Been 'Making & Painting' again ....

[Tillyboo]

DD has moved into her new bedroom and wanted a picture of 'Princess Mimi' so here it is

I've also made an applique cushion for my friends little girl - sequins and all

What does everyone think ? I'm thinking of maybe having a little website to sell more of the type of things that you can see in my photobucket album

Or perhaps advertise locally. Has anyone done anything like this themselves ?

• Any tips advice ?
• Do you think it's worth giving it a go based on what you can see in my album. I'm a bit nervous about trying it as I've only done 1 school fair (pretty successful) and have only made things for friends/ gifts etc.

My dd starts full time school next Sept so I'm hoping I can develop something to do from home to earn a little bit of money

I'll post this in CHAT too to get a cross section of non 'Arty Farty' people too

Hi I saw these on your thread earlier. You have ade some wonderful things! I adore the fabric too, where do you buy it from?

Myself and a friend make baby / kids accesories. I can help you with advice on advertising, setting up a website etc if you like? please cat me. There are stacks of organsiations you can apply to for funding. As a sahm I got a substantial arts council grant, although you do have to have a very thorough business plan and proven sales before ven thinking about it.
Don't see it as a pipe dream, you clearly have talent, and should try to make a success of it!

Oh, and this summer we are doing regular stalls at craft fairs across london. If you are at all local would you like to chip in?

I think they are lovely.

I too sew and have sold some things through ebay and by responding to wants on message boards. DD is only at pre-school 2 afternoons a week so I have to do most of it in the evenings!!

Good luck with whatever you decide - I do think you will be successful as your stuff is fab

The Devilwearsprimark - (love the name!) Thanks for the offer of advice etc, that would be fab. I have no idea where to begin.
Excuse my naivity but what does 'cat me' mean' .... am I being thick here ?

My email is [email protected]

What craft fairs do you go to ? I live just outside Reading. I haven't been able to build up much of a stock at the moment as the majority of what you see has been made for people/ commissioned by friends etc. so I haven't got much to sell at the moment
Thanks for the invite, i may take you up on it in the near future perhaps.

have you any images of what you make, I'd love to see them.

We have a big show here in the village every August and I wanted to get something together for that but we are having a lot of building works done to our house this summer so it's going to be difficult to concentrate on this venture - and I want to do it properly.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Dizzyday07 - Thankyou very much !

What do you make ? Aren't we a clever lot on here ...

If you have any images of your stuff I'd love to see them too. I love to see other peoples creations

Perhaps we ought to organise a Mumsnet Craft Fair so that mums can showcase their talents ????

Hi! Cat is 'Contact another Talker' you can send messages to other mumsnetters via it. You have to be subscribed to do so though. No worries though, I will email you!
We do occasional stalls at Spitalfields, Greenwich and Camden Markets. Plus a friend runs a craft boot sale in Middlesex which is held four times a year and is always brilliant.

I started out doing bits and pieces for friends, and that is mainlty what I do now. internet and craft fare sales are rare so just a bonus!

One huge piece of advice is to 'brand' yourself, it may seem silly but if you start off with a name and a little logo that you sew into labels and use all the time it really helps you spread , be it word of mouth or online.

Another thing we are doing at the moment is, we got a huge stack of jute bags dirt cheap and have screen printed our name and some illustartions onto them. We have been giving them with purchases and people eeem to love them, and will hopefully use them over and over again.

I make soft furnishings mostly for kids rooms.

Things like: nursery sets (bumpers, coverlets, nappy stackers, cot tidies etc), duvet sets, confort blankets, cushions, curtains, drawstring bags, bunting and quilts.

Examples are here s167.photobucket.com/albums/u157/sewtobed/Work%20Exam ples/

The DevilWears Primark - Most of the fabric is from Laura Ashley.

Some things are appliqued with felt and oddments of fabric (ebay is a good source). I also hunt for vintage fabrics from charity shops. I recently got about 3m of funky orangey floral fabric for £3.50 from Oxfam but it is few and far between that you find something decent.

Bicester village has a Cath Kidson shop selling reduced fabric too - always a good option.

Looking forward to hearing from you !