them.
Your layout of your stall looked lovely , im sure you will do really well onetsy.
Love your blog!
Sarah x
Hi Claire,
It was sad to read that the fair was not a success, but at the moment I’m not surprised. The fair in Newark was similar to this everybody was looking but not to eager to part with their money. I have a few ideas for you in a business sense so will email you personally.
Bye for now.
xFaye
Hi me again, sorry but I forgot to add that it all looked stunning!
xFaye
I think it all looked marvellous and obviously the people at the fair were morons, hahaha!!!
What a lovely display! I’m glad you viewed the craft fair as a learning experience and did not let slow sales discourage you. I’m tickled that you’re planning to set up an Etsy shop, since I am VERY fond of your pin cushions.
Hi Claire,
you are right not to get too disheartened. Some craft fairs are really not a good place to sell – whereas Christmas shopping nights tend to be much better.
It looks beautiful though. Well done!
Everything looks beautiful,well done! I organised a few craft fairs some years ago at my children’s school and many of the stallholders said that people admiring what they’ve made but aren’t prepared to pay much for it. Unfortunately we’ve been spoilt with so many cheap shops on the high street these days that some people just want everything to be available for silly money. I’m sure you’ll find your market, Etsy or Ebay seems to be the way forward. Good luck.
Well I think it all looked wonderful !
Put this one down to experience and the wrong audience – as lovely as some of them were. I am sure you’ll do fabulously at the right venue, your stall was really pretty and your prices extremely fair in my opinion.
I think its a shame that some people attend fayres expecting to pay peanuts for lovely things.
All you things are so pretty. You did a wonderful job. I love the birds. Thanks for telling me about the ones you did. Makes me more motivated to make some.