Which machine should I take to a craft show?
11-19-2013, 02:05 AM
#21
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Somewhere
Posts: 15,507
Originally Posted by J Miller
Miriam,
I wouldn't plan on letting others use the machine, but the needle guard might be useful in case "I" got distracted.
Joe
I wouldn't plan on letting others use the machine, but the needle guard might be useful in case "I" got distracted.
Joe
11-19-2013, 03:40 AM
#22
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Oxford, Wi.
Posts: 158
What a great idea Joe! My vote is for the hand crank an for the E machine the Featherweight you don't care for but women love! I bet you sell a lot of bags and certainly a man at a SM will draw them in. Good luck on your show.
11-19-2013, 06:26 AM
#23
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
I vote Hand Crank. Easier to set up - takes less booth space but yet will attract lots of attention. Activity begets activity. Even other vendors in your booth can get people to drift your way. Are you alone or with somebody else? If accompanied they can peel off the buyers and do business while the lookers.....look.
My wife and I show sell every weekend (it seems...well...no...actually it is every weekend. Huh...maybe that's why I have no life?). Getting peoples attention can be a real trick. We actively engage people to get them to us. If we do nothing - so do they.
At the shows there's frequently a leather goods vendor. He sells belts, key fobs, custom holsters and so forth. His joint looks like a corral made out of well worn 2 x 2's. It's a walk in. He has a 4' bench toward the rear where he works when he's not selling. Just pounding punches and dies attracts people to him.
Your bags look great but I bet with all the labor they have to sell for quite a bit. Around here, though, with people all about re-useable grocery bags they'd sell if they weren't viewed as too expensive for daily use.
My wife and I show sell every weekend (it seems...well...no...actually it is every weekend. Huh...maybe that's why I have no life?). Getting peoples attention can be a real trick. We actively engage people to get them to us. If we do nothing - so do they.
At the shows there's frequently a leather goods vendor. He sells belts, key fobs, custom holsters and so forth. His joint looks like a corral made out of well worn 2 x 2's. It's a walk in. He has a 4' bench toward the rear where he works when he's not selling. Just pounding punches and dies attracts people to him.
Your bags look great but I bet with all the labor they have to sell for quite a bit. Around here, though, with people all about re-useable grocery bags they'd sell if they weren't viewed as too expensive for daily use.
11-19-2013, 07:34 AM
#24
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 8,091
Lew,
People here are snotty and cheap, and the economy is dead. My wife makes and sells bags ranging from simple one layer canvas bags to lined denim bags with pockets. Nobody is buying. As for the environment the city denizens couldn't care less, and the farmers are complaining bitterly about all the plastic bags blowing around.
The city of Springfield is trying to pass laws adding a surcharge when you use plastic bags at the store. I doubt anyone will care.
IL is a farm and politics state, there really isn't much involvement to care about.
My Whacky bags are a bi-product of testing machines I've worked on. I haven't really put a price on them. We were just discussing that last night and I said price them at $7.50 ea. That's probably not enough, but they won't sell at that price either.
My bags are useable for everyday grocery shopping. My wife regularly takes some of mine and some of hers when she goes shopping. Lots of oooos and ahhhhs, but no interest in buying.
Joe
People here are snotty and cheap, and the economy is dead. My wife makes and sells bags ranging from simple one layer canvas bags to lined denim bags with pockets. Nobody is buying. As for the environment the city denizens couldn't care less, and the farmers are complaining bitterly about all the plastic bags blowing around.
The city of Springfield is trying to pass laws adding a surcharge when you use plastic bags at the store. I doubt anyone will care.
IL is a farm and politics state, there really isn't much involvement to care about.
My Whacky bags are a bi-product of testing machines I've worked on. I haven't really put a price on them. We were just discussing that last night and I said price them at $7.50 ea. That's probably not enough, but they won't sell at that price either.
My bags are useable for everyday grocery shopping. My wife regularly takes some of mine and some of hers when she goes shopping. Lots of oooos and ahhhhs, but no interest in buying.
Joe
11-19-2013, 08:00 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
I suppose that your choice will have to include which machine that you want to use to make the bags, if that’s what you’re going to be making at the show.
I usually take a handcrank to Quilt Shows. We always make the same quilt block in the booth using different machines. My wife calls it her Show Quilt. Usually, I’m quietly cranking out blocks while she works the booth. If I have a machine that I want to sell, I use it in hopes that I find a buyer. Other times, and especially if we got skimpy on renting space, I take Hurkie, my hurricane ravaged Featherweight hand crank. He’s also the easiest to carry from the truck to the booth, takes the least amount of booth space, and he always gets attention.
For Craft Shows, I’ve taken both hand crank and treadle machines. It depended on what I was making. I used my Singer 201K4 HC doing quilt blocks at one outdoor show, a Singer 99 making triangle pennant strings at a fair, a Singer 306W treadle making wind socks at another fair, and a Singer 185K HC doing quilt blocks at another fair.
Just operating a machine at your show will attract attention. Use the one that you like for the task that you’ll be doing.
