The last couple of shows there were people looking for rice bags and no one had any. Hope this helps.

I have always liked shoe bags and jewelry bags for your suitcases. I only use ones that are very girly (satin, velvet, lacy, for my bag) and very masculine for DH's bag (plaid soft wool or flannel, pro sport logo fabric, etc.) That's so I don't grab a bag to put my heels in only to find he had stuffed his golf shoes in it on a previous business trip. The jewelry bags that have clear vinyl on the pocket side are best so that when you open them up you can see at a glance what is in each pocket. Good luck on your craft show.

First is an infinity scarf. They seem to be pretty popular at the stores. Depending on the fabric you use, soft cotton knits for the younger crowd, polys for the more adult crowd. Here is the link to a tute, I use 1/2 yard of fabric when I make mine: (its at the bottom of the page) http://www.simplydove.com/search/label/Sewing In this tute, she makes her scarf longer than I do. I thought hers was a little too long. I believe I shortened it by about seven inches. My colleges and high school daughters just love these.

Another thing I saw which was really cute was a coffee cup cozy. It doesn't take much fabric at all. Use one of the little carboard ones that you get at Caribou or Starbucks as your template. I put fusible batting inside. Close with a chunky button, held with a elastic hair pony (then you can use lots of colors and it's very stretchy). Below is a link to a picture of how to display it for a teachers gift

http://pinterest.com/pin/103793966381614444/

Not a quilted item, but something I always look for:

The crocheted nylon scrubbies - for $1.00 - I bought 20 of them last year. They make great stocking stuffers - when I'm willing to share them!

I also have my 1st craft show the firsr weekend in December. Have made casserole totes and table runners. Hope I don't bring home too much. Good luck with yours

Great ideas everyone ... one thing that is still popular are I Spy bags ... armchair caddies for remotes ... eyeglass cases ... pincushions ... mugs with cover for sewing tools ... gift card holders ... appliqued hand towels ... potholders ... mini potholders/pot pinchers ... potholder first-aid kits ... small inexpensive things.

I would be looking for things to take to church potluck dinners like casserole totes, cake plate totes, etc. things that made it easier to take the food to and from the car and to identify the dish on the serving table. That type of thing I would buy even if I thought money was too tight for anything else.

What is a quilted picture holder and where do I get pattern. also would like the potato pouch Please pm me - will never find this back lol thanks cheryl

Last year I did several craft shows and my best seller was the crayon bags, they hold a coloring book, and there are individual slots on the outside of the bag for the crayons, Im not doing craft shows this year, but I have had people calling me to order them this year.

We just finished a craft bazaar and we nearly sold out of everything...what went the fastest and the best????:

Small table runners, stockings, adult bibs, pillow cases, scissor holders that hang on the wall, casserole carriers, aprons, decorated dish towels and fingertip towels, pot holders, place mats, childrens hair bows and ornaments, and then there's the baked goods which sold out almost immediately....I made peanut brittle and also divinity. I filled quart canning jars and decorated the tops with scrap batting and Christmas fabric and ties a bow around the lip of the lid. I filled a dozen jars...the sale opened at 9am and mine were all gone in 45 minutes.
Good luck with your sale.

You don't have much time... When I was part of the Ruth Parker Guild in Tacoma, WA..we started in January, making items for the Dec Christmas Bazaar...and the stuff left from the last one...we took to the April Bazaar....it was a continuous process. about 7 or 8 of us making things to sell...and 4 months was cutting it close for the April Bazaar. I am currently making things and putting them back for the Waylon Jennings Birthday craft sale that is part of the WJ birthday celebration here in our small city. The city puts on a small parade, craft sale, lunch is sold, music, etc. I know I won't sell much...mostly it will be to show my work.

If you make fabric items for the microwave you have to use the batting made to be used in the microwave. Some microwaves are more powerful then others. One minute in a powerful one can start a fire with the wrong batting. 100% cotton has scrim (a very thin layer of poly. Unless it says no scrim it has scrim.) A fast warm up probably wouldn't matter but when baking a potato for 5-6 minutes, it could start a fire with regular batting.

So many great ideas- for craft shows or holiday gifts!!!!! How about gift card holders? So many people give cards now for all occasions instead of gifts. Also Tea Wallets for holding specialty tea bags. There are many free patterns on the web. Neither costs much to make. I've also seen wrapped clothesline spirals as mug coasters and baskets. For personal giving how about matching mugs and mug rugs?

The microwave potato things was discussed in another thread a week or so ago. My personal feeling is that I would NEVER risk buying something like that. You can assume it was made with the proper batting, etc. but how do you really know till you put it in your microwave? To me it is not worth the risk of fire, and maybe a lawsuit if it did cause a fire. You never know these days how people are. I use paper towel around my potato and it works just fine, then I use it to wipe my hands afterward.

