Thursday, 23 May 2013

Help Finding a Craft Market Please? And Denim Notebooks

I'd like to give selling at a craft market a go and would like to find one that it is cheap to book a stall for the day and easy to get to from Manchester City centre. I don't have a car, but I do have a granny trolley  :)  so I'm quite willing to lug that around by train or tram. I heard about the Holme Street Arts centre in Hebden Bridge, £5 for two 6 foot tables sounds perfect, but they haven't replied to any emails :(

If anybody knows of anywhere, I'd be really grateful to find out about them, thanks :)

This week, I made a couple of notebook covers from denim offcuts.  I wanted to make one with a really 'worn' and 'used' look to it, so I chose pieces from where pockets had been taken off, and piecs from the seams and hems. Once I'd torn strips the size I wanted, I removed the extra threads and then sewed them onto a base piece of denim. Then I added a delrin clip so I could close it.


For the second one, I wanted a slightly less 'scruffy' look, but didn't want it too neat, so I used strips torn from where a pocket was taken off, so I'd still get some darker patches.


I also added a delrin clip to close this one too.


I did like the look of it, but it looked a little bit too 'neat' still, so I put it in with a load of laundry then hung it in the sun to dry:


I think this looks much better now that the frayed edges are softer.


I'd like to apologise in advance for not commenting on flickr photos. The new changes are really not good for me. I have dodgy vision and the new 'design' is a violent visual onslaught for me, it gives me a headache to try to use it and causes my vision problems to get worse. So I probably won't use it much until they change it back or I'll go to ipernity with everyone else.
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8 comments:

  1. Wendy23 May 2013 at 19:09

    I can't help you on finding the craft fairs, I'm struggling with that myself, also about whether they're worth it or not...

    Love the notebooks, I've got loads of salvaged denim, I really should do something with it!

    p.s. I hate Flickr!

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    1. Zed24 May 2013 at 11:46

      Thanks, Wendy :)

      Yeah, finding one that's worth it would be good!
      My fingers are crossed that flickr reverts.

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  2. FeltersJourney24 May 2013 at 09:39

    The denim notebooks are great Zed - especially after you wash 'em (LOVING the frayed edges and worn looks). And the clips are just perfect for them.

    Can't help with craft fayres I'm afraid, I'm way out of your area.
    From personal experience I found them not worth the effort as the stuff which sold best at fayres wasn't the stuff that sells best online so I had to make specifically. So if it was a poor turnout or venue I had to hold onto stock till the next one. I sold enough stuff, but weighed up against selling online, online won for me. Haven't done a fayre in 2 years now.

    Hope you manage to find one though.
    xx

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    1. Zed24 May 2013 at 11:55

      Thanks :)
      Yeah the washing really worked out well.

      I have no experience of fairs or markets or anything like that, just a market stall bookable by the day, preferably a craft market, and preferably cheap would be worth a go, I think.
      I've really not had much luck selling online at all. I don't understand it, nothing is overpriced, but I haven't sold one real thing, just a few downloads and one fabric pack. I wouldn't have even tried if I hadn't had people telling me for years I should sell my stuff.

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  3. foxglovefelts28 May 2013 at 19:34

    Hi Zed, I live in Chorlton and have just started doing a few local fairs.
    The Horse and Jockey, Chorlton do a Farmers Market and Craft Fair the last Saturday of the month - £10 for a table; Castlefield Artisan Market is on every Sunday - £30 for a table; Victoria Baths are doing a craft fair soon for £10 for a table - 8th June (I think) - those are the only craft fairs in Manchester that I know of at the moment - there might be more info on the Manchester Etsy Team Forum if you want to have a look there.

    Maybe selling online takes time to build up - I'm sure you'll start selling things soon - it's all lovely.

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    1. Zed29 May 2013 at 12:16

      Thanks for that Foxglove :)

      I did discover the Castlefield one last week actually, funny that I would have to 'discover' it, living nearby. I read about Victoria baths too, both on Stallfinder. I don't know if people are really busy, if I come across as really rude or stupid, but no one replies to my emails about these things. I don't know if tables are provided, how to pay etc.

      The Horse and Jockey sounds good, and the baths.
      Do you have a link for the Manchester etsy team? I joined the North West and was thinking of posting there.

      And thanks, I was getting a bit down about etsy, but just recently sold two notebooks, which was very nice :)

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  4. Billie15 June 2013 at 14:25

    Love your denim bags. I hope your vision problem isn't serious.

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    1. Zed24 June 2013 at 12:49

      Thanks, Billie :)
      I have a few different ones, Nystagmus, Palinopsia, and I recently came across Irlen syndrome, which describes exactly what I experience a lot, probably caused by migraine...mostly waving, swishing images/text. It's not fun :)

      Delete

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