I had a comment on the entry below. The person who left it did not leave their name, so I have no way to find out if they mind if I cut and paste their reply here to expand my reply to the comment, so hopefully they will forgive me. :)
Anonymous commented:
And I replied:
I love that dish towel. I love the design, and the colors, and everything. But I hate the fact that it's not affordable--buying that dish towel would mean not buying something else that I could use more efficiently, like the cotton yarns to figure out how to make one of my own.
I absolutely love this seller's rugs. I like the fact that the warp and weft are both rags; evidently she modified her loom to do that, and I might have to look into that, because I would love to be able to do that. This one was my favorite; of course it sold. I don't think her prices are terrible at all, considering the price of rugs. To me, buying one of her rugs would be more economical than a $24 dish towel.
(Evidently, she gets bales of wool sweaters from somewhere to use for her rugs! I would love to find out where I could get a bale of wool sweaters!)
At the Renaissance Festival, there's a weaver who weaves beautiful fabric and colors and designs. Two years ago, a shawl caught my eye which I didn't buy--not because I couldn't have afforded it, but because I ended up buying a musical instrument instead. But if I had bought that shawl (and if I do get there this year and my financial situation is okay I may still buy one) I would have had something special that I could have worn multiple times for multiple reasons, not to mention the fact that it was a lovely cobalt blue and would have looked great hanging up as well. IIRC, it was $125, which I didn't think was a bad price at all. (I'm sure the price has gone up a bit.)
But.
To me, handmade items should be affordable to just about everyone. I absolutely hate it when I hear someone say that they can't afford my prices--which are really low to begin with--and I know they're not just saying that to get a deal. Every single person on this earth deserves to have something beautiful and handmade in their home or around their necks or draped across their couches, or hanging from their shoulders or to drink out of or whatever. Maybe then, if handmade items were affordable to the masses, we wouldn't have so many cheaply made imported items in the stores that aren't as high of quality and maybe then the manufacturers wouldn't need sweatshops or child labor anymore. Maybe then the fair trade idea can really take off, and our global economy would benefit.
But that's just my opinion, of course. (I feel the same way about books.)
Anonymous commented:
Actually, many many established/experienced weavers think that weavers on Etsy ask far too little for their work... Might also be because most of us weave pretty steadily for many years, and really perfect our technique and design sense before thinking about putting it out there on the market.
And I replied:
That may be, and I understand that. I'm not faulting anyone for charging what they charge. A lot of it is beautiful, gorgeous work. It's also a luxury, and I'm not sure I would want to aim for that small percentage of the market that can afford such luxuries. If that makes sense.
But you have to understand that from my point of view, $24 for a dish towel is--to me--way too expensive. I don't have $24 to spend on a dish towel, and probably never will.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10335341
If I bought this, it had darn well better last until I'm 100 years old. It's lovely; I love the design, but I'd be afraid to actually use it. That's not what I'm aiming for with anything I make.
I love that dish towel. I love the design, and the colors, and everything. But I hate the fact that it's not affordable--buying that dish towel would mean not buying something else that I could use more efficiently, like the cotton yarns to figure out how to make one of my own.
I absolutely love this seller's rugs. I like the fact that the warp and weft are both rags; evidently she modified her loom to do that, and I might have to look into that, because I would love to be able to do that. This one was my favorite; of course it sold. I don't think her prices are terrible at all, considering the price of rugs. To me, buying one of her rugs would be more economical than a $24 dish towel.
(Evidently, she gets bales of wool sweaters from somewhere to use for her rugs! I would love to find out where I could get a bale of wool sweaters!)
At the Renaissance Festival, there's a weaver who weaves beautiful fabric and colors and designs. Two years ago, a shawl caught my eye which I didn't buy--not because I couldn't have afforded it, but because I ended up buying a musical instrument instead. But if I had bought that shawl (and if I do get there this year and my financial situation is okay I may still buy one) I would have had something special that I could have worn multiple times for multiple reasons, not to mention the fact that it was a lovely cobalt blue and would have looked great hanging up as well. IIRC, it was $125, which I didn't think was a bad price at all. (I'm sure the price has gone up a bit.)
But.
To me, handmade items should be affordable to just about everyone. I absolutely hate it when I hear someone say that they can't afford my prices--which are really low to begin with--and I know they're not just saying that to get a deal. Every single person on this earth deserves to have something beautiful and handmade in their home or around their necks or draped across their couches, or hanging from their shoulders or to drink out of or whatever. Maybe then, if handmade items were affordable to the masses, we wouldn't have so many cheaply made imported items in the stores that aren't as high of quality and maybe then the manufacturers wouldn't need sweatshops or child labor anymore. Maybe then the fair trade idea can really take off, and our global economy would benefit.
But that's just my opinion, of course. (I feel the same way about books.)
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