Thread: For those of you who do craft shows....

One of the members of our senior quilting group sells a lot of aprons and those bowls for the microwave. Good luck with selling.

I think I would think about special occasions people send/buy flowers and gifts. Weddings, birthdays, baby arrivals, anniversaries, the holidays. That will make the items sellable at those times and give you some ideas.

Having done craft shows successfully for over 25 years I can offer some advise.
1. Do not assume your bags need to be customized. I have sold hundreds of non -custom bags.
2. Pot holders sell , use your scraps for financial efficiency. I sell a few hundred every year, made from my scraps.
3. Table runners sell well , Do your homework.... see what colors are popular in the stores for decorating. Twice a year I go to several stores to see what the colors are. Stores spend lots of time selecting what colors they will select for there retail space, no reason you can't benefit from their research. Do a double check on couch colors.... often they want a coffee table size runner to coordinate with there couch/sofa. Olive, brown, and earthtones are the most frequent couch sofa colors. Gray is becoming more popular. Use some pops of color in these runners.... they are buying to give the room some pizazz. The trend is away from cutsey fabrics and more toward elegant or classic fabric.
Display of runners is the key to good sales , if you can display showing the full length , buyers are more drawn to them.

What ever you make to sell , use the most fabulous eye catching fabrics you can find. Its the colors and the fabrics that first catch shoppers eye. I can't begin to tell you how many I know who get into the craft show business, and have disappointing sales, and it started with the fabric choice. Keep in mind if it was on the clearance rack that means no one thought it was attractive enough to purchase for quite awhile (yes you can find the occasional great fabric in that bin , but be careful ask your self "why is it here" ) .
Do discuss the layout/display set up before you spend hours sewing only to find out you can't properly display on the day of the show.

Originally Posted by Buckeye Rose

My daughter is getting a new shed ready to open as a flower shop. She has worked for a local florist for many years and plans on doing silk flower arrangements and having lots of items to give as gifts too. So she wants me to supply her with quilted things to sell. My question is what all kind of items seem to sell at craft shows? I have a bunch of mugrugs/snack mats, am going to make some checkbook covers and cosmetic bags. She wants some of my handbags, but I think I will make one of each size for display as most people will want them customized to their wants/needs. I will eventually get a throw sized quilt finished, but that will be a bit. What am I missing? What can I make that isn't time consuming or money consuming?

If she has the room in her new shop to display them, how 'bout candle mats?

Pretty candle mats displayed with a pretty candle (also for sale) or one of her silk flower arrangements in a pretty container (also for sale) would catch customers' eyes.

I would think fabric boxes would sell well also, I have made several key chains and fabric ornaments as well as little cosmetic bags and change purses.













I also crochet little baby skull caps



Good luck