If you sell your arts and crafts patterns successfully you can take a pride in the millions of copies that have been made up around the world.
And the money isn't bad either.
How much could you earn if you made up one of your designs and sold it? Enough to pay for the materials?
Now for the bad news
* You have to learn all the basics and work advanced patterns too before you can start.
* Designing is an art. Does every artist make money? No.
* Copyright problems can bankrupt you.
What does the public want? That's the big important question. If you are in an arts and crafts club you might be able to find out from other members what patterns they would like.
But club members can only see the demand for one craft at a time. What if they are all into china decorating, and there is a sudden world-wide demand for Mexican spray paint art? You can teach yourself the new art, then start creating patterns and books for it.
Join arts and crafts forums on the Internet and write down all the questions that people ask. That way you can soon decide what patterns would be popular. Where there is a big demand and people are queueing for your patterns you don't need salesmanship.
If you find something that is in enormous demand, does this demand mean that you can sell your designs? Unfortunately no. Artistic things either click with the public or they don't . Most of the time there is no logical explanation. You either like something or you don't.
Copyright Problems With Popular Items
If you design a jumper with a photograph of Harry Potter knitted into it, you are likely to have legal charges of breach of copyright before you can draw your breath. If you photograph the actors (not dressed as the characters) you can use them in the designs - but they will no longer be popular.
There are things you can do to take advantage of recent news. Some of them are decidedly inartistic, but could make some money for you. For instance - I visited a bomb-site in Iraq and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. It's a revolting idea but it might sell.
If you are really expert you might be able to make designs suitable for kids arts crafts. These have to be the simplest designs of them all, and they also have to convince the parents that they are simple enough and pleasing enough to entertain their children. Knitting, quilting, and jewelry are very popular crafts for children.
You can even prepare designs for recycling. For instance if you have a long-haired wooly dog, you can collect the hair for several years, then wash it and tease out the tangles. Then you can make up a garment without spinning the hair first. It won't work with a long-haired hairy dog, because the hairs don't bind together into thread, but wool is great.
You can come up with recycling designs for the garden, using old margarine containers or soft-drink bottles etc.
You don't have to give your work away. Look on eBay to find out what people are buying.
You'll probably decide that most craftwork sells for less than it costs to produce, but it doesn't have to be that way. What you want to do is discover what is in big demand, and then learn how to direct that demand towards your patterns for hobbies crafts.
