Maybe fellow felters can help me out… for the last year I have been listing my pieces under the sub category of ‘felt’ but I have always felt this isn’t quite right.
As a buyer when I am looking at felt, I understand it to be ready made sheets, either acrylic or wool but as a felter I know my pieces are not felt but rather ‘felted’- it’s a subtle but significant difference. By choosing ‘felt’ it suggests I have may have pre bought sheets and crafted my pieces via this method- while this is hard work, the description somewhat takes away from the labour intensiveness of needle or wet felting, thus casting doubt as to the price point.
It takes me days to needle/wet felt my own sheets and pieces and feel they would fit better under the sub category of ‘wool’ but this isn’t currently an option.
So my question is: what sub category do you list your needle/wet felted pieces under?
I noticed there was a ‘Textile’ sub category too- I say all this but I wonder if customers would search for a ‘wool brooch’ or ‘wool jewellery’
Maybe I’m over thinking the whole thing but any any thoughts on the subject are welcome.
Annie x
Hi Annie,
I tried to search for ‘felted’ to see what came up… but got the error message you posted about in your other post!
As a non-felter, I have really only realised what remarkable things you talented felters can make since I joined Folksy - and I would imagine many people are the same. I would wonder how customers find your lovely things… do they go through the categories? I don’t think I ever go through the categories to find things, I tend to just use the search.
But in saying that, I would be irritated if I had to choose an inaccurate category for my makes so I do see why you would like a different option.
Just read this back and realised it is no help whatsoever!
Kirsty x
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Hi Kirsty!
Firstly thank you for the kind compliment!
You’re so right, after I posted my question, I thought about the feasibility of customers looking for ‘felted’ or wool because like you say if you aren’t familiar with the difference, I guess people would just look under felt. I must admit as a customer I don’t search for ‘wool jewellery’ or ‘wool brooch’ because a lot of knitted/crocheted pieces pop up.
It’s a tricky one- I think it’s annoying because we have to work extra hard to explain, we make everything from scratch, the material is raw and we have to manipulate it into shape and this process is so labour intensive.
I have had customers query my prices because they think I have bought a pre made ball, or cut out pre made sheets, without fully understanding the labour process involved- it’s just a little disheartening!
I’m like you Kirsty, I just type the item I am looking for in the search bar, for example, candy cane, without mentioning materials, so perhaps I am just over thinking it and others are like us without searching categories.
I honestly haven’t a clue how people find my things- I know I get hits from IG but that’s the extent of my knowledge on this front.
Thank you for replying Kirsty, it was helpful in that it reassured me, others also just use the search bar!
Annie x
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Hi Annie
As a fellow felter it all depends on what I am making! I tend to ignore the 'felted" aspect and catagorise according to what it is and tend to spread my work across different categories so some of my work is seen by various searches. So it might be felt for one item, textile for another, sometimes artwork or home decorations etc etc. I think you are right about the customers not always understanding felt and I think if it was all in a felted category maybe our work may be missed by many.
Roz
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Hi Roz,
Thank you for your reply- perhaps I might try mixing it up a bit and trying different categories, I got particularly stuck when I tried listing some jewellery and had to pick what it fell under, (I wasn’t happy when I picked ‘felt’) but I think your approach broadens the search field and like you say has more of a chance of being seen.
Thanks again,
Annie x
Hi there fellow felties! Yes, I do the same. List under different categories - ornaments, collectibles, home decor etc. At least (in theory) you get your stuff seen by a more diverse search group. I do find pricing difficult as you need to include the making time, and this can be excessive, as you know (let alone the fiddling and finessing time!). Sometimes it can be frustrating when people seem more willing to pay extra for a label or brand but baulk at paying the worth of something unique and individual which has been lovingly and carefully made by hand. I’m sometimes shocked at the low prices I see, when I know from experience what has gone into making something, I think makers often don’t charge for their time. However, I digress!! I think it would be good to have the option to choose more than one category I.e. Needle felted/wet felted items plus jewellery/homeware/ornaments etc? (Rather than just a materials section) I wonder if other makers would find that useful too?
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I agree with you- I definitely don’t charge for the material, purely for the labour but let me now not digress too!
When I search elsewhere, I type in felted but I also type in felt out of curiosity and a host of wet/needle felted pieces come up, so assume everyone is also trying different way to remain visible.
I do however think under the materials there isn’t much variation and we could possibly benefit from ‘roving’ being a choice but then I wonder if customers appreciate the difference, as felt, is felt and only a maker knows the difference in material and labour costs.
I fear, I may be over thinking this!
Annie x
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Hi, Like Roz I tend to list across all categories. When I search I’m usually looking for a certain type of gift and aren’t too concerned about what it is made from. But saying that I do list some items under the wool section in Textile art. I would think most buyers when thinking of felt would assume it to be items made from premade felt - of which there are lots of folksy. Much more than needle felt or wet felt which takes much longer to make!
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I only ever mention Merino if I use it as I assume that most non felters are familiar with it and know this is a fine quality, soft wool. I don’t really go into detail about anything else as I think it might bamboozle people (unless it’s something less usual like alpaca etc), and don’t want to spend ages listing materials anyway! If they are interested they can always ask!
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Thank you- yep, definite over thinker over here!
x
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Not at all - you’re just being thorough! I’m probably just being a bit lazy!!
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