Can you make money at sewing/knitting handmade items?

So, the question is, Can you make money from creating handmade items? No. At least, not if you do what I do.  If you sell online you have to pay a fee. Now, I believe Etsy has the lowest fee along with Ebay, but the problem is that people generally do not buy handmade items.

If you sell at Craft Shows you need to pay a $30-$50 fee. A lot of the time you don't even break even. (payed $30, didn't even sell $30 worth of items)  

When I went to the craft show I paid $30 for 1 table. I sold Hotpads and Cat toys. I didn't sell anything else. ($4 for hotpads and $1 for cat toys)

                                                              Both from my Etsy shop

Needless to say, this is why I believe that you cannot make money at this. Not unless you have patented your own brand of item. Which I refuse to do. It is ridiculous to restricted others from creating that same item. Your item is popular, that is great, so why can't others make the same item? It is likely that they won't make it the same way as you and if you already have loyal customers then you shouldn't be afraid of some competition. 

The other way you could make money at this is if you are not the one doing the work and are paying some poor soul 50 cents an item that they make. 

But handmade in the USA by one person isn't worth the money?  Allow me to tell you the time it takes for each item.

Hotpads: I take 1 day to cut the fabric and middle. Then I take an entire second day to iron and pin. Sometimes it takes a third day to sew all the hotpads. Once I made 150 hotpads in a week, but my fingers were bruised.

Pillowcases: I can make four a day. But that is with my mother's help. She cuts the fabric to the correct size that I need and then I iron and pin. I can have 15 pinned but it can take up to two weeks to get them all done.

Cat toys: These didn't take much time, my mom had 10 crocheted in 15-20 minutes.

Knitted items: These can take between 1 week and 6 months, depending on what it is. The Doctor Who scarves took up to 2 months. The blankets took 1 week through 3 weeks. The regular scarves took between 10 days and 1 month.

Fleece Blanket (I will soon have a made to order thing in my Etsy shop for these)- This took a lot longer then it should have. But it was 3-8 months. My fingers have been bruised and cut from this and I will be finished with this blanket sometime this week. (Lord willing)  The poor man has been waiting forever since he first ordered it.  I only asked for $75 from him, but he is a family friend. In the etsy shop it will be at least $100. (Custom made blanket)

I hope you can see my point of view.

Preemie Baby Blanket. Handmade.

Hand Knitted Baby Blanket: Etsy

This is a handmade preemie baby blanket. I made this by hand and in my Etsy shop it is 24.99, otherwise known as $25. I used a baby doll to show that it could wrap around a regular sized baby, but I think it would be ideally used for a preemie. 

This would be a perfect New Baby gift. I would suggest a baby girl as the recipient for this gift. This took around 8 days to make and 40 hours or more. I was at my Great Grandma's house, so while I took care of her I also knitted the blanket. I have started a 2nd one of these, but it may be smaller so I will list it separately. 

Thanks for reading! Please go check out the link and view other things in my Etsy shop as well.

Sewing. Hard or easy?

I have had many friends over the internet ask if I find sewing hard or easy. I suppose it is a matter of perspective. I find it hard but many other friends that I know who sew find it easy.

If you can knit and sew I will give you my perspective on both, listing both good and bad things about each.

With sewing it requires a lot of math (or so they tell me) and measuring. The measuring and ironing can become very tedious if you do it for an extensive amount of time. But the end result is very nice. The other downfall is that if you make a mistake you can spend hours seam ripping one item, which can set you back a few days.

With knitting it requires a lot of memory. You need/can memorize a pattern and forget where you are. Then you need to count all the stitches with the pattern in mind. Or you can loose a stitch and not notice it until three or four rows later. By then its too late and you need to pull it out and redo it.

Both can be very difficult, depending on how you look at it. In my opinion knitting is relaxing and sewing is a little more stressful.

Where the Wild Things are

Etsy product

This hotpad is made from fabric that I intended for a pillowcase. I have more of this fabric somewhere in my room, but at the moment I cannot locate it. I saw this fabric for sale on Black Friday at Joannes and it made me smile. I used to love that story when I was little and it was a rather large bolt, looking like it had not been chosen yet. 

I was happy to be the first. I found the fabric again recently and saw it was cut into the correct size squares for a hotpad. And since I am the only one that sews I knew it wasn't meant for a quilt. I made the hotpad and decided to charge a little more for the hotpad then I would for others. Since Licensed fabric costs more it is better to charge a little more for the product then when you normally would.

The link above leads to my product in my Etsy shop. It is $4.50 and there is only one. It doesn't have any favorites on the product itself, but on Twitter I have gotten lots of positive feedback about it.

This would be the perfect gift for a person who loves the Wild Things book. 

Bright Pink Paisley Pillowcase. Standard Size.

Bright Pink Pillowcase: Etsy

This standard size pillowcase is perfect for anyone who loves Paisley or adores the color pink. A beautiful addition for your household. Can be used in your bedroom, your teenagers bedroom, your guest room, or even your child's room! 

The sharp contrast between pink and green make this pillowcase visually stunning. 27 inches used for the body, 2 inches used for the accent, 13 inches used for the cuff.

Patriots Fleece Scarf.

Patriots Fleece Scarf.

This scarf is excellent for those who love the New England Patriots. These scarves were easy to make and are very warm. They are good for people who do not like the itchy of the knitted scarves. Fringed at the ends and has a wonderful soft feel.

Football fans will love these and they are for a very cheap price on my Etsy shop. $4 per a scarf. Only 3 in my inventory, but the pattern is perfect for any Patriots lover. 

The link above goes to my Etsy shop. Please feel free to look around at all the scarves and such that I have available. 

Doctor Who Inspired Scarf

Doctor Who Inspired: Etsy

This is my second Doctor Who inspired scarf. I do not in any way, shape, or form own Doctor Who. I am not a distributor and I made this by hand. 

Now that the proper disclaimers are over, I will go on to tell the story of the amazing scarf. I first got this idea after seeing it on Etsy. I realized it might be a good idea and looked up what I should do.

I altered the pattern drastically. I lowered the stitch count to 36 and chose my own colors. The bright yellow was some I wanted to get rid of. The Variegated green was a color my mom got me. That isn't in the pattern at all. 

It is close to $37.00 in my Etsy shop. It is quite a bit shorter then most I have seen out there, but it is almost my height, which is 5ft 3in/5ft 4in.   It took 7 days to make, because I worked on it every day.

Thanks for reading!

Sam