Indie Banditas Bazaar - Part I
Nov 30th, 2009 by Kathy
Exhilarating, inspiring, serendipitous, joyful, and exhausting. I’m feeling thankful that I followed through on participating in the Indie Banditas Bazaar this past weekend on Bainbridge Island. I had that last minute stress of knowing I didn’t have enough finished goods for sale and wondering if I’d be too embarrassed to even set up my table.
Fortunately, the pragmatist I’m married to said ‘take your patterns and fabric scraps and have a fun time.’ Well, that’s exactly what I did and the show exceeded every imaginable expectation. I had a few surprises that still have me smiling.
This was a large show for a single venue on Bainbridge Island, over 80 vendors. All top quality handcrafted makers. The energy in the room was a joy to be immersed in. Katie Butler is the one-woman dynamo behind making this idea a reality. This is the 3rd show to take place with more to come. I look forward to watching, participating in, and cheering along her vision.
The top photo is Debra, myself and Robin. These gals are from Vancouver BC (yes, that would be Canada). I asked how they ended up at the show and they told me they came down to see me. I’m still not buying it 
but I sure had a great time visiting with them. Debra’s Mail Sack was Fab-u-lous! We had a wonderfully long chat and I could have hung out with them all weekend.
I don’t know if I express this enough but I absolutely LOVE to talk about sewing. OK, you probably already knew that but I need to tell you that in the most sincere way possible. I like to know what you’re making, how you made it and what inspires you. The true essence of what motivates me in my work each day is that you are all creating things that bring happiness and joy. Things for yourself, things for your mom, things for sale, things for your next door neighbor, things for children in crisis, things for your child’s school fundraiser.
Well, the show really reminded me of this in such a powerful way that I’m still a bit crazy over it. I had the delight of meeting customers in person that I’ve only known through e-mail, seeing friends that became my friends via this blog, wonderful sewists that lurk and were almost too shy to even say hello, young 8 year old girls that told me about the doll clothes they were making by hand. Goodness, it reminded me how much love and passion goes into this craft we all adore and how connected it makes us.
I’m feeling extremely revitalized and full of ideas. I absolutely must get my next pattern out and the show has left me focused on the task. I’m going to keep all my conversations with the beautiful women I met this weekend fresh in my mind and stay the course. Thank you for coming out and stopping by!
OK, this post just wouldn’t be complete without a little nuts and bolts about the show. What sold and what didn’t get touched. What I tried out that was new and worked and what I tried out that didn’t work:
- I really like the round table. I did this at last year’s show. I can sit behind it but jump up and hug people easily. A must have for me. I need easy access to the peeps. I had originally planned to take a larger table and use my brand new tablecloth. Late Thursday night I changed my mind and cut a 58″ length of Amy Butler laminated cotton (it measures 58″ selvage to selvage making a nice big square) to cover my round table. I didn’t even cut off the selvages but now I might and just leave it on that table which normally sits in my living room.
- I purchased some wire grid display units from Store Supply Warehouse. I experimented with different hardware too. These are the real deal. Definitely worth the money. Functional, attractive, and easy to customize. I didn’t realize how tall 6′ actually is in person (I know that sounds silly but you know what I mean), a very practical height. My favorite hardware were the 10″ peg hooks (scrap bags), 2″ peg hooks (patterns) and the 5 J Hook Waterfall drop arm (you can see the tote bags hanging on them). I noticed the same grid units in several of the more experienced vendor booths.
- I have a credit card processor for the online shop. When I take phone orders from wholesale customers I enter the transactions online. At last year’s craft show I took credit cards by writing the numbers by hand on physical credit card slips that they then signed. Yuck, error prone and it takes a bit of time to write the number, the expiration date and the customer’s name down. I investigated various automated solutions and they were all too expensive given I only plan to do these shows several times a year. Good old mechanical technology to the rescue. I purchased a manual credit card imprinter off eBay for $8.95. I wrote ‘Pink Chalk Studio’ on the slips by hand in advance and entered the charges online when I got home.
- What didn’t sell: my $27 tote bags. I don’t remember anyone even taking them off and trying one on! Should have done the mini-wallets again. Customers were looking for gifts in the under $20 range.
