I like making things. I’m lucky enough that I can usually manage to make whatever I set my mind to reasonably adequately. I can visualise things in 3d which helps and am reasonably good about attention to detail. I used to be better, but I have a dodgy right hand these days so my fine motor control isn’t what it used to be and I can’t keep working for hours on end. I get by though.
I knit, usually chainmail but with wool too on occasion. I made my hubby a Dr Who scarf which he is very proud of. That was my biggest project so far, it took an absolute age to make but mostly because I left it for weeks and weeks between doing any. I mostly make chainmail jewelry rather than armour for reasons of hand. I make normal beady type jewelry too, that’s quick and easy so great for when the pain levels are high but the itch to make something won’t go away.
I sometimes make costumes and props for games and random ‘stuff and things’ for friends or particular occasions. The last thing I made was a cross stitch sampler for a friends wedding, current project is a pair of knitted dolls for another friend.
I have an etsy shop and a folksy shop but haven’t yet gotten around to populating them. To be honest I am absolutely dreadful at selling stuff. Giving it away is much easier and I like seeing people wearing things I have made. I wish I was better at the selling bit, I think the stuff I make is good enough to sell I just don’t have those skills.
I’ve just signed up for a crafts course that is supposed to include advice on how to make and sell so here’s hoping it makes a difference.
My to do list craftwise is currently dominated by ‘learn to crochet’ it looks a lot more portable than knitting and seems to be faster which can only be a good thing.
The C Spot 
Ditto on the selling – when I started it was always such a pain to work out a reasonable price. I’m better at it now (and am training K on properly valuing her own work). I think most artists and crafters undervalue their own work. “But it was easy. It only took me [time]. The materials only cost £[X]. Anyone could make it!” No. No, they couldn’t. That’s the point. Either they do not have the skill, the training or the time (or the desire) to make something.
It comes back to the old joke about the plumber:
“A woman calls in a plumber when her washing machine breaks down. The plumber arrives, studies the machine, then produces a hammer and gives it a hefty whack.
The washing machine starts working again and the plumber presents a bill for £200.
‘Two hundred pounds?’ says the woman. ‘All you did was hit it with the hammer.’
So the plumber gives her an itemised bill: ‘Hitting washing machine with a hammer – £5. Knowing where to hit it – £195.'”
Knowing how to make something; learning new skills; practising until you get it right. All of those are what the customer is ultimately paying for.
That said, I’ve been told that I still underprice my own work
LikeLike
It’s not just the pricing, it’s the actual selling I fail at. I’m just no good at taking money from anyone.
LikeLike