Sewing machine company Janome is encouraging avid sewers to help get others into the craft with their Pass it On contests. For their Buy One, Get One – Each One, Teach One contest, choose one of their projects and team up with someone new to sewing, or if you’re the newbie, find a sewing mentor, and you can enter for a chance to win a pair of sergers, one for each of you! Enter their Pass it On! contest and tell the story of who taught you to sew and you could win a new sewing machine or serger. Pretty cool, no?
I’ve been following the discussion on Etsy and the culture of cheap over at Megan Auman’s blog, crafting an MBA. It’s pretty thought provoking, whether you sell your own crafts or just love to shop handmade. I’ve been a fan of Megan’s cozy/cuffs for a little while now, and I’m loving her blog.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
thanks!
Love the post on “Etsy and the culture of cheap.” This one of the reasons I haven’t been keen to set up shop there myself, so it’s helpful to see that others are facing the same conundrum.
Zoe, I know there are plenty of sellers who do higher priced stuff and sell on Etsy and do well. My feeling though is that most of those sellers use Etsy as only one sales outlet of many.
My guess is that the typical Etsy shopper who just uses the search functions there and browses around might not necessarily be drawn in as much by the higher dollar art items, but I think for artists who sell their work at art markets, promote their work through galleries and market themselves through other media and just use Etsy as an online storefront to direct their already interested customers too, it’s still a great e-commerce option.
Mallory – I guess I know this intellectually, but it’s hard to make it feel right in my gut. Plus, I have a whole other set of issues about context and what separates art from craft that I have been struggling with ever since I took up felt as my primary medium.
Zoe, I think that’s totally understandable. (And the fine line between art versus craft is a whole other weighty topic entirely. Sometimes it IS very, very blurry.) Ultimately I think it’s one of those things that each artist, each business owner has to weigh for themselves… Only you can understand your product, your customer and what marketplaces will work best for getting that product to that customer. Not all art or craft is for every buyer, so not all venues are going to reach the right crowd.
Personally, I never really found my niche with selling my own work on Etsy. There’s a myriad of reasons that could have contributed to that, but now I just prefer it as a venue to find new products & new artists, and I occasionally participate in the business section of the forums.
I so want to win a Serger!!! I may have to enter that contest.