- What did sell: my $6 scrap bags. These were a very good deal. We took all the bolt ends from the last year and put them into plastic bags by weight. The total yardage was between 1.25 and 1.5 yards. I sold 85 of those.
- I took my patterns and samples of my patterns and sold quite a few. I also took samples of my Quilting Arts Gifts 2009 and Quilt Scene projects and sold all the magazines I took. I took some of the newer patterns from other designers that had recently arrived. I sold a few of these but I think it took away from the display being about ‘Pink Chalk’. I was constantly saying ‘well, these are my patterns’ and ‘these are other people’s patterns’. I’m convinced for these shows that the display should speak for itself and not need an explanation.
Tomorrow I’ll share some of the fantastic vendors I discovered at the show!
Please tell me what you’re successfully selling at craft shows these days!
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The Thanksgiving Weekend Sale Extravaganza runs through Monday at midnight (November 30). I’ve generally pulled back on doing much shop talk here on the blog. I’m getting a bit fatigued with all the marketing I’m bombarded with on a daily basis and I don’t want my blog to be about that too. I send out a weekly newsletter highlighting new fabrics, sale announcements and occasional discount codes. I will mention sales here on the blog but not necessarily the discount codes. If you want to volunteer to receive Pink Chalk Fabrics marketing once per week then you can sign up for the newsletter here.
The fabric bundles - a genius idea! So many crafters show up at these shows to get ideas and right there before them is inspirational fabric. Laura
I always love hearing your reviews; whether it be about craft shows or products. I have an etsy shop and since the economy tanked I find sales of anything over $20 rare. I started my etsy shop with dozens of flannel pillowcases. Those are my “bread and butter” sales item.
It was so much fun to see you! You had a great display and I’ve been playing with my scrap bundles…should have purchased more!
Good Morning Kathy,
Joan
I’m glad you did the show. Your little “booth” looked great and I love my bag of fabric scraps. I have an unexpected day off today so I’m going to sew!
Have a marvelous Monday.
Kathy, this is a wonderful post. It’s very generous and inspiring. I’m working on my sewing room, which I affectionately called The Wig Shop (though I make anything but). I was starting to feel like it would never be complete, but you’ve moved me to get in The Wig Shop today and get the curtains and a bulletin board up. Thanks to you, I’ll be a couple of steps closer to the sewing space I want to have.
Your wise spouse was right: just have fun! I’m having a table at a craft fair this Friday as well (Bellevue Downtown) and am getting excited about it! By chance, you wouldn’t be in Bellevue at that time, would you?!!!
Do you still have that large tote hanging on your stand? The one with the Momo fabric (pink utterflies on the front)? I’d like to buy that from you if it’s still available!
Cheers!
Bernie
Bernie: the tote bag is the sample bag from the Quilt Scene project. That one wasn’t for sale, I just brought it to show
Good luck with your show! xo Kathy
Hello Kathy!
So glad the bazaar was such a resounding success. Looking forward to hearing more. ox
Sounds like a great weekend. I love that the interaction with everyone has been so inspiring and invigorating. I’ve only done a few shows, but find that because my “thing” is art quilts, small, postcard sized versions or variations on the theme, or greeting card sets made from photos of my art, are what sells best.
You are always so helpful with your posts - thanks! I sold scrap bags at the craft fair I went too also - helped me empty out my overflowing scrap drawers..can’t wait to see what you found!
Sigh, maybe one day I’ll get to give you a hug in person, too. Glad to hear the pragmatist spoke out and you had a great time at the show. Hope Thanksgiving was relaxing and yummy. Looking forward to your new pattern, let me know if you need a hand!
This is a great post! My days of not being a sewer are numbered!
Do you sell your creations anywhere other than shows? (like on-line?)
Glad you had a good time! I’m interested in getting into the craft show biz - I tried selling some of my small baby quilts at a local (Port Townsend) boutique, but I think the price point was too high. I just started making some sofites which take about a sixteenth of the time as a little quilt, and am wondering if those might sell somewhere. Do quilts ever sell at craft fairs? Any tips or ideas would be a big help!
I was intending to make it out there, but my girls got sick again! I am glad it went well for you. I love the tote bags, those were the first things I noticed in the photos. I am just about to make a few for Christmas gifts. What pattern did you use? I did a quick search through your blog to see if you had shared the pattern previously, but I didn’t see anything.
