1) It’s over saturated - way too much to sift through before someone will find my work

2) the copying - which I know can’t be helped - but I’ve already started to limit the photo’s of my work online

3) there is a ton of stuff that is terribly made - one such person I worked for before I will not mention their name - but I sewed for her on a contract basis - made next to nothing and was forced to make things in a way that was very poor quality (in my opinion) This person does sell a fair bit but I know how it’s made not well at all - serged edges to put a bag together with no straight stitched seams….arr…anyways I don’t want to rant…

4) I agree with the above comments about starting an indie/craft business - not many take it seriously and just start their business up without considering costing of materials/quality - I however have been taking my time now almost 3 years - most of this time I’ve spent educating myself so that the quality will be up to par when I begin selling - I could never sell something that I knew wasn’t up to snuff - I don’t want my name attached to that

I think I will launch with my own website and start doing higher end shows in combination with wholesale orders.

Lol, actually, you can do that with certain industrial knitting machines. We saw one at SPESA. I wrote

this other company … had a sweater knitting machine that did the whole ball of wax -without seaming- including collars and cuffs (it looked stitched) and genuine, I kid you not, underarm expansion gussets. JC said his back of the envelope costs were $16 per unit. The machine costs 180K and takes 30-40 minutes to knit an adult sized sweater.

JC wrote in his review:

…I was immediately drawn to the Shima Seiki whole garment knitting machines. It’s very sexy technology. At some point, I might consider contracting with someone to produce a few designs but that’s a while down the road. Nonetheless, keeping an eye on technological advancements is necessary and fun! Incidentally, there’s a used one for sale on eBay if anyone is interested.

One of our regulars, Georgina Estefania, has a German whole garment machine. I don’t remember the manufacturer. She says they’re pricey but that she loves hers. Her operation is also very lean, making to order. She says that sales have grown to such extent that she’s planning to buy another one in 2008.

Anything you can do on a knitting machine you can do on knitting needles, and a whole lot more; I’m currently knitting a cardigan with seamless shaped sleeves. While I could do that on a knitting machine, I couldn’t have a pattern at the same time, and it would be very difficult to have the sleeve other than a straight tube. If I wanted to, I could knit an entire garment with no seams, shaped to fit me - try that with an industrial knitting machine!

Most factories knit rough shapes, then use cut-and-sew techniques to finish the garment - have a look inside your knitwear. If it’s joined by an overlocker, it’s cut-and-sew. Fully-fashioned costs more to do, but is a better garment.

Two of the more interesting knitting writers are Elizabeth Zimmerman (I don’t like what she designed, but for anyone who likes maths puzzles, her ideas are fascinating) and Barbara Walker’s Knitting from the Top.

I might be using two sticks (actually, at the moment I’m using two high-tech metal sticks with specially designed tips joined by a flexible nylon cord), doesn’t mean I’m limited at all!

ps - looms are for weaving; knitting machines create knitted fabric (and fabric is never ‘hand loomed’ - a loom is the mechanism to weave fabric, the technique is weaving; and knitting is NEVER loomed or woven, it’s knitted!).

/anne…
who knits (hand and machine), sews, spins, weaves, dyes… and whatever else I’ve got time for!

Oh and Kathleen I cut my self with scissors bad enough to need stitches is that a badge of honor?

I buy a lot of supplies on etsy as well as jewellery and silkscreened t shirts

I know that sometimes it takes 2 or 3 years to start making money at craft fairs and bazaars because people will see your stuff, think about it, come back next year, maybe buy, still think about it, then be ready to really by the next year. So you have to keep going to get exposure.

I had some stuff on Etsy and only sold a couple of things. I probably just needed to keep relisting it. I found some dumb stuff there, yes, but also some stuff that was really cool that I would have bought if I’d had the money.

Next is etsy. I think it os a great place to test the waters or set up another marketing venue. The real fault lies in the fact many of the sellers there are very green (immature) at business practices. Imitation and downright thievery is rampant. The staff is great at letting everyone police themselves and turning a blind eye. Copycats aren’t new and will never cease, but there are many instances of photographs of items are stolen and put up elsewhere. How can you sell something if you cant even take a picture of it?

The market will be the deciding factor in the end. And full disclosure-yes, I have been copied and found my styles on Etsy