Re: My business/need help

#1 · October 19, 2001, 8:17 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on October 19, 2001, 8:17 pm
Posted by: heislord <heislord@...>

dear debra -
i would hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but i feel the need to
give you a more realistic view point regarding your shawl idea..... my
almost 18 yr old daughter would like to have the same kind of business you
are talking about....her page is here:
www.lambzown.faithweb.com/custom_shawls_and_raw_fleeces.htm
she's been spinning since she was 11.... last year, she acquired a seven
foot triangle loom, and two years before she was making things on a three
foot loom... (btw - you can make 3 foot triangles and piece them together! )
we really like the looms, but they were a pretty large investment, and i
can't say that the picture you have been shown on this is entirely
accurate.... carol leigh, the creator of the triangle shawl craze, sells a
6 ft. shawl with a fringe for $300+ .... she also has a huge inventory....
marion has given away almost all of the shawls she has completed, but i do
believe that in order to actually sell them, you must have a fairly large
inventory(read selection) and be able to promote them where people can
afford to buy them (read upscale fiber shop or tons of festivals and craft
shows...) .... mittens and hats sell way faster.... we raise our own wool,as
well as shear and wash it ourselves... marion does all of her own
processing.... usually on hand combs ($160+) or cards.... you can buy a drum
carder which would make the job go a little faster, but a nice one runs
about $400-500... or you can send out for processing.... much cheaper and
quicker, but you need to have a good quantity of wool to make it worth your
while... you probably already know this...
but for one seven foot shawl, marion will spend 8-10 hours combing the wool,
then another 6-8 hours to spin 600 yards of 2 ply, for a 7 ft. shawl with a
9 inch fringe, then if she had an uninterrupted period of time, it would
take at least 10 hours for her to finish, though she thinks with more
experience she could get faster....
i love the loom, because it is simple enough, and unobtrusive enough that
even i can do a little here and a little there on mommy time..;-)
the reality is though, that even marion only has about 2-3 hrs a day, if
that to work on shawls.....(read - sometimes these things can take months to
complete! )and at $10 an hour, you have to charge at least $300 to make it
worth your while... and no buyer means no income.... they do however make
fantastic presents 🙂
marion, john, and ariel, my three oldest, saved for a long time to buy their
first sheep, then fencing, then carding combs and hand spindles, then
wheels, then more sheep and more fence 😉 , then looms, then combs, etc....
i don't mind at all that their investments have yet to turn a profit,
because they aren't trying to make or even supplement a living yet, but by
the time marion is a wife and homemaker, she should have something that she
can do to supplement if necesssary.. however i do believe that going into
debt with the illusion that these are easy to sell would be unwise, so i
will pray for wisdom in the direction you decide to take....

we went to a little antique festival a few weeks ago, where the girls
brought some lambs and some bunnies, the loom with a work in progress,
combs, and spinning wheels and were demonstrating basically sheep to
shawl... this is their own handspun, etc... but we weren't selling anything
except a few baby bunnies, and had a for sale sign on the shawl....we also
had some balls of yarn and one pair of mittens on the table.... only one
person out of probably 500-600 people that looked asked how much the shawl
would be.... then kind of walked the other way when she found out marion was
asking $250 for it (about $6 an hour, plus pure shetland wool which raw can
go for $15 a lb.... hand processed, hand spun, hand dyed, and hand
woven.... )
🙁
at least 10 people were interested in her mittens which were not for sale,
but could easily have gone for $15-20...
another suggestion i would make is this... there are quite a few folks out
there raising llamas, etc, who have no clue how to spin and don't want to
learn.... we met one lady at this little fair who brought us her llama wool
and is willing o pay marion to spin it... we will pay to get it processed
into roving, as it is just not cost efficient for us to do it, and charge
her by the hour to spin it....
while researching for this, i cam e across this link for llama people
looking for spinners,
ellamas.net/fiberpool/hand_crafters_directory.htm
perhaps you could promote your spinning there as well...
i would suggest contacting some of these handcrafters to get a feel for
their pricing... may God richly bless you in your endeavors... only by His
merciful grace - rachel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Debra Garner" <dgarnera@pacifier.com>
To: "homesteadheaven" <homesteadheaven@weloveGod.org>
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 5:36 PM
Subject: [HomeSteadHeaven] My business/need help

