I agree with you a hundred perfect Poplartree. And yes, it is the harsh reality but I can see that you have to put yourself on the other side and think if you, as customer, would buy it.
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I get really stressed making lots of the same, as even with best intentions glass does not necessarily break where you want it to.
I am not sure I would make another custom order like that as it was really hard work and nearly 100 emails.
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Yes⌠That happens to me with my brooches. I want to concetrate on two/three designs at the beginning and I can see that they donât look exactly the same. I imagine that materials such as glass and shrink plastic are more difficult to handle.
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Hi Ana
Like many people on this thread, Iâm going to say⌠it depends. I make costume jewellery of varying types and am always trying out new ideas. When I do, I evaluate whether I think itâs good enough to be listed on my website. Many times I end up with a prototype which I end up keeping for myself! But the ones I make afterwards will have been improved upon from the original. If I use vintage beads there are quite often small imperfections but I try to take this into account in the design - often the imperfections will add to the look of the piece. If I canât make it work then I try againâŚ
If I do list something which I donât think is perfect, or the design is not quite right, then it nags at me. I will often take it off sale and modify it until Iâm happy with it. Having said that, I did have a necklace listed once which I was sure would never sell. I was on the verge of taking it off sale when⌠it sold! You never can predict what people will like⌠but if itâs something actually faulty in the making, I really donât like to list it. It would make me miserable every time I looked at the listing.
This is a great subject for discussion and Iâve been really interested in everyoneâs views.
Thanks All
Carol
With fabric items, there seems to be a trend at the moment for things to be deliberately roughly made with unfinished edges, etc. I suppose the makers think it looks cutting edge (no pun intended!) but I always think âWhy would anyone buy that?!â If I were to buy something made from fabric I would expect it to be very well finished. With my pewter items I always make to the best of my ability and take good photographs. Customers donât usually have anything to compare it with anyway and Iâve never had any complaints.
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We see mass produced things everyday day and we get used to seeing things look a certain way. I received a mass produced card the other day which had rhinestones glued on, they were badly glued on and soon fell off which is clearly bad, so I dont think mass produced is always better or perfect.
I agree with whats already been siad, item like clothes need to be made well. I wouldnt buy a dress, make up bag etc if it looked badly sewn.
If I was making eg a cushion I would want it to fit its purpose, a nice design, well made so it wont fall apart, a zip that opens and closes well and washable. If it fits all of specs then its a cushion.
Theres a mass produced cushion at a friends house, lovley from thefront but turn it over and the zips borkend and the inner is poking ut.
In conclusion, no it doesnt have to be perfect as long as it is what it says it is.
Plus, as its not mass produced viewers have little to compare it to, to who is to say its not perfect
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As others have said, it really depends on your definition of perfect. If you mean well designed, well made, well finished then the answer is yes, it should be. If you mean âexactly the same as the last one I madeâ then the answer is no, probably not.
Many of my flowers are made from hand dyed ribbon which naturally has variations in it so each flower looks different from the last, but I make sure they are all put together in the same robust way.
And again, when Iâm working with glass, I deliberately try to make each piece slightly different, unique, not perfectly the same as the last. But if one comes out of the kiln with a spot of devitrification (cloudiness), or the layers have slipped so the edge is not smooth, then they go on the reject pile.
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i agree with most of whatâs already been said, and i even kinda think handmade should be more perfect than mass produced. or much more well made, at least.
in my work (sewings) i can never replicate anything exactly - by itâs very nature hand dyed fabrics, tiny hand cut bits and free motion embroidery is going to be unpredictable - but iâm always aiming for the best i can do. if i have too much of a free-hand wobble, or the machine tension isnât right i unpick it and start again.
i often sell ânot quite rightâ stuff as seconds - even if customers canât see anything âwrongâ i wouldnât be happy charging full price for a mistake i know iâve made. (like upside down arms on an otherwise perfect zombie - arrrgh!)
wonky fall-apart seams, zips thatâve been fitted badly, fabric cut across the bias⌠thatâs the sort of stuff iâve come to expect from mass produced so i think handmade should be superior for those kind of technical things.
on the other hand⌠i love buying imperfect / seconds when it comes to ceramics. little faults in the glaze remind me that a real person made it. and probably cursed it when it came out âwrongâ 
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Hi Carol!
thanks a lot for your answer. And yes, I agree with you too. It is important going for perfection as something badly made is not acceptable.
Ana
It is interesting what you say regarding the fabrics Christine. I am also a sewer and I think, for me, it is easier to correct something made with fabric (there is always the opportunity to go back and fix something) than with shrink plastic, for example, because when it is made, it is made and if it is not right, I usually use it as test or wear it myself.
Thanks a lot for your contribution on the subject!
True! So many interesting opinions on this thread.
Thanks!
Right Helen. I agree too.
Thanks!!
Yes Fiona. I think it also depends on the material and it is true that in ceramic and such âimperfectionsâ make the item look even better.
Ana
If you have something which you are not totally satisfied with a charity shop would be very grateful for those items, sometimes a new item takes several attempts before satisfaction is reached and practice usually makes perfect, hopefully. Marg.
Itâs a very good question. I use many types of beads, sometimes they arrive flawed or chipped and I canât use those - or I make them into something experimental that Iâll keep. Sometimes lampwork glass beads can be a little oddly shaped but can look great in the right jewellery.
And thatâs the answer that I came up with. It doesnât have to be perfect, it has to look right.
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There is a difference between quality made and perfect. Hand made is what we do, but every individual item will be slightly different and that is what it is about. If you want âperfectâ that seems to mean mass manufactured items as they are made by machines. If you want handmade then you should expect quality but with the quirkiness and individuality that comes with it.
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I have been busy reading through this topic, all the while thinking about my ceramics and how fussy I am about them.
Then I read that you like buying seconds ceramics and I have decided I will have a basket of seconds at my next fair and give people the choice to buy or not, instead of hiding them away in a box. Thanks fiona T (I love my zombie from you via my other half).
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(thanks haley blue panda with wonky eyes, was it? )
A few years ago I was in Wales with husband and mother-in-law, Vera, and we visited a pottery.
Vera chose a jug, with great care and we were pretty miffed when we got back to our holiday cottaqe, to find a blemish in the glaze.
We were miffed not because there was a blemish but because it had quite deliberately been hidden under the sticky price ticket, No doubt about that.
That jug is now mine, as Vera has gone where all good mother-in-laws eventually go.
I love it and especially I love that blemish as it reminds me of a lovely holiday.
But that well positioned sticker was very naughty indeed.
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That was very naughty and I would not be able to live with myself if I did that. I always want to point out what I feel are âsmall flaws, slight misalignment of lettering etcâ in items when people are buying as it is!.
But it has added a lovely memory for you to treasure.
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