The Sewing Room

Kandipandi

almond wrote: »

hi north eastener here
i did craft fairs last year with yorkshire fairs at preston park eaglescliffe cost £35 a table some times we did ok but others waste of time, we did a lot
at xmas with local schools costings £10 a table and did really well, not booked anything this year yet

Hi! Thats a thought - never thought about the schools. I think nearer the time I will have to do my homework and gets selling!

If all else fails we will have to get together and do our own North East MSE fair :rotfl:

Savvy_sewing

I remember the Anne Ladbury lessons.! gosh,

I didnt see the Twiggy programme, but shall keep my eyes peeled for similar.
But its funny it was only last week that i said to my Daughter we could do a Swapping Party and I could always do the alterations. Having done alterations for a living when the kids were younger. (used to do the local drycleaners stuff, and a wedding shops),
Not well at the moment, but I did do my mums bag, with beige outer and a lilac inner, to be reversable for her weddng she is going to this weekend. So she now has the choice of two bags. or three if she reverses it!! I will have to get the photos onto the computer.

Savvy_sewing

I actually had that pattern book, I watched the series, and I made some lovely clothes from it. (At the time). I made everything in the book over the year or so! I wore the blouse with a frilled neck line to my brothers wedding!!

stardrops42

ILoveSaving wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am new to this thread but do lots of sewing too. Its nice to find so many people who live in the North East too.

I was just wondering if anyone on here has ever tried using Misis, or Floksy? I have made quite a bit of stuff and thought I might try one of these sites to sell them on, but has anyone actually sold anything through these?

I need an outlet. I visited a local craft fair the other day to check them out. It was so badly advertised that sellers were packing up to go by 1pm and it was to be open till 4pm but hardly anyone had come. The stall holders had paid £50 a table as well!! This seems outrageous, dont' they realise how much time and effort goes into making crafts. This seems to me to be criminal.

Are there any other good craft fairs in the North East too? That are cheaper to attend and get plenty of visitors?

Hi another North Eastener here :hello:

I've just opened a shop on Folksy a couple of weeks ago but haven't sold anything yet. I'm not really bothered as it took me about 4 weeks before I made a sale in my Etsy shop. I have noticed that a lot of people tend to sell their stuff really cheaply on Folksy which can make my stuff look quite expensive I suppose. I don't know maybe I should just sell on Etsy where I do OK or maybe it might depend on what you sell??

I can't help you with craft fairs as I've never done one as I never seem to have enough stock to fill a table

[Deleted User]

I too had the Ann Ladbury book. I still have it. I made the skirt and jacket for my sister in laws wedding. The cdesigns were very elegant.

ILoveSaving

almond wrote: »

hi north eastener here
i did craft fairs last year with yorkshire fairs at preston park eaglescliffe cost £35 a table some times we did ok but others waste of time, we did a lot
at xmas with local schools costings £10 a table and did really well, not booked anything this year yet

Thanks for that. Yes I hadn't thought of schools either. Will definetly try and find out about some of these too.

ILoveSaving

stardrops42 wrote: »

Hi another North Eastener here :hello:

I've just opened a shop on Folksy a couple of weeks ago but haven't sold anything yet. I'm not really bothered as it took me about 4 weeks before I made a sale in my Etsy shop. I have noticed that a lot of people tend to sell their stuff really cheaply on Folksy which can make my stuff look quite expensive I suppose. I don't know maybe I should just sell on Etsy where I do OK or maybe it might depend on what you sell??

I can't help you with craft fairs as I've never done one as I never seem to have enough stock to fill a table

Yes it doesn't make sense to try and undercut other crafters as it may end up not being worthwhile to make things. Also I think people will pay more if they think it is of better quality because more expensive fabrics and other resources have been used.

Is Etsy an American site? If it is I am not keen to post things internationally, but if not I will have a look. Thats why I looked at Misi as this is a UK site although people do still sell abroad if they want to.

stardrops42

ILoveSaving wrote: »

Yes it doesn't make sense to try and undercut other crafters as it may end up not being worthwhile to make things. Also I think people will pay more if they think it is of better quality because more expensive fabrics and other resources have been used.

Is Etsy an American site? If it is I am not keen to post things internationally, but if not I will have a look. Thats why I looked at Misi as this is a UK site although people do still sell abroad if they want to.

Hi

Yes Etsy is an American site and most of my sales are to American buyers (I have had an Australian customer recently:D). The only difference in posting international is that you have to put a custom sticker on the parcel with a few details on it. The woman at the PO usually gives me a big roll of stickers to take home so that I don't need to do it at the PO:D I don't find it much different to posting parcels within the UK.

ILoveSaving

stardrops42 wrote: »

Hi

Yes Etsy is an American site and most of my sales are to American buyers (I have had an Australian customer recently:D). The only difference in posting international is that you have to put a custom sticker on the parcel with a few details on it. The woman at the PO usually gives me a big roll of stickers to take home so that I don't need to do it at the PO:D I don't find it much different to posting parcels within the UK.

Thanks for the helpful information. I shouldn't really exclude any potential customers so will have to get myself a pricing leaflet from the Post Office.

I have just been checking out Folksy which looks really good. I really like how they show how many items someone has sold already. This shows people are using the site even if it costs a little more to sell through them.

CandyB101_2

I've just come across this 'free' sewing pattern site and thought it may be of use for ideas
http://www.!!!!!!!!!.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html