Craft Business Startups

Selling Your Crafts

Fabric Painting for Profit

How can one sell hand-painted fabric items?

I have just started fabric painting ... and I want to slowly make it a business.

Please provide me some advice on that.

Thank you,

Menaka

If you’re thinking about painting all the products yourself, you’re talking about a small business that will remain just that.

That’s exactly what I did and, in fact, one of my (many) product "lines" was Hand-Painted Dresses.

I was peddling my crafts at craft fairs back then, so it made sense for me to have many product choices for browsers. Eventually I found a dress shop willing to sell my dresses as well as my hand sewn tote bags, ponchos and tunics.

That worked okay except that the owner kept a higher than average commission of 50% of the retail price.

Of course I didn’t know that at the time.

When I found an art gallery which would carry my dresses at a 30% commission, I went with that venue for a while.

Finally I opened my own little gift shop where the dresses sold quite well.

After about four years, I decided it was time to take my craft knowledge to the next level and help other crafters by launching The Artful Crafter website and blog.

Here’s a bit more about My Story.

You’ll find specific business advice for craft businesses in the For Profit section of The Artful Crafter.

Best of luck!