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[zafania]

Firstly, I should apologise for having been a bit crap lately - not answering comments and stuff, my only excuse is that stuff is getting me down a lot and I've been quite heartily depressed. And thats all I want to say about it.

ANd now to the main event. Pictures of the christmas presents I made for friends and family

First, one I did for nlvb

Comments

[melusin_79]

I think they look very professional indeed. Not sure what the market for crafting things in the UK is at the moment though. Have you seen the Folksy site? You could test the waters there, perhaps?

[zafania]

I'd been considering etsy, despite the complications of having to work out dollar prices and postage to the states, but i hadn't come across folksy, I'll check it out - thanks.

I'm not sure if theres a niche or not - you see when i look at available embroidery kits they all seem to be either sickeningly cutesey or hopelessly middle aged. i think there has to be a market for something a bit more modern, but i need to find it

[melusin_79]

Yes, I agree about the kits - and they are usually on the expensive side - like Ehrman. You'd have to think about how much sewing would be involved, as I wouldn't like to guess at how many people have the skills these days - or maybe even access to a sewing machine

[zafania]

the idea was to seel them as kits to be handsewn, and provide a brief instruction manual for the two or three basic stitches used (theres mainly a zig zag stitch thats really easy, some blanket stitch and a little chain and satin)

I was planning to provide the cut pieces, tacked into place and ready to sew, with the back and cushion pad, threads, needle and instructions, and was looking at using brown paper carrier bags wiht a nice label to package things.

I want to appeal to the younger crafting market, who i think see needlepoint etc as a bit fuddy duddy, but want to make something achievable, there seems to be a rennaiasance in handicrafts at the moment

[melusin_79]

Sounds good to me - and glad to hear there's a bit of a renaissance in crafting. Last time I was home, I noticed a lot of the wool/craft shops had closed, but I suppose most of the market is on line now. And the states seem to have a much bigger crafting tradition than us which is still going strong.

[zafania]

i think a lot is online. the sundays times and the like keep doing articles about it anyway! knitting at leats seems more popular than ever, even tho there are less knitting shops

I think offering everything you need to finsih the cushion ought to wokr to my advantage, since the traditional model of say a needlepoint kit, gives you only the front panel