Garments, accessories, home décor and quilts. The revolution afoot can breathe new life into your business as well as your customers’ creativity. Today’s new multi-crafting sewist wants to quilt and sew it all, and you, as an independent shop owner, offer the perfect venue to guide her and win a loyal customer.
Recent consumer focus groups conducted by Westminster Fibers, Inc., purveyors of such well-known brands as Rowan and FreeSpirit fabrics, have revealed that over one-third of active sewing consumers sew fashions and over 60 percent sew for their homes.
These consumers more than likely include your current customers as well as a newer demographic.
The Quilting in America 2014 national survey, conducted by the industry powerhouse F+W, shows the dedicated quilter continues to drive the marketplace. She is, on average, 64 years old and is 12.2 percent of all quilters accounting for 60.4 percent of purchases.
She is your customer.
The survey also points out that 20 percent of all dedicated quilters sewed fashion in the past 12 months and 57 percent made a functional item such as a pillow, tote and so on. Both statistics show an increase since 2010. Are you geared up with beautiful cotton sateens and rayon challis to draw
her into your shop and give her a reason to buy more fabric from you?
The new demographic is “figuring it out” her own way, which is typical of the generation dubbed Millennials (born in the 1980s to early 2000s). She is actually making good on her “pins” — becoming inspired to create and doing so proudly, mistakes and all! She is lurking on online sewing communities such as Burdasytle.com, with more than 900,000 members, 44 percent of whom are 30 to 49 years old and are engaged in fashion sewing.
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Great blog.
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