Westmount Artisans' Festival

The Westmount Artisans' Festival has come and gone.  I cannot tell you how much I stressed over this show.  For my first show, it went better than I anticipated.  My friend and I shared a table.  She had hand spun yarns and hand-dyed reeled silk embroidery thread. Initially I was going to bring hand-woven, knitted and crocheted items, but then decided to only bring hand-woven items.  There was already a knitter in the show and I didn't want to have too much duplication. Also, I was having such a difficult time pricing my knitted and crocheted items, that it was simpler to leave them out.


I received a lot of compliments, some of them from experienced weavers. Now, I feel a lot more confident about the path I've chosen.  I really enjoyed the show and definitely plan to do more of them.

As expected, there was a lot of sticker shock. I'm glad I didn't bring the knitted and crocheted scarves and shawls.  If the prices on the woven items (which were really reasonable) generated sticker shock, then my prices for the crocheted and knitted silk and cashmere items, could have triggered heart failure!  Given that most people don't know how much work goes into producing textiles, sticker shock is normal.  I feel that part of my job is to educate people. I really enjoy talking to people about what I do.

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