I finally finished the Jubilee Purse! What an ordeal that was. It started out simple enough, I should've known it was too good to last! I had to keep walking away to get things around the house done and when that happens it can mess with the rhythm of a project. So instead of being able to set out all of my yarn and hooks and paper and such and then just crochet for a good three hours or so, it was all chopped up. It was pulling out all of my supplies, crochet for 30 minutes, pack everything up and put it somewhere close by. A couple hours later I would drag it all back out and work for another 30 minutes or so and pack it all away again. It's an annoying way to get a project done.
If that wasn't enough to drive me crazy, my left hand started going very crampy on me. My right thumb is sore all the time and the mornings are awful because of my trigger thumb. Now my left thumb seems to be developing the same issue, though not nearly as bad or as painful. I'm debating about seeing a doctor for this. I don't want to lose my hands to arthritis, but what can actually be done? That's a post for another time.
Making the dang tassels were a pain! How can such cute tassels be so aggravating? I have no idea, but they were. There were quite a bit of pieces that needed to be sown together to bring the purse to life, and in my opinion, sewing is the least fun part. But it's all done. And it came out pretty dang good.
It's listed up in my Etsy shop and I can tell you that there was a huge sigh of relief when I got it up there. I had to stop and do some hard thinking about what I should list it for. Pricing has always been a sticking point for me. I want to be reasonable and realistic in my prices, but I also want to get what I think the item is worth and I'd like to make a little profit. There's no way I can charge an hourly fee, it would make most things way too overpriced. But I also can't low ball everything and end up barely covering my material costs and making no extra. This bag got listed at $45 and I have to say, I lost on this one for sure. The yarn was not cheap, I had to buy 7 balls at about $5 each. The beads were about $6 for the pack and the magnetic snap for the closure was abut $7. So if it sells, I won't even pay for the material. Granted, I have yarn and beads left over so I can use them to offset costs on another purse. But I still haven't factored in my time. I didn't keep track of my time, although I probably should have. Let's take a guesstimate and say I have 20 hours into it. If I payed myself the state minimum wage, that would come out to $270! For cryin' out loud, who the hell would pay that? I sure wouldn't!
People have to realize that most crafters make things mainly because we love to make things. The selling is secondary. Most of us aren't looking to be filthy rich, but to break even and maybe make a few extra bucks for the savings account. I hope that people see my things listed and realize that I'm not trying to "get one over" on anybody. I make things because I love to make things, not because I'm looking to hit it rich. It would be nice, don't get me wrong, but I know it's not going to happen. So take it easy on us crafters, we labor for love.
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