1st Market stall wrap up

Well, I made it! After many hours sewing, organising, planning, spending and stressing, I arrived at my first market stall armed with a table full of goods and a huge sense of accomplishment. Really, I can't remember the last time I put this much effort into anything so I was happy to have made it in one piece with my sanity (mostly) in tact.

The weather conditions were not optimal- cold, miserable and rainy, but as the market stall was held indoors at St Michael's Primary School, we were well sheltered from the elements.

I arrived at the gate to be greeted by a group of parent helpers and strong kids who took my table and boxes and carried them inside for me.I could hear a seasoned marketeer (my fun invented word) telling her pal she wished she had this kind of help every time she worked a market.... a luxury no doubt!

I set up carefully laying out my tablecloths (pre pressed) and pinning on my bunting. I put out the boxes of pencil cases and make up bags and placed all my signs in their right spots. Then I changed into my dress and put one of my headbands on to show what they look like.

While this was all happening, experienced marketeers busily attended their stalls and wares, setting up and getting organised. As I looked around I felt a little nervous and out of place with my small table of goods, but before I could psych myself out, I took a deep breath and reminded myself I really had done all that I could.

Karl arrived shortly afterwards, bought me a glass of champagne and took some photos:

Market stall table set up

logo in frame

table shot of things for sale

coin purses, headbands and make up bags

framed logo and make up bags

cute hair accessories by a colleague, 'Love Willow'

pleated headbands

wearing a pleated headband

All together I sold 18 of my pieces and lots of hair accessories by my colleague Kristin. I was really happy with that for a first go. The most popular items were the pencil cases and coin purses in the prints for kids. I didn't sell any of my make up bags or cushions but those kinds of adult gifts may do better at a different market. I might put some thought into streaming products for kids and adults and maybe keep them separate. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Overall I am really glad I took the leap and booked myself on the market stall. It forced me to think seriously about doing the work as a 'job' and gave me an insight into the process right from daydream to market stall. I know now that I am capable of doing it and I have a good lot of stock which can form the basis of a possible future collection if I'd like to try it again sometime.

Watch this space!

First market stall - what I have learned so far

I have been super quiet on my blog in the last few weeks as I prepare for my first market stall coming up in 1 week + 1 day. I have learned a lot from the process and thought I'd reveal some of these things in order to perhaps help anyone else there thinking they're ready to have their own stall:

Things I have learned in preparing for my first market stall

1. Yes, booking yourself in for a market stall in 1.5 months will be a good motivator to get organised. However.....
2.  1.5 months is nowhere near as long as you think.... or enough time to build stock from scratch
3.  Faffing around making a logo for 3 weeks is not encouraged and should be considered before you even book a market stall
4.  Cutting fabric and ironing on interfacing will be the bane of your existence and takes 3 times longer than you expect it to
5. Deciding to do a market stall during a time when you have two away trips for work is not advised
6. Drinking wine while sewing at night is not a winning combination
7. Buying every pink piece of fabric you're attracted to will result in a very pink market stall, leaving you scrambling one week out to make things in blues, greens and purples
8. organising business cards and paper bags for your goods in advance will help you to stress less.

Ok so during this whole process I have taken things pretty much in my stride and things have been going pretty well. That is until I realised last night just how much pink I have in the collection and not a lot else. Eeep!

I have a little time left and some ideas, along with the support of my amazing husband who even offered to iron on interfacing for me which is so sweet (he has no idea how dull it is...).

So I better get back to it, here's some pics so you can see where I'm at so far (pink land, apparently!) Thanks go of course to Karl for taking pics and making my things look pretty!

cosmetic bags

vinyl covered coin purses

14" cushions

So that's most of what I have so far. I also have a few pencil cases and I'm trialling some headbands at the moment. Hopefully I can get everything done in time!

wish me luck!

Pencil cases/make up bags

Today I'm writing this post while away in Western Australia for work. With the market stall coming up in two weeks (argh!) the week long trip away wasn't exactly the best timing, however I have made good use of my spare time by spending 2 hours fusing interfacing to 17 sets of purse pieces. Now they're all ready to sew up when I get home. I love that the boring part is now out of the way and I get to sew! Hee hee.