> Ok so after prayer and thought I figured out what to do. Knitting takes
> to long, and do just the yarn also takes into consideration: how many
> wraps per inch, how many yards, ounces etc... Too much for me to think
> about. But I do want to succeed at this. So after prayer, what to do????
> Yesterday it hit me! Triangle loom! Shawls, blankets, ponchos, scarves
> from my handspun wool!!! And 1 7 ft shawl can be done in 8 hours!!!
> These can be sold for quite a price depending on where you sell.
> So now I know what I am going to do. Please pray about me getting my
> hands on a loom. It looks like total set up would be about $500, if I
> had any credit at all I would charge it, or get a loan. I know I could
> sell these and make the money back quick enough to pay it off quickly.
> But alas, no credit.
> But hey God has provided me with free fiber, I know He will help me get
> a loom.
> So I have have come up with some names, Still hadn't totally decided yet
> so here is my list.
>
> Debra's Heavenly HomeSpun Handcrafted Items
> Heaven Sent HomeSpun Blankets and Shawls
> Heavenly Woolies
> Heaven Sent Just for Ewe
> A hug from heaven homespun handcrafted items
>
> What do you think? I am excited about this. I know that I could make a
> good side income with this. I feel it in my heart. And it is just what
> we need, even after jeff comes home.
> Thanks for your input.
> Blessings,debra
>
>
> --Shortcuts:
> WANNA READ THE ARCHIVES AND CATCH UP ON WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING??? GO
TO:----> www.welovegod.org/digests/homesteadheaven
> --->(you will prompted for a userID and Password.....for the userID type
in this --->"archives"<--- minus the quotes, and leave the password field
empty.
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> --->Shortcut to Our Member Directory:
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>
> To unsubscribe, send ANY message to
<homesteadheaven-unsubscribe@weloveGod.org>
>

Posted by: heislord <heislord@...>

dear debra -
i would hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but i feel the need to
give you a more realistic view point regarding your shawl idea..... my
almost 18 yr old daughter would like to have the same kind of business you
are talking about....her page is here:
http://www.lambzown.faithweb.com/custom_shawls_and_raw_fleeces.htm
she's been spinning since she was 11.... last year, she acquired a seven
foot triangle loom, and two years before she was making things on a three
foot loom... (btw - you can make 3 foot triangles and piece them together! )
we really like the looms, but they were a pretty large investment, and i
can't say that the picture you have been shown on this is entirely
accurate.... carol leigh, the creator of the triangle shawl craze, sells a
6 ft. shawl with a fringe for $300+ .... she also has a huge inventory....
marion has given away almost all of the shawls she has completed, but i do
believe that in order to actually sell them, you must have a fairly large
inventory(read selection) and be able to promote them where people can
afford to buy them (read upscale fiber shop or tons of festivals and craft
shows...) .... mittens and hats sell way faster.... we raise our own wool,as
well as shear and wash it ourselves... marion does all of her own
processing.... usually on hand combs ($160+) or cards.... you can buy a drum
carder which would make the job go a little faster, but a nice one runs
about $400-500... or you can send out for processing.... much cheaper and
quicker, but you need to have a good quantity of wool to make it worth your
while... you probably already know this...
but for one seven foot shawl, marion will spend 8-10 hours combing the wool,
then another 6-8 hours to spin 600 yards of 2 ply, for a 7 ft. shawl with a
9 inch fringe, then if she had an uninterrupted period of time, it would
take at least 10 hours for her to finish, though she thinks with more
experience she could get faster....
i love the loom, because it is simple enough, and unobtrusive enough that
even i can do a little here and a little there on mommy time..;-)
the reality is though, that even marion only has about 2-3 hrs a day, if
that to work on shawls.....(read - sometimes these things can take months to
complete! )and at $10 an hour, you have to charge at least $300 to make it
worth your while... and no buyer means no income.... they do however make
fantastic presents 🙂
marion, john, and ariel, my three oldest, saved for a long time to buy their
first sheep, then fencing, then carding combs and hand spindles, then
wheels, then more sheep and more fence 😉 , then looms, then combs, etc....
i don't mind at all that their investments have yet to turn a profit,
because they aren't trying to make or even supplement a living yet, but by
the time marion is a wife and homemaker, she should have something that she
can do to supplement if necesssary.. however i do believe that going into
debt with the illusion that these are easy to sell would be unwise, so i
will pray for wisdom in the direction you decide to take....

