Thursday, February 7

Running a Crafty Shop: on Originality

Embroidery by Georgia McDonald
Recently I got a mail from a customer who was in the process of setting up an Etsy shop, asking for advice. Once I started writing my reply I thought it was something that others might be interested in as well. I'm not saying I know all about running a crafty online shops but I do have some idea and learned from my experiences of running a small online shop for the past 4 years. This first post is all about Originality. Because if the things you are trying to sell are very similar to the shop 'next door' then what reason is there for customers to buy your stuff?

Originality could be described as 'the quality of being special and interesting and not the same as anything or anyone else'. One of the reasons I started making patterns was because there was nothing out there like the ideas I had for embroidery patterns.  So...the image you see above was the very first embroidery pattern I put in my shop. Actually it was the only pattern I had in my shop for a while. Lucky for me I had some sweet people I 'knew' from Flickr that bought my pattern and that gave me the confidence to make another! Well the second pattern turned out to be a big hit. It was the Princess and the Pea, and the wonderful version that Georgia made really helped in getting attention on big crafty blogs (and later magazines as well).

Originality doesn't mean you can't be inspired by stuff that is already out there. With the Princess and the Pea pattern, I combined a popular fairytale (I didn't know it was that popular at the time!) with a new take on an traditional form (the Sampler). This was not something I planned, it was a combination of things that led me to make an original pattern. I think I only embroidered for a year when I made that pattern and was (and still am, it's a never ending process!) in the process of learning and perfecting my stitches. I vaguely knew about traditional embroidery samplers and the rows of stitches reminded me of the stacked mattresses of the Princess and the Pea. I have two daughters and love to read fairy tales and folk tales so I re-read the fairytale, counted the mattresses and started making my pattern.

In my opinion 'original' also means: 'staying close to your origins'. I'm convinced that if you are creative and stay close to your personal preferences and experiences, you will make original work. I take much inspiration from books I read, music I listen to and art and illustrations I love. However while ideally you want to make things that are close to your heart it is nice to sell your items as well of course. There are things from current trends you could 'weave' into your own designs. Some subjects (in case of embroidery patterns) or items (in case of knitted items for example) may prove to be more popular than others. Also seasons and holidays are things to consider (this is actually something that is not my strongest point!)

Hope this post is helpful and do leave a comment if you have some wise words on this subject to share!
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8 comments:

  1. Carina7 February 2013 at 13:59

    Great post, Nicole! I absolutely agree with everything of course. :-)

    I suspect you might talk about this in another post, but it cannot be repeated enough: to be original means that you Do Not Steal and you Do Not Copy the work of other designers. :-)

    xx

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    1. Nicole Follow the White Bunny7 February 2013 at 14:56

      Thank you! Well this post addresses the issue implicitly I think :) When something is exactly the same as the original it's most likely copied, however if something is somewhat (or even a lot) like something already out there it's hard to make a case. Where does 'being inspired by' ends and 'copying' starts? Or it could even be coincidence. I once made a design and before I released the pattern I found that there was already a pattern out there that was eerily similar. (How did that happen?!?!) So I dropped the idea. What I'm trying to say is doing original stuff (and not copying) makes everyone happier and in case of doubt create something else. :)

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  2. Elsa7 February 2013 at 14:52

    I agree with Carina ~ it's so important to not take from someone else's designs ~ especially if you're selling them as your own. I used to be a jewelry designer and I can not tell you how many times I've been copied and not been given credit. It's so frustrating. When I make something from a pattern I ALWAYS give that person credit and tell whoever asked where I got the pattern from.

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    1. Nicole Follow the White Bunny7 February 2013 at 15:01

      I know, it's very upsetting when that happens. Obviously money can be made by copying others but being Original is much better. And in the end I think most people will be able to distinct between copy cats and original artists & crafters. :)

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  3. Anonymous8 February 2013 at 02:21

    As someone just starting to create my own embroidery patterns, this is incredibly useful. Thank you!

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  4. Annabella8 February 2013 at 20:41

    This is a great post Nicole - don't they always say that when writing a book you should write for you, what you like...definitely makes sense :-)

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