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Saltaire Makers Fair

So this weekend saw my first ever Makers Fair as a stall holder; the weekend where I gently launched my textile design business, and it was … an experience!

I’ve been selling my hand dyed yarns and fibres at trunk shows, craft retreats and yarn shows large and small from John O’Groats to Hertfordshire for the last two and a half years, but that really didn’t prepare me for the reality of trying to sell time-intensive hand made textile products. It didn’t help that I hadn’t had a chance to visit a Makers Fair as a customer since I started out on this journey, but I swiftly realised that in some ways I hadn’t prepared for this. For starters, it hadn’t occurred to me that I would need a bio on display, as people like to know the background of your products and your journey into design. I had thought about height in my display and had a small display stepladder that stood on my table, but hadn’t thought about how I really needed something clamped to the top for a cushion to lean against. I’m also not sure about my handwritten price labels; they may be too big.

But, I did sell some items! The buttons and brooches were appealing, although the finer fabrics seemed more popular. I’d better get sampling more! I was delighted to sell a set of my yarn wraps too, that had received such positive feedback at New Designers, and I was thrilled that a notebook went.

I also had a lot of very positive feedback about the collection, and a lot of people interested in how long it took to weave the items, which was really good. I hope it helps them understand the pricing.
I also had some enquiries about whether I sold online, so that is my next step… watch this space!

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