we went to a little antique festival a few weeks ago, where the girls
brought some lambs and some bunnies, the loom with a work in progress,
combs, and spinning wheels and were demonstrating basically sheep to
shawl... this is their own handspun, etc... but we weren't selling anything
except a few baby bunnies, and had a for sale sign on the shawl....we also
had some balls of yarn and one pair of mittens on the table.... only one
person out of probably 500-600 people that looked asked how much the shawl
would be.... then kind of walked the other way when she found out marion was
asking $250 for it (about $6 an hour, plus pure shetland wool which raw can
go for $15 a lb.... hand processed, hand spun, hand dyed, and hand
woven.... )
🙁
at least 10 people were interested in her mittens which were not for sale,
but could easily have gone for $15-20...
another suggestion i would make is this... there are quite a few folks out
there raising llamas, etc, who have no clue how to spin and don't want to
learn.... we met one lady at this little fair who brought us her llama wool
and is willing o pay marion to spin it... we will pay to get it processed
into roving, as it is just not cost efficient for us to do it, and charge
her by the hour to spin it....
while researching for this, i cam e across this link for llama people
looking for spinners,
ellamas.net/fiberpool/hand_crafters_directory.htm
perhaps you could promote your spinning there as well...
i would suggest contacting some of these handcrafters to get a feel for
their pricing... may God richly bless you in your endeavors... only by His
merciful grace - rachel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Debra Garner" <dgarnera@pacifier.com>
To: "homesteadheaven" <homesteadheaven@weloveGod.org>
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 5:36 PM
Subject: [HomeSteadHeaven] My business/need help

> Ok so after prayer and thought I figured out what to do. Knitting takes
> to long, and do just the yarn also takes into consideration: how many
> wraps per inch, how many yards, ounces etc... Too much for me to think
> about. But I do want to succeed at this. So after prayer, what to do????
> Yesterday it hit me! Triangle loom! Shawls, blankets, ponchos, scarves
> from my handspun wool!!! And 1 7 ft shawl can be done in 8 hours!!!
> These can be sold for quite a price depending on where you sell.
> So now I know what I am going to do. Please pray about me getting my
> hands on a loom. It looks like total set up would be about $500, if I
> had any credit at all I would charge it, or get a loan. I know I could
> sell these and make the money back quick enough to pay it off quickly.
> But alas, no credit.
> But hey God has provided me with free fiber, I know He will help me get
> a loom.
> So I have have come up with some names, Still hadn't totally decided yet
> so here is my list.
>
> Debra's Heavenly HomeSpun Handcrafted Items
> Heaven Sent HomeSpun Blankets and Shawls
> Heavenly Woolies
> Heaven Sent Just for Ewe
> A hug from heaven homespun handcrafted items
>
> What do you think? I am excited about this. I know that I could make a
> good side income with this. I feel it in my heart. And it is just what
> we need, even after jeff comes home.
> Thanks for your input.
> Blessings,debra
>
>
> --Shortcuts:
> WANNA READ THE ARCHIVES AND CATCH UP ON WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING??? GO
TO:----> http://www.welovegod.org/digests/homesteadheaven
> --->(you will prompted for a userID and Password.....for the userID type
in this --->"archives"<--- minus the quotes, and leave the password field
empty.
> --->Shortcut to Our Link Page:
> http://www.yahoogroups.com/links/AHomesteadersHeaven/
> --->Shortcut to Our Member Directory:
> http://www.geocities.com/ahomesteadersheaven
>
> To unsubscribe, send ANY message to
<homesteadheaven-unsubscribe@weloveGod.org>
>