Best selling mug rugs for Christmas?
 

I wandered into a new consignment shop last week and the owner is really personable. We got to chatting about what sells well, and she said home dec items if the fabric has mass appeal. And that people are shopping for Christmas gifts now, so she wants impulse inventory. One thing led to another, and she asked if I'd make some mug rugs (she didn't know what they were till I told her, and she got excited about them). She asked for 5-10.

I've never sewn for profit, so I need the help of friends here to suggest things and advise me.

1. Should I use Christmas and/or Hanukkah themed fabric or non-seasonal, year-round prints?
2. Best size?
3. Sets that match or sets that coordinate? How many per set? Two ? Four?
4. How to price. In her shop, the consignor or gets 60%, and the shop 40%.
5. Binding or birthing method?
6. Any other considerations?

Thanks for answering any or all questions. I'm testing the market, really. No experience.

size about the size we use here for the swap
seasonal and year round
2 to a set and coordinate maybe one set for Christmas
I'd go birth method, since most people don't know the difference and it's quicker.
se nice fabrics, not the stff you want to get rid of. They'll like them better and they will sell.
Let us know how yo do.

To answer the simplest question first, #5, I'd do binding because I could then "pre-quilt" a large section of fabric & cut to size, then bind, rather than having to individually quilt every little mug rug. Guess it depends how many you plan to make.

I would ask for that input from the shop owner and/or from guild members -- or at least local quilters. If you don't have ready access to that information, you could raffle off a free set of 4 mug rugs in exchange for people completing a short 3 question survey (you really do need to keep it to 3 questions or less or you won't get as many responses). The 3 questions I would ask would be:

1. Would you prefer mug rugs (oversized fabric coasters) made with
a) holiday fabric
b) winter fabric (snowflakes, pine trees, polar bears, etc)
c) non-seasonal fabric
2. Would you be more likely to buy
a) ones that match
b) coordinating designs where each one is different
3. How much would you be likely to spend on a set of 4
Give 4 suggestions in $2 ranges. See notes on costs/pricing below for more info.
a) $10-12
b) $13-15
c) $16-18
d) $20+
4. Any other comments or suggestions?

I would personally make sets of 4. You can always split them up if they're not selling fast enough. The shop owner should be able to help give you some basic information about the type of buyers who shop her store. Your local SBA may also be able to help with market demographics.

As far as size & pricing... that's really going to depend on what the local market, and specifically that shop's customers, will bear. If your market won't support more than $10 for a set of 4 coasters, you're going to have to keep them to 6x6" in order for them to be remotely profitable (and hopefully get some deals -- I'd definitely bind in a solid color to save money). It would mean only buying fabric that is $12/yd or less, cotton batting that is $4.80/yd or less, a single color of cotton thread & keeping construction/quilting simple enough that you can complete each rug in 7 minutes or less.

Here's how I came up with those numbers (based on 6x6" -- for 8x8, just multiply by 1.8):
Fabric for top & backing (@$6/yd x 41"W)........................ $0.34
Fabric for straight of grain binding (@$3/yd x 41"W).......... $0.15 *solid fabric
Cotton batting (@$4.80/yd x90"W).................................. $0.06
Cotton thread (@$0.007/m)............................................ $0.14
Wear & tear on machine & iron.......................................... $0.03
Disposables (blades, needles, markers, starch).................. $0.15
Durables (pins, cutting mat, seam ripper, etc -- approx)..... $0.10
Electricity....................................... ................................... $0.05
TOTAL COST TO PRODUCE 4 MUG RUGS (no labor)........... $4.08
Commission to vendor............................................ .......... $1.63
Total cost without labor............................................. ........ $5.71 (for 8x8", $10.28)
Absolute minimal labor cost for set.................................... $8.00*

*That means if you can spend an average of just 7 minutes per mug rug to buy materials, press, cut, piece, quilt, bind, deliver to the store & collect payment, you will make $10/hour.

I'd pick my prints so that I could use the same 2 colors of solid fabric to bind all of them & hopefully could get away with the same color of thread to piece & quilt them all. I buy Warm & Plush on the 25yd x 90" roll from Walmart.com, so that's how I calculated price of batting. For the quilting, I'd cut my (unwashed) fabric into sections of 36x36" and would layer, quilt, cut & then bind. I'd use SOG binding with butted corners, machine sewn front & back. Ugh. The artist in me absolutely hates that idea, but my business sense knows that it's the only way to even hope to make a profit at that price point.

Of course, if you can sell at a higher price point, there are a lot of things that you can (and should) do to entice customers to buy your product that could include anything from increasing the size to buying premium fabric (even if that's just shopping the designer fabrics at JAF) to mitering corners to possibly fussy cutting holiday motifs for each rug, or maybe even offering mug rugs with Insul-bright batting so they're heat resistant. The difficulty with each of those is they can easily drive costs as high as $24/set, leaving you with virtually no opportunity to even get paid a nominal amount for your time unless this consignment shop has a very upscale clientele. There are markets in the US for $10/coaster prices ... but those wouldn't be holiday mug rugs; I'd probably rename them "fiber art coasters" to sound fancier, and there would need to be something unique about them to attract buyers in that market. At that price point, I would definitely make every single coaster in the set different and have a couple different sets in case people want more than 4. You might design your own fabric through Spoonflower; or you could use solid fabrics, but do different FMQ motifs; or you might even paint/ink a design on them and seal it with Scotch Guard. If you are interested in that market -- feel free to PM me & we can chat more. :thumbup:

Bree your knowledge is incredible!!! What great information!!!!