I put my potatoes in a zip lock bag & leave partway open for steam, stick it a couple of times with a fork and then microwave. No problems for me. My mother would always wrap in Saran wrap, poke holes & bake. It's much easier with a bag.

I guess what you bring/sell depends on where you are, geographically.........and the price. We just did a local craft show......my daughter makes pumpkins out of the flexible exhaust hose used for dryer.....and I made tablerunners...autumn and wintery ones...We priced reasonable and they sold........as I walked around looking at other booths that had sewn things......prices were high and no sales.....People who go to craft shows are either looking for bargains or looking for ideas to take home and copy.....that is just my humble opinion....and wow did we see a lot of jewelry booths!!!

You might want to add mug rugs to your list.

How true! I have been selling the microwave bowl warmers made with Warm Tater batting. I am very careful to state that it is made with this batting and leave a piece of their paper with their info as well. People will buy one to copy then come back looking for where to get the batting! Lots of them!!

I did my first craft fair and sold lots of aprons, table runners, potholders and cassarole carriers.

I have had good sales with smaller "pot holders" actually cup mats. I have made some of them out of left over quilt squares. Our buyers do prefer items at lower price level.

I went to one this morning. Bought some pot holders and the cutest little tea dyed snowman ornaments. And an ornament done with yarn wrapped around an old wooden spool with bells hanging from it, looked like it had been antiqued somehow. Also got a lot of baked goods and some plants. Not a pincushion in the whole place, and those I would have bought if they were cute. Saw some lovely pieced 18" circular, quilted table toppers, they would be great under a centerpiece.

I did a quilt show, a craft show and a holiday fair for my barter group this year. The biggest seller I had across the board was "fascinators." You add a bit of some thing cute to a headband(off center). I made sure that my materials cost less than $3 and sold them anywhere from $7.50 to $10.00 People buy them for little girls, red hat ladies, and for fun nights out. The craft show at the senior center was very slow - next year I'll do painted candy. Good luck. The only thing I bought was ornaments and a fabric wallet.

oooh, how about Christmas stockings? A really nice handmade one is something i would buy, since you can use it annually. Fabric ornaments would be fun too...

Hi Grandma.....here are some card purses I just finished...hope you like them.....Trish

here are some more projects I just finished....Trish

Those are really great. Lovely fabrics and details.

I found a Tute for gift card cases here. http://sew4home.com/projects/storage...iz-card-holder

Very nice job! How much will you sell them for?

Hi! I'm brand new to this forum.
I had a similar question...
How do I know how to price my items?
I did display my creations at a craft show in early October, but nothing sold. So I wasn't sure if I over priced the stuff or if there was just no market. I spoke with 4 other vendors who also sold nothing, but one vendor, she had greeting cards, made an excellent profit that day.
After reading this post the "bring lots of smaller items" could explain why the cards sold.
Thanks!

Linda.....Iam going to sell them for $ 5.00 because I made them to be also used as change purses which consisted of putting velcro inside to close them and I used two pieces of fabric along with a light fuseble to make them strong enough to hold money etc...I cant go any cheaper because I also adde as you can see the embellisments...I have the directions that I made up if anyone would like them just let me know...have a great day.....Trish :)
P.S......pricing your craft items are always the toughest part of a craft show......I think you have to keep in mind a couple things where your selling them at and the time of year etc.....I saw these purses in a small boutique this summer and they were selling for $ 25.00 ea.....so I made them for my daughters craft show and she sold them for $ 10.00 ea...and now Iam getting phone calls from people to make them for all kinds of occasions like football and baseball fabric for the kids...just use your imagination.....sorry I go go on and on here lol....Trish

I love them, I have some fabric which I think I will explore doing little things with and this morning I did kindle/nook covers with buttons instead of zippers due to inspiration from you. Thanks.

mug rugs and tissue holders

Is it safte to use insul-bright in the microwave?

Hey Trish
This is what I did today- I got distracted from card purses

Wow....Grandma these are gorgeous they look like some have some crochet in them.........beautiful work thx for showing me and the others here...its always nice to see what others do for inspiration and some ideas that we dont think of until we see it......God Bless!!.....Trish :)

Those are knit fabric not crochet. This is fun and thanks Trish.

Love the knitted fabric items

Otis
 

I love that Boston Terrier you have there. I have one also, she is just a year and four months old. Wired but still beautiful.

What dimensions are the crayon rolls, and the coffee cozies?

Thanks :)

I don't think so, doesn't it have some kind of metal inside of it? I wouldn't take the chance.

Pincushions