Do any of you make a living from crafting?

[SuperMonkey]

Just trying to decide what to do when mat leave ends. I've always had romantic ideas about making a living from selling stuff I make, just wondering whether it's a bit pie in the sky?

Do I take it that's a 'no' then

I don't at the moment, (am toying with the idea, must admit) there are some ladies on here who do. Just keep bumping, am sure that they'll turn up soon.
In the meantime, you may want to look at Etsy here, some ladies sell stuff on there.

Thanks shw, I keep an eye on Etsy, it's hard to gauge how much is actually sold through it. Mind you, if it didn't work then people wouldn't use it I suppose.

I don't make a living, it's not a business but I do sell the odd bit of jewellery I make. I only really look to cover my costs to buy more beads, as I love making things & make too many to wear myself

I'll be honest and say that it's very difficult to make a living from any small business.
I sell cards that are printed professionally, and that I hand embellish. now, I'm certainly not comparing myself to the very talented ladies on this forum but after nearly 2 years in business, I'm only now close to breaking even financially. A big problem with craft businesses can be the time taken to make products compared to revenue... I know if I work out the amount of money I've earned compared to time spent building up my small business, it would probably be pence per hour

I can believe that Betty - when I look on Etsy at the prices that things sell for I realise that the £/hour is pretty low.

fellow monkey, I sell on etsy and have started doing a regular craft fair. But I don't make a living from it, it's just a hobby that I make a tiny bit of money from (and the money I make gets ploughed back in to buy more fabric for me to look at and get upset when I cut into, lol!) When I talked to the other stall holders a lot do seem to make a living from it, but it seems to be a really hard job - hawking your stuff here there and everywhere. There is a really ggod book called Craft Inc, turn your creative hobby into a business that a friend of mine has just lent me. She sells quite a bit, but still works in a 'real' job full time.
BTW, Betty does some lovely 'feed wheels' for babies - link to them, Bet please!!! They are really great alternatives to normal baby cards. Actually, I need to order a couple for pregnant friends.

i did make a living at it when i worked in a design studio full time, best job in the world for someone into crafting.

now, why on earth did i leave?...,darn those pesky children!

it can be done but i think they key is to be able to diversify, and have other irons in the fire on top of the simpler side of making things and selling them

Mmm, so perhaps the best idea is to try and persuade work to employ me for 2-3 days then I'll have time to do some crafting and see whether I can create anything marketable (while looking after the kids of course!)

Thanks all for your input, much appreciated

oh Gingermonkey, you are lovely Baby Feed Wheels

Where is your craft fair, btw? I love a good craft fair!

It's in Leeds, is called mosaic and happens the second sunday of every month. Technically it's a market (but that sounds too Eastenders for me so I prefer 'fair'!!! lol)
A lot of the stalls are a bit 'new age' but apparently it is getting better each time (according to people I spoke to). I imagine the next 2 coming up to christmas will be the best, so fingers crossed I do ok at them. TBH as long as I make my stall fee and a bit of pocket money I am happy, it's something to do on a sunday when I would normally be sat at MIL's. I did the first one last week, and had a great time.
Thank you for link - I am going to double check what the PG friends are having and buy them a wheel each. How are you BTW?

I think it depends on firstly what you are making, quality, price, uniqueness perhaps ? and secondly how you promote yourself & your business.

You have to target the right audience i.e. are you advertising in the right places to reach your prospective customers.

It's a tough job but as fellow crafters will probably agree, it's not all about making a packet. Personally, I've just opened an Etsy shop and have a couple of Fayres coming up so the jury is still out as to whether I'll earn enough in the long term to cover my materials and a little extra.

But, everyone has to start somewhere and if you hit upon something popular, well, who knows what could happen.

My dd starts full time school next Sept so for me it's a case of building something to a) earn me a little pocket money and b) keep me occupied when my gorgeous scrunchie is at school

Good luck !

I make a bit of money with my handspun wool - I do use etsy but TBH with the exhange rate being what it is the American market is pretty poor, i also sell on ebay, but haven't really put anything up for a while as the knitting season is only just kicking off -i'm quite happy to cover my costs and have some money left over to buy things for myself and the kids, so I don't upset our tight budget
I think thats who most WAHM's start off -if your product takes off then you can do quite well, but it's nice when you aren't earning to have some money thats yours alone IYKWIM
Lisa x

you're right jamila, a lot of wahm's businesses start off as a hobby then expand as time, finance and demand increase.

I find that if it was as simple as 'make for x amount, sell for y' a living could be made but things like advertising and insurance are real money-burners.
(I had a huge insurance quote a month or so go that nearly scuppered my business, but managed to find an alternative literally hundres of pounds cheaper. It was a rather worrying week )

I don't make money from it now, but I have in the past. Funnily enough, the project that would have made me decent return on my time was one that I did for free - altarcloths for a military chapel.

Stampin, you need to pay to advertise on Mumsnet.

I'm making a bit of pocket money from dressmaking but nowhere near 'a living'.