Before I left I made some prototypes of the purse styles I'd like to make for the market and cut lots of fabric. I made a couple of pencil cases which could also be used as make up bags using elephant printed fabric I bought on my trip to Thailand. I also made one using some of my favourite kokka fabric which has framed ballerinas and cute Paris icons like the eiffel tower and arc de triumph.

Here is a pic of the front:

I'm pretty happy with this part but not as happy with the back. I thought it would be sweet to include one of the Paris icons on the back of the case. I found some sweet little heart eyelet lace and put r together. All was fine until I boxed the corners of the case and lost the bottom part of the eiffel tower. :(

Oh well, it was a fun experiment and I still love it overall. Ah the perils of experimental sewing! Fun.

Paris fabric cushions

I visited Paris over Christmas time about 8 years ago and simply loved the city. It's everything you dream it would be plus a magic you weren't counting on. There's a reason the cliche about falling in love in Paris exists, but no-one tells you the love you have is for the city itself. :)

Anyhoo luckily for me you can find all sorts of accessories and home wares to put a little bit of Par-ee into your life and there's plenty of French themed fabric out there too.

One of my favourites is a lovely Eiffel Tower fabric from Michael Miller. A while ago I used the red printed fabric to make some cushions for friends who really liked them. I decided to buy some more in red and black to make little cushions to sell at the market stall I have coming up at the end of the month. I backed each cushion with a plain black polka dot. Here's a pic:

Eiffel Tower fabric cushions

So far I have made 5 black and have cut fabric for 4 red cushions. If you'd like to make your own, I followed this great little video tutorial from Brett Bara's website the Manhattan Craft room. It was pretty easy and cushions would make nice gifts for Christmas I think. Brett also has a nice little book called 'Sewing in a straight line' which I'd like to check out too.

What French themed home wares do you have?

My first market stall - what to make?

I have been talking about having a little market stall for, I don't know, almost a year now I think. I am great at having 'ideas' for things then never actually doing anything about them. This is how this blog came about in the first place- it was an attempt to keep me accountable. Seems it's worked, because as the one year anniversary of my blog looms (!) I've decided to book myself a stall at a little market and just get myself there.  

The little market is on at the end of November and is being held at a little primary school as a 'mum's night out'. it's an opportunity for mums to buy Christmas presents, stocking fillers and whatever else takes their fancy.

In order to fit in with this I have to decide what to make because at this stage I don't have one thing I would be happy selling. So.... lots of work to do. Nothing like a deadline to get you motivated!

Image from FPTFY



 The market organiser wanted some homewares and general 'funky and fun stuff''.  I have had a look through some things I've made in the past and have come up with a few ideas for a collection: 

Little zipped coin purses in cute fabrics

Clutches in gorgeous vintage style fabrics

Tote bags in a variety of styles

Sweet little hair ties and headbands

Cushions and covers in a variety of styles 

Embroidery hoops with lovely fabrics



I think I'll see how I go with these to start with, however I might also like to include some sunglasses cases, little drawstring pouches and make up bags. I guess I'll have to see what it looks like as the collection starts then go from there.

On top of that I'm trying to finalise a logo to use on tags, business cards and other promotional things in case anyone wants to follow the markets up with future purchases. There's also the stall display, carry bags and storage to consider too....

I think I've put myself in a good position for selling things for the first time- it's a low pressure environment and if I don't sell anything/much I have a whole lot of lovely things to give to friends and family at Christmas time. 

Safest option yet..... :)

Any suggestions or hints & tips for my first market stall would be greatly appreciated!  



scoping Sydney markets

I love going to markets. We have a huge variety of markets in Sydney catering to all kinds of people- we have the trendy/alternative markets in Glebe, the gorgeous beachside markets of Bondi and Manly, yummy organic farmers markets in Rozelle and Marrickville and wonderful Artisans markets in Kirribilli. It's nice to be able to buy handmade Australian things and I believe we are starting to witness a trend in moving away from mass produced rubbish. I couldn't be happier about it as I'm hoping to have made enough things to have a market stall of my own up and running by the end of the year (gulp).

