Would you buy Christmas fabric placemats?

[Ilovemyshoppingtrolley]

I have some leftover Christmas fabric and wondering what I could do with it. I have a table in a couple of Christmas craft fairs in November and frantically making bits and pieces for my stall.

I would probably charge about £2 each. They would have Christmas design on one side and plain fabric on the back with a thin wadding in the middle. Yes or NO?

Or do you have any other suggestions what I could do with the fabric?

Thanks

Don’t under price the placemats. Or anything you make for that matter. My mum makes lovely placemats using pretty Christmassy fabric, she donates them to a local charity who sell them as sets of four at Christmas. I 100% appreciate that they can only sell things for the price a customer is willing to pay, but they really under price them and they always sell fast so I think they could bump up the price. The price they sell them at barely covers the cost of materials (fabric for both sides, wadding, cotton) never mind the time cost (sourcing and buying materials, making them, delivering them to the charity).

BertrandRussell - I have just had a look at a tutorial, I really like that idea, never realised how simple to make.

Off to source some bees wax now

Thanks

Beeswax wraps are gaining FB popularity in a massive way now as people are looking to stop using cling film. Great for wrapping leftovers, sandwiches for lunch boxes etc.

@drspouse

£5 would not cover materials and time

Says you - the OP has spare fabric she wants to use up & time she wants to fill. I think it’s up to her to decide if it’s worth it or not.

The OP was going to sell them for £2, I was merely saying I’d happily pay £5.

I wouldn’t pay more than £5 for a fabric Santa placemat though. I think it’s helpful fir her to know what Jo public would be prepared to pay then she can decide whether it’s ‘worth it’ or not

There’s no point in over pricing if it doesn’t sell.

Bunting and wine bottle bags.

Possibly fiddly but 24 small numbered advent bags.

No would not buy place mats. But I would like bunting or gift bags. I think the idea of book bags is good one.

I've ordered some beeswax pellets and they should be being delivered from Wednesday onwards. I made sure that they were food safe. Can't wait. Will get all my material cut ready. Thanks for the idea.

Also looking for patterns for gift bags at the moment. (have been very fortunate and someone has donated material and I have been using all my odds up that I nearly chucked away but didn't just in case!)

A reasonable rate for crafting is £10/hour, which includes admin and selling time.
This would mean free materials (is all the wadding and binding also free?), 12 minutes to make a placemat (I'm a quick, experienced sewist and might make 5 in an hour but that doesn't include time to sell them, book stalls, set up, travel to craft fair etc).
Devaluing your time crashes the market for craft in general and is frowned upon by the HMRC.

@drspouse I really don’t want to get into an argument with you. We are all on the same side! But as far as the HMRC are concerned - they can frown as hard as they like. They don’t get to decide on pricing The general public will only pay what something is worth to them and a seller only needs to sell at a price that feels right to them.

It’s unfortunate that hand crafts don’t fetch a higher price than they do, but it’s not why most people do them. If you choose to try to earn a living from it, you need to be doing things that don’t involve local craft stands at Christmas and accept that ‘hobby’ crafters will always sell things more cheaply. Or price them way too high and not sell any 🤷🏻‍♀️

Just for background, so you don’t think I’m waffling about things I don’t understand. I have sewn, knitted & various other things to sell and had a shop that sold craft (amongst other things) made by others.

I hope you sell as much as you’d like to, for a price you’re happy with 😊🌷

No, I wouldn’t.

I've also sold things (mainly via Etsy) and if you make any money at all, you have to declare it, and if you are not effectively paying yourself, they WILL ask questions. You can't, for example, claim any materials against sale price if this means you end up with a near zero wage. This is what is known as dodgy.
I do know people who run a proper craft business (proper enough to claim maternity allowance) and sell at craft fairs.

I am keeping a book with receipts on everything that I buy - even down to petrol and parking at the craft venues.

I mainly craft for enjoyment and to keep me busy, I mainly just want to cover my materials plus a little more. I know I will never become rich on it and I am certainly not out to fraud the HMRC.

If you make any profit, though, you are expected to plan for the business to be viable which means paying yourself a wage.

I was a little worried about how I could package the beeswax wraps as obviously trying to get away from plastic. Well I have had a little play and have come up with a small cardboard sleeve in kraft card. I can make 2 sleeves out of 1 A4 sheet. I have measured out how big 2 slices of bread are and how much greaseproof paper I would need to wrap the bread up in. I'm thinking mainly along the lines of sandwich wrapping as I have a bit of children's material to use up. I am going to do a few Christmas ones as well as normal ones.

Obviously I know it's not just children who have sandwiches!

I think going down the children's route is a good idea. I make plastic free lunch boxes for my children (so no prepackaged snacks/cling film/yoghurts etc). I struggled to buy my older boy suitable "wrap". Lots of girly or babyish designs. Don't forget the older boys! I made my own in the end.

Dog bandana. Triangle with a fold over stitched slit for the collar to go through- bigger dogs have wider collars and need larger bandanas

www.waitrosepet.com/dog/dog-coats-clothing/barbour-tartan-bandana-classic-tartan-small?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3Yj3nO685QIVRMjeCh3JRAUvEAQYBCABEgIz7_D_BwE

My beeswax has arrived today so I am going to have a little play this evening!

If I didn't already have a Christmas tablecloth, then yes, I absolutely would buy Christmas fabric placemats. I think it's a fab idea!

I love how enthusiastic you all are about crafts

I’d buy them, all I’d be putting on them would be played so I wouldn’t need them to be heat proof.

I made cushion covers with Christmas fabric. They look great.

IndeterminateDate i have already made cushions - really pleased with the result.

BertrandRussell - I have had 3 orders already for the beeswax, only had a little play with one and put it on FB!Best get busy - thank you so much