Bree, thank you SO much for that cost breakdown and so much more. There's NO way that I could make a mug rug in 7 minutes. I'm just not that fast. It would be fun to see how long it DOES take, excluding the time it takes to shop and buy fabric.

From what I've observed and know about the location, the demographics include lower, middle, and to upper income level shoppers. It's close to both an army base and a golf course community, and between townhouses in the suburbs and waterfront properties on the Chesapeake. The shop owner owns the adjacent two businesses in the 3-store strip mall on a busy highway. One of the stores sells high end consignments clothes, shoes, handbags and jewelry, but the manager says people some of the people from the golf course community will consign but won't buy used goods. The middle shop is a florist who isn't doing well . Her shop is very unappealing with silks and very few cash and carry fresh arrangements. The vintage home dec shop I'm wanting to sell in has a $120 large DOWN-stuffed (why???) decorative sofa pillow in a bird motif that is NOT selling, and smaller (16") pillows at $30 (busy orange/lime paisley) that aren't selling. Owner thinks it's the fabric--too specific. She suggested solids if I wanted to make them.

I do like the idea of selling pairs of mug rugs ("fiber art coasters"--I like that). My problem is I can't stand to make two identical ANYTHING. Boring! I like coordinated but not matchy-matchy (as you say "the artist in me") but I know there are customers who want two of the exact same thing (the business person in me).

At this point, if someone bought my wares, it would be flattering, but probably not profitable. As I said, I'm not speedy fingers. I'm up for the experiment, though. If the things don't sell, I could give them as gifts to my own family and friends.

I just made 30 mug rugs 6x9" for the girls coming to an upcoming retreat we are having with our church. They go along with a workshop I'm doing and no way did they take 7 minutes. Not even close. I loved doing it because it will be a special and unexpected treat for the attendees. I used a bunch of my excess batting and pieced them then cut to size, did quilt as you go strips then layered them with designs that I sewed overtop and quilted down at the same time. I cut the backing larger enough to bring around and use as binding. They are adorable and I really enjoyed the process as it was the first time for me making mug rugs and I used up lots of small scraps of beautiful fabric that I had no idea what to do with otherwise. Would I do them for a venture such as yours though? Not in a million years. I guess I can't do stuff for profit because with the time it takes I can't see any way to make a profit. So if it's fun, go for it. If not and you won't make any money what is the point? Unless you just want to enhance your community with beautiful handwork. I say do what you love and leave the rest behind.

All great information girls! But, if I were to buy a gift in a shop like this I would be looking for the presentation/packaging too. I like the convenience of being able to wrap and bow it, so a box for a set to me is not out of line. It has to have nice wording on the hang tag too. Think about a cutsie name for your wares so someone talking about it say's something to someone else that perks up their ears, so they want to buy one too. See where I am going here? Presentation and packaging and a flirty name and hang tag.

Look what moda did with just a cute ribbon on their fabric cuts with cute names for them.

Great breakdown. I believe the key is the price of the fabric. A person can not make a profit on any fabric item if they go to a LQS and pay off-the-shelf price. If you buy in a store, you need to shop wisely. Also, the idea of quilting a larger piece, cutting it into sections and binding is great (I will definitely use it!), but, for a newbie the birthing method might be quicker. Another trick when using binding is to use a decorative stitch. This way if you are in a hurry, you can be a bit off with your stitches and no one will be the wiser. Take an afternoon without interruptions, lay out all your supplies and then time yourself thru the whole process of making 2 mug rugs. This is your starting point. Of course you will speed up as you go, but it is a base to work from. To give yourself a break from the mug rugs, after making a few sets, make a set of 4 placemats. This will give a variety to your inventory and keep you fresh. I would not use solid fabric, but perhaps small prints that read solid. I would also make the holiday sets and a few 'regular' sets. You will find that if you have all your supplies ready, you will spend a whole day making them, building an inventory and feeling excited about it. There is nothing better than at the end of the day looking at a table top with all the finished product on it and knowing you did that! And take pictures with notes on fabric, time involved, things not to do the next time, etc. If you treat it as a business, it will work as a business. If for some reason the don't sell at that shop, you will have your christmas and hostess gifts already made or a head start on selling on etsy. But, do keep it fun. Good luck.

Wow, what great information you all have.

By the way, what is the "birthing" method?

I agree. What you could also do is get some card stock and cut to the size of the sets (the largest part. Like Comic book boards. This would give stability to the set and you could wrap it in holiday ribbon like the curling ribbon and attach a jingle bell or mini menorahs, snowman, Christmas tree.