One thing I might add, we tried having two machines running in the booth a few years ago. She was making quilt blocks on a Singer 404 electric, and I was making triangle pennant strings on a Singer 99 HC. We decided that buyers didn’t want to interrupt us to ask about our products, so they just moved on. One of us now makes sure to appear to be doing nothing except waiting on the buyers. My wife knows our products best, so I usually sew.
CD in Oklahoma
I usually take a handcrank to Quilt Shows. We always make the same quilt block in the booth using different machines. My wife calls it her Show Quilt. Usually, I’m quietly cranking out blocks while she works the booth. If I have a machine that I want to sell, I use it in hopes that I find a buyer. Other times, and especially if we got skimpy on renting space, I take Hurkie, my hurricane ravaged Featherweight hand crank. He’s also the easiest to carry from the truck to the booth, takes the least amount of booth space, and he always gets attention.
For Craft Shows, I’ve taken both hand crank and treadle machines. It depended on what I was making. I used my Singer 201K4 HC doing quilt blocks at one outdoor show, a Singer 99 making triangle pennant strings at a fair, a Singer 306W treadle making wind socks at another fair, and a Singer 185K HC doing quilt blocks at another fair.
Just operating a machine at your show will attract attention. Use the one that you like for the task that you’ll be doing.
One thing I might add, we tried having two machines running in the booth a few years ago. She was making quilt blocks on a Singer 404 electric, and I was making triangle pennant strings on a Singer 99 HC. We decided that buyers didn’t want to interrupt us to ask about our products, so they just moved on. One of us now makes sure to appear to be doing nothing except waiting on the buyers. My wife knows our products best, so I usually sew.
CD in Oklahoma
11-19-2013, 08:11 AM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
Originally Posted by J Miller
...the economy is dead.... Nobody is buying.... Lots of oooos and ahhhhs, but no interest in buying.....
Joe
Joe
CD in Oklahoma
11-19-2013, 09:11 AM
#29
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Denver Colorado
Posts: 232
Originally Posted by J Miller
Lew,
People here are snotty and cheap, and the economy is dead. My wife makes and sells bags ranging from simple one layer canvas bags to lined denim bags with pockets. Nobody is buying. As for the environment the city denizens couldn't care less, and the farmers are complaining bitterly about all the plastic bags blowing around.
The city of Springfield is trying to pass laws adding a surcharge when you use plastic bags at the store. I doubt anyone will care.
IL is a farm and politics state, there really isn't much involvement to care about.
My Whacky bags are a bi-product of testing machines I've worked on. I haven't really put a price on them. We were just discussing that last night and I said price them at $7.50 ea. That's probably not enough, but they won't sell at that price either.
My bags are useable for everyday grocery shopping. My wife regularly takes some of mine and some of hers when she goes shopping. Lots of oooos and ahhhhs, but no interest in buying.
Joe
People here are snotty and cheap, and the economy is dead. My wife makes and sells bags ranging from simple one layer canvas bags to lined denim bags with pockets. Nobody is buying. As for the environment the city denizens couldn't care less, and the farmers are complaining bitterly about all the plastic bags blowing around.
The city of Springfield is trying to pass laws adding a surcharge when you use plastic bags at the store. I doubt anyone will care.
IL is a farm and politics state, there really isn't much involvement to care about.
My Whacky bags are a bi-product of testing machines I've worked on. I haven't really put a price on them. We were just discussing that last night and I said price them at $7.50 ea. That's probably not enough, but they won't sell at that price either.
My bags are useable for everyday grocery shopping. My wife regularly takes some of mine and some of hers when she goes shopping. Lots of oooos and ahhhhs, but no interest in buying.
Joe
But, based on your post (attached) why even bring up the topic? Seems like you've given up on shows - not without good reason - so why fret about what to take to shows you don't want to do?
Just askin'
11-19-2013, 10:39 AM
#30
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 8,091
CD,
My wife wants to see a pic of your wind socks .....
Lew,
I didn't say I didn't want to do the show(s). We are on a very limited income and have to pick and choose the ones we do. And the idea of taking a machine to use was specifically to attract attention.
My wife has been craft shows since 1983 and in all the many many craft shows we've been too, and those my wife has been to alone there has only been ONE person sewing. And she was using a bedraggled old Singer treadle. She got lots of attention. So that's our goal, to get attention.
Since my illness last July I haven't been able to do much of anything physical. My shoulder is still week and pops and crunches badly. Until that's dealt with moving a treadle around is not something I do without lots of help.
Hense the idea of portables.
Joe
My wife wants to see a pic of your wind socks .....
Lew,
I didn't say I didn't want to do the show(s). We are on a very limited income and have to pick and choose the ones we do. And the idea of taking a machine to use was specifically to attract attention.
My wife has been craft shows since 1983 and in all the many many craft shows we've been too, and those my wife has been to alone there has only been ONE person sewing. And she was using a bedraggled old Singer treadle. She got lots of attention. So that's our goal, to get attention.
Since my illness last July I haven't been able to do much of anything physical. My shoulder is still week and pops and crunches badly. Until that's dealt with moving a treadle around is not something I do without lots of help.
Hense the idea of portables.
Joe
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