To suss out what's happening in the Sydney Market scene, I trawl my way through a wonderful resource, the Local Market Guide which as the name suggests is a one stop shop for information on upcoming markets in different categories (arts, crafts design, fresh produce etc) with links to websites, a noticeboard for stall holders and a blog with recipes and info from past events. I love this site! I'll never be bored on a weekend again!

On Sunday I went with some friends to the Sydney Boutique Markets in Castle Hill. They had a nice range of things for adults and kids but it was definitely slanted towards 'yummy mummys and their little ones'. This was good news for me as I took it as an opportunity to see what's out there and where my little sewn things might fit in.

Sometimes I find the process of going to markets and seeing all the kids and babies things a little disheartening as it seems like such a saturated market. I find myself wondering, is there a place for me and my things here? When I posed this question to Corrie from Retro Mummy at a market recently, she assured me that when it comes to markets, people come and go, making space for new stalls and fresh ideas all the time. This was comforting to know.

So I had a good look around the stalls at the Sydney Boutique Market taking note of stall set ups, names, branding, product lines and trends. Here are a few observations I made:

• Almost every stall had gorgeous, lacy or crocheted hair accessores and hair bands a la 'Shabby Chic'
• The best stalls had a small selection of wares spread out neatly and thoughtfully
• Most of the items for kids were specifically for babies or young children, with only a few stall with things for young ladies
• The stalls overloaded with brightly coloured wares were difficult for me to focus on to appreciate the individual pieces.

One of the advantages to being a shopper in this setting is being able to simultaneously appreciate the work of others while formulating ideas about what my own stall might look like. I think I have been reluctant to start my own stall because there is just so much out there, but after this weekend, I do feel there is a place for my fun and quirky accessories as my stuff does seem to be quite different to what's out there already. I think I need to focus less on worrying about where I might fit in and just trust that if I love the things I make, maybe other people will too!

I have renewed vigour and feel inspired all over again!

xx

Tips for a successful market stall

As I start to sew up a collection of bags, purses, bibs and things with the aim of an end of year market stall in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to do some research on the topic.

There is a lot of advice out there for things like setting up a market stall, displays, signage, tags and labels, how to attract and retain customers, packaging etc, and to a complete market selling newbie it can be a little overwhelming and scary. While the internet has a plethora of wonderful advice, my tiny brain has started suffering from information overload, and I think if I keep on reading it all at once l'll probably end up rocking in a corner somewhere thinking it's all going to be too hard.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to just put some links to some helpful articles I have found in one blog post so I can revisit them as and when I need them. Hopefully you might get something out of it too!

From a finance perspective, here's an article from nineMSN written by Allison Tait with their top 10 tips for starting up a market stall.

Handmade Canberra have a nice little article with some tips for looking professional  advice on banners and displays and other practical suggestions.

Handmadeology have heaps of great articles about selling your crafty wares, mostly from an Etsy perspective. I found this helpful piece about branding which I'll need to think about before I put myself and my things out there.

Handmadeology also have a post on successful craft fair tips that has links to all their favourite tips from the last year. I love it when someone does all the hard work for me!

On Flickr I found a group called show me your booths where members show off their displays. Lots of inspiration here for all the visual learners out there.

Phew! I think there is enough information here to give me something to think about. If you have any other helpful hints and tips on running a successful market stall I'd love to hear them!

Lindsey. xx

Market stall beginnings

Part of the reason I started this sewing blog was to try and hold myself accountable. I am queen of saying 'I'm going to do this or that' then getting distracting by something shiny or furry and forgetting all about it.

Part of the plan for this year was to sew enough things to have my own market stall at the end of the year. I like making baby and kids things and sewing things for adults and for the home, so I will probably need to have two different stalls so things don't get confusing. I'll have to read more about this as an idea so if anyone has any tips about market stalls, I'd love to hear them!

Anyway, I have started getting my 'collection' underway by sewing some bags and purses. It has been good to wear down my stash of fabrics as it means I now have some space to go out and buy some more! Yay!

Here is what is have made so far:

vinyl covered cosmetic bag

pleated wristlet purse

small satchel (pattern by keyka Lou)

Let me know what you think, i'd love to hear your feedback! All comments and suggestions welcome!

Lindsey. xx