What I learned from participating in a designer market

As I posted before I was invited to participate in the Handmade December Gifts market put on by Karin Roeling who owns Gesamt Galerie and sells her handmade products on Etsy.


My primary goal for the weekend was to connect with other designers and crafters. This was a great success! (it was nice to sell a few items, too :-).
Unfortunately I do not have everyone's contact details but check out the wonderful ceramic items made by Noot en zo.


I learned a lot from the others and from the experience itself.

Something important I learned is that I should not mix my handwoven shawls with handspun yarn. Having the yarn displayed next to the shawls made the stand appear like a yarn store aimed at crafters rather than the high-end clothing / accessory booth I like to aim for. Having my spinning wheel there didn't help in that department either :-)

And another thing was that I am so immersed in the world of hand spinning, knitting and weaving that I was very surprised that those activities (with the exception of knitting) mean very little to the majority of people. I think a lot of the visitors were wondering why a yarn store owner would present yarn at a designers market...
So, I very much need to improve how I present my different products!