So glad you enjoyed the craft fair. I would have loved to have gone and shopped if I was anywhere in the area. My son that lives near you met us in Mississippi for Thanksgiving with the grandparents. There really aren’t any great craft fairs here in central Florida that i am aware of. That’s probably a good thing for my budget. I love the idea of the scrap bags of fabric. Fun hearing about all the details of the show…even though I’m not a vendor, I find all that interesting.
So happy for your success! The scrap bags were a fabulous idea!
oh I love the scrap bag idea. I would love the opportunity to buy some when I order from Pink Chalk. I love to make small items like pin cushions and wallets and I find that sorting through my scraps for just the perfect combination is one of my favorite parts of the process. I hope to be able to attend the next Indie Banditas Bazaar we were out of town for Thanksgiving so I had to miss this one. I think the under $20 is key. In October at my Orthopedic Guild’s craft fair in Poulsbo I noticed that the less than $20 and even closer to $10 items were most popular. Thank you for the great review!
Hi Kathy!
I loved reading your post. Thanks for sharing what sold well and what didn’t. Always good to read about how other people do. I’ve only done two craft shows (and a summer farmers market), but I did notice that anything over $10 is a lot harder to sell, unless the person is absolutely in love with it. It seems like any type of tote bag is just too much money compared to what you can find in stores (even though a hand made one is so much better). I’ve made a lot of little snap wallets, zippered wallets, ponytail holders, and makeup bags. I’m constantly thinking of what I can make next that people will love. It’s so fun!
Tonya: No pattern for the tote bags hanging on the same rack as the scrap bags. The tote bag on the same rack as my patterns (with the MoMo Wonderland fabrics) is a design currently published in Quilt Scene magazine (I still need to blog about that!). I will definitely be selling that pattern as a download once the magazine goes off the newstand. I would really, really, really like to write up a free tutorial for the simple totes. We’ll see how that goes
Have fun making your gifts!
Tracy: I don’t know about the quilts. There were a couple of vendors with quilts on display for sale but I don’t think they sold. When I worked the craft booth at my Quilt Guild show several years ago it was very rare for us to sell a quilt unless it was something the person absolutely fell in love with and had to have. Even doll quilts had a tough time selling. I think you’re on to something with the softies. The booth across from me did very well selling small softies. I think the key is finding a project with a price point that is compelling and still gives you a fair profit (easier said than done of course!)
Kathy: I’d love to be selling online but I never seem to get enough made, I always end up giving stuff away! I’ve got to get that new pattern out first!
Hi Kathy!
It was great to spend a few moments with you, and we honestly did come down to meet you. Deb and I have made so many Mail Sacks we thought it would be amazing to meet the creator. And it was fantastic to chat about all things sewing. I was so excited to find a tiny scrap of fish in a bag fabric in my scrap bag of Heather Ross fabric. Great craft fair too! Thanks for the tip about Esther’s. It’s like a candy store for sewers.
Seeing your blog today, really put a smile on my face and had my husband calling out for our three and a half year old son to “Come look at the computer, Mommy is famous!” We had a fantastic time at the Bazaar visiting with the many talented artists and meeting you was definetly the icing on the cake. Already planning next years trip down to see you!
Hi Kathy,
It was fun seeing you on Saturday and I am loving the scrap bags I bought! What a great way to try small portions of several different fabrics that I might not have bought otherwise. I was distracted by my circus clown children when you asked what I have been making lately, but I wanted to tell you that I have made many, many of your table runners in the last year. Such a beautiful, simple pattern. My mother-in-law has requested one for every season/holiday for her dining table, and while I am certainly not going to commit to that project, it is a pretty fun to think about! Thanks again for the door prize too!
I have to say that I am not surprised that your Pink Chalk patterns and stuff sold. You should be proud. I made my second pencil roll this weekend and was, once again, amazed at how GREAT the directions were! I love it. I can make one relatively quickly. Thanks for your hard work!
looks like you had a good time.. thanks for sharing all the info on what worked and what didn’t!!
Kathy,
What a beautiful post about the show. It is such a pleasure to have you be a part of the show. xo