cross stitch that sells at a craft show
I want to cross stitch some things for a craft show that will be in October. I have done some Christmas ornaments and two towels. What is the most popular that will sell? I want to do things that do NOT have to be framed.
Posted by: linabenson on 01/23/15
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I am just starting to do research on that subject myself. The important thing is that you need to be somewhat unique. In the past few years I attended several craft shows that had multiple sellers selling similar items. Stuff like homemade jewelry, tote bags, rag dolls, knitted scarfs, etc. You want to keep the costs down so people will buy your items and you will make a profit. I recently made yarmulkes. A friend knew someone that wanted one with a St Louis Blue them, my friend asked if I could do it. I found the fabric and sold one for $20. Then I was wearing one at my synagogue with Coca Cola fabric. Someone saw me and had to have six -- that was great. Now I am thinking about making more. The challenge is "knowing" what will be popular eight or nine months from now. Technically, I should not have sold these yarmulkes because they are copyright protected.

Twenty years ago I crocheted yarmulkes for my son's Bar Mitzvah. That was a work of love. They were easier to make, less time consuming, and less expensive than the ones I am currently making. The sisterhood asked me to make some for the Chanukah bazaar. I made 100 - each one slightly different. I had a price tag of $8 apiece. I sold eight and that barely covered the costs of my materials. One woman had the nerve to tell me that I was asking too much money. Then she asked me go GIVE her my pattern so that she could make her own! I told her where I had purchased the pattern and that it had cost more than $8.00!

Oh yes, another thing you have to figure into your cost is the rental of your booth and if there is a percentage per item charged by the operators of the fair.
by: NANCYE G on 01/23/15
Another suggestion. There are books available that give information about crafting for Bazaars. You can probably find one at your local library. Also, there are probably lots of on line sites you can look at.
by: NANCYE G on 01/23/15
I've only ever been able to sell Huck Weaving hand-towels, & small Christmas ornaments. Nothing else, even at a loss at a church sale. I must be doing something wrong, but I don't see cross stitch selling on EBay either.

I did hand made stuffed animals, whichsold, but I got bored.
by: jlhewes on 01/23/15
jlhewes,
I don't think you were doing anything wrong. I just think many people don't understand the time and effort that cross stitchers put into their work.
I had a bad experience about 20 years ago myself where I spoke with a store owner who was advertising for people that create crafts to be sold. I took in a few of my completed cross stitch items, unframed (figuring that if buyers liked the pattern they might want to frame it themselves to go with their home colors). What a disaster. None of my items were bought and she made a point of telling me on more than one occasion of how poorly the items were doing. I went to the store to pick up my items (there had been no money exchange between us) about 4 weeks later and the store was empty with a
"Gone out of business" sign on it. The only upside to the whole situation is that the cross stitch items I left with her were small items that could be easily restitched again. The owner never notified me that the store was closing. I won't do business like that again.
by: Bermuda on 01/23/15
I thought about doing some cross stitching to sell at a craft show a few years ago. After checking several out. I found that for all the work that they put in them they were selling too cheap, and they still weren't selling. I decided then I would just stick to giving mine away as gifts. No one has ever turned one down. I just do it for a stress reliever.
by: syagel on 01/23/15
I learned to do cross-stitch for a house tour many years ago. We were decorating a house for Christmas and everything we made was for sale. I started with the small tree ornaments in gold plastic frames that sold for $1.00 each. As I remember, they went well. When they realized I was hooked on cross-stitch, I was given a long table runner and six place mats. The runner had six Christmas patterns stitched around the edges and each place mat had one of those patterns on it. I stitched long and hard on all of it, fringed all the edges, and got the pieces ready to sell. It went for $35.00! If I'd known it was going to sell for so little, I'd have bought it myself! The problem with cross-stitch at craft sales is that the people who might buy are usually the ones who don't do it themselves and don't have any idea of the work that goes into it. Those who know, will make it for themselves. My suggestion would be to make something simple so you can keep the price down.

I bought a cross-stitched picture at a flea market a few years ago called "Our Country Home". It's a complicated piece and it had a $10.00 price tag. When the lady saw me looking at it, she said I could have it for $5.00! It's hanging in my house now and I feel bad that someone put in hours and hours on it and I paid so little for it. It's beautiful - and worth so much more.
by: Senior Stitcher on 01/23/15
I also made those small Christmas ornaments; at the time they were 2 in a pack for $1 @ Hancocks.. bought all I could. the lions club auxiliary I belonged to paid for the ornaments; at Christmas time our men's club sold Christmas Trees on the club lot.. we put up display of ornaments. sold them for $2 each.. This was a fund raiser & all monies went to La Crippled Children Camp & Lions Eye Foundation.. one of many find raiser we did through out the year..

Bottom line, the ladies earned some money to donate & I did what I loved..
p.s was just starting out w/ stitching & this is what I started with, about30 yrs ago..
by: dbye468 on 01/23/15
I was watching Antiques Road Show one night. Someone's great aunt had stitched a large picture of a biblical story at the turn of the century (around 1900). It was appraised at $99,000!
by: Cory on 01/23/15
So, the trick is to live into our hundreds, so we can sell stuff we stitched as children. Dang, I didn't start early enough!

All those antique samplers we buy replicas of were stitched by reluctant teen girls of 100-300 years ago. If they only knew what their homework would be worth someday.
by: jlhewes on 01/24/15
I know, right, jl!!! LOL

Seriously, there is no profit in hand crafted items unless they are trendy and they are sold in boutiques. Several years ago, I saw hand knitted sweaters in Germany that sold for $500 and more. I did a lot of knitting for my daughter, she wears a small size and it went quickly, many ladies asked if I would knit for them and I just laughed at them. It makes me angry how contemptuously they act when a realistic price is quoted for an item that they asked for and want. I have never, ever considered selling anything that I have crafted but know that one is lucky to break even for the materials. If they want hand crafted items they can sit down and make their own. A cashier actually had the nerve to tell me that she has a job so she can buy her clothes and doesn't have to make them! She had questioned me about my yarn purchases and came back with this bit of unsolicited trivia. Sorry, I just get so worked up over this issue. I had two yard sales, I won't ever do that again, but had bulky items that I wanted to get rid off - same issues. Why do they shop yard sales if the merchandise is not to their liking? Now I donate everything or set it curbside for the trash pickup. If I get it out there early enough some scavenger comes by and takes it. They want to buy items at rock bottom prices and then have yard sales of their own. It's not that I want to keep buyers from getting a bargain, it's the nasty attitudes I dislike putting up with.
So, ladies, my advice is to stitch or whatever for your enjoyment instead of allowing yourselves to be scammed.
by: Texas Stitcher on 01/24/15