Input please :)

Tasha emailed me last week to say there is a local craft event happening the first week in April for local folk to sell their handmade / home made crafty stuff. We’ve been talking about doing something like that together anyway and so we’ve booked a small table between us to get us going.

I really enjoy the odd bits of crafty / home madey stuff I do and think I’m fairly good at it but I don’t actually have anything made ready to sell, I’ve only ever done stuff for me / the kids / to give as gifts.

I like the idea of being quite ‘green’ about it and using recycled / reclaimed stuff plus I don’t think my knitting, which is the thing I’m doing most at the moment but uses new stuff, is good or quick enough to be worth selling yet.

Some ideas then:

So I’m left with papier mache, which I enjoy but is quite lengthy and it’s sort of the wrong time of year for that. Might be worth taking a book of photos of some of the stuff I have made to see if I can get commissions for it though.

Rag rugging – have loads of rags for that and can also use carrier bags for making things like doormats and shoulder bags which I think might be popular, as well as themed colour rag rugs. This is quite quick to do and I have all the stuff so might be my best bet. No idea at all how to price it. Could also suggest ‘memory rugs’ like Tarly’s made from people’s own clothes they can supply me with.

Knitting small stuff like hats and gloves, maybe from reclaimed wool (stuff I’ve unpicked) and then customised with either material or needle felted scraps (I have an idea for one with flowers, bees, butterflies etc which might be nice). I’ve also started knitting a doll for Scarlett to look like her which we can then make clothes for and other accessories. I think they might sell well if made in the form of the child they are for and then customised accordingly but again no idea how to price.

So do I go for diverse mix of stuff I can do, make one or two of everything and a portfolio of other stuff I can make and try and take commissions or focus on one type of item and make as many as I can to sell on the day?