Selling your work

[vickil]

Does anyone sell their projects?
If so, how have you gone about it?
Is your stitching a job for you?

Just doing, I guess you would call it market research. I'm always looking for ways to make a little extra pocket change. Thank you!

[Rose]

I have sold one and only one project. It started out as a fun project but with all the work first on the pattern and then the stitching it became a real drudge. In the end I got less then a penny a stitch and the frustration of making something for someone else that was on a deadline was less then enjoyable.

Also if you are using a pattern from a designer other then yourself you have to get permission from them in order to legally sell a project. If you are stitching from a kit then each time you make that picture to sell you need to buy a whole new kit. Otherwise you are getting into the whole copyright concerns. Alot of designers have little trouble if you ask to use their patterns for charity projects but when you say you are stitching for profit they get a bit less open to their patterns being used.

I am not trying to be negative but the time involved plus the amount most non-stitchers want to pay for a piece of stitching the profit margin is very low.

[moogypop]

I'd be really interested to hear from people on here who sell their designs on etsy and other things. Ive considered setting up an account and selling my designs. Ive always been put off though because Im under the impression its a bit of a fruitless labour at times, am I wrong?

[NeedleAndFork]

I don't make things in advance to sell, but I do take stitching comissions from time to time, but only on small items. Quite frankly they're not worth my time, because people aren't willing to pay what would come to a fair wage on stitching because they think it should be 'cheaper' to have someone make an item for you than to buy it in the store. I had someone try to talk me down to less than $8 once for a piece that would take a good 30 hours of very fiddly work.

That said.. I still occasionally take on a piece, but only if I actually want to stitch that piece, since I look at it as a chance to stitch something I like but don't necessarily want for myself. And I've learned the hard way to get atleast half the money up front, otherwise the person may flake and not pay for it or keep dragging it out. If they've already coughed over some cash, they're not as likely to flake.

The one thing I am going to suggest you think about before going into this is how you price your stuff. Part of the reason that people aren't willing to pay a decent wage for hand made stuff is that so many out there don't charge a decent price.. they don't respect their skill, talent, and time enough to stand their ground and hold onto a decent price, instead giving in and accepting obscenely low prices for their work... making 50 cents an hour if even that. This hurts them, and it hurts ALL other artists and crafters in every field because it devalues our work, making the low price the 'norm' that people then expect to pay. I've lost commissions because someone else undercut me by quoting a much lower price but I refuse to budge on this issue. I worked hard to perfect my skills and I will not work for pennies just because someone else with mediocre skills is willing to do so. Hand crafted items are not supposed to be cheap, when made by someone who has taken the time to perfect their skills they're pieces of art.

Ahem.. I'll get off my soap box now. This is an issue that really gets me ranting at times. I could go on for hours about it, tying it in with todays throw away society, womens issues, etc etc, otherwise.

[cairee]

Someone once asked me if I would sell a finished piece, I asked what they believed a good price was, they told me $50. the cost of floss and fabric was over $300, and the time to stitch it was measured in years. (it was a photo to pattern, 450x600 stitches, 200 colors) when I told them a fair price for supplies and my time they backed down right away.
non stitchers dont appreciate that its a hand stitched piece of art. they want the same price as something that was machine embroidered and mass produced.

and as Rose said, there are copyright concerns when selling your stitching unless its your own design.

[mauveme]

Someone once asked me if I would sell a finished piece, I asked what they believed a good price was, they told me $50. the cost of floss and fabric was over $300, and the time to stitch it was measured in years. (it was a photo to pattern, 450x600 stitches, 200 colors) when I told them a fair price for supplies and my time they backed down right away.
non stitchers dont appreciate that its a hand stitched piece of art. they want the same price as something that was machine embroidered and mass produced.

and as Rose said, there are copyright concerns when selling your stitching unless its your own design.

Yep, that's the problem, no one is willing to pay for your labour much less the cost of the materials. No money is cross stitching I'm afraid. And then there are the copyright infringments to think of.

[LastingAllure]

I agree with everything that has been said above

BUT....Maybe if you want to make money from cross stitching you may want to look into doing model stitching for designers, cross stitch shops or magazines. Depending on who hires you they will pay you in materials or money. They also provide all of the materials for the piece to be done. Remember though they are more than likely looking for someone with great skills in cross stitching such as neat stitches, tidy backs, consistent tension and experience working on both aida and linen of different counts and colours.

[Allyn]

I agree with everything that has been said above

BUT....Maybe if you want to make money from cross stitching you may want to look into doing model stitching for designers, cross stitch shops or magazines. Depending on who hires you they will pay you in materials or money. They also provide all of the materials for the piece to be done. Remember though they are more than likely looking for someone with great skills in cross stitching such as neat stitches, tidy backs, consistent tension and experience working on both aida and linen of different counts and colours.

I stitched models for an LNS a few years back. They provided the materials for the project. I don't remember how I was paid; I'm guessing it was in store credits -- which was a godsend considering how much money I used to spend on stash back then. You have to be able to stitch on any fabric or fabric count and with any floss or specialty threads, the backs have to be immaculate, the stitches with even tension and all consistent, and most importantly, you have to stitch fast. Most of the time, they want you to do a new chart that just came in and they want it up on the wall asap. At least that was my experience. One of my favorite designers invited me to send in a sample of my work because she was looking for a new model-stitcher and she liked the work I'd done on some of her designs. I declined because I was working full time at the time and I wouldn't be able to get the designs stitched fast enough to suit her.

[vickil]

Great advice everybody, Thank you. You brought up alot of points that I had not considered. Especially the copyright laws.

I agree that no one wants to pay what a hand piece is worth, but their has to be a nitch market somewhere. Just a matter of finding it.

Moogypop mentioned etsy. I am familiar with the name but have never checked it out. How does it work?

[bookknurd]

Thought I'd through my two cents in as to the lack of a real market for selling finished pieces.

I would say the vast majority of people actively looking for stitched pieces are stitchers themselves. They probably wouldn't want to pay for someone else's work (unless they specifically commissioned it) as they would want to stitch it themselves.

The other main group of people who have stitched items have been given them by family or friends who do stitch and wanted to make a special gift. They appreciate the item because it is handmade, but mostly because someone they care about gave time and effort (a lot of both) to create something for them.

There may be a niche market out there of people willing to buy (at a fair price) a random person's work, but I doubt that it's very large or sustainable, unfortunately.

As others have said, perhaps you could consider being a model stitcher or making your own designs to sell.

[CuriousKitty]

It's not exactly cross stitching, but I once made a masquerade ball mask, seed-pearl around the edges and eyes, along with lots of chains and charms, took me about 10 hours non-stop. Asked a friend what he'd pay for it, he told me maybe 25-30.

10 hours at minimum wage here in WA state is 9.32/hr, so 93.20 for just the hours, not even including the materials, which came out to about 40 dollars. The niche with these kind of things is highly selective in my opinion.

Like people who do something very unusual, and do it so well that lots of people are willing to pay the money for it. While we ourselves know our backs maybe nice and theeffort gone in- it's just something I can't see happening.

"Made in China" made hand-made artists obsolete in the marketplace =(