In my Crochet Business Chat Facebook Group, crochet business owners come together to network and brainstorm solutions. We discuss everything from refining your niche, evaluating vendor opportunities, establishing a social media presence, and navigating legal concerns. The peer-to-peer support offered in this group is invaluable. But I wanted to personally answer some of the crochet business questions I’ve seen in the group, add my own insight, and direct you to helpful resources from Crochetpreneur.
Become the Billy Mays of infomercial for your product. How does it work? What do I need it for? How will my life change? What’s the pain point I have now, but when I buy this thing, how’s my life going to be different?
– Pam Grice, The Crochetpreneur
What Crochet Business Owners Want to Know
The questions I’m answering here came (mostly) from the Crochet Business Chat Facebook group. I copied and pasted them, or took the gist of them, and answered them live on the podcast. Here, you’ll find a digest of those answers, plus links to the various articles and resources I referenced in the video. Chances are, you’ve been asking some of these questions yourself. So listen, watch, or read below to learn more about how you can address these common issues.
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Top Questions from the Crochet Business Community
1. Should You Sell Crochet Patterns or Finished Products? Busting the Scarcity Mindset
One of the most common concerns I hear is:
“”If I sell my product patterns, won’t that hurt my finished product sales?””
Short answer: No—and here’s why.
Why Selling Patterns Can Be a Game-Changer
- Passive Income: When you sell a physical item, there’s ongoing cost (materials, time, energy, shipping). Selling patterns, on the other hand, means doing the work once and getting paid again and again—giving you true passive income.
- New Customer Base: The people who buy patterns are typically not the same as those buying finished products. Pattern customers are makers—they want to create themselves or give handmade gifts. Most would not have purchased your finished product anyway.
- Global Reach: When you sell only at markets or local stores, your customer base is limited. With digital patterns, you can reach a worldwide audience—even those you couldn’t possibly ship to.
- Brand Value: If you’re the original designer, you can charge more for your finished products and market their unique value, while letting others sell items made from your pattern at their own scale.
💡 Key takeaway: Let go of the scarcity mindset. Selling your designs as patterns is unlikely to cannibalize your existing sales—it opens up new revenue streams and customer segments. In my experience and among my clients, adding patterns generally increases total profit.
Further Reading about Selling Crochet Patterns
- How to Shift from Physical Products to Selling Crochet Patterns: A Guide for Makers
- Should You Sell Both Crochet Items and Patterns?
2. Should You Do “Cheap” Craft Fairs and Unaligned Markets?
You may be tempted to say “yes” to any low-cost vending opportunity, but let’s get strategic for a minute.
Ask Yourself: Is the Event Aligned with My Audience?
Before you pay a booth fee, consider:
❓ Who is attending? Are they your ideal buyers, or just passersby with other interests (like a car show audience)?
❓ Is there profit potential? Even with low table fees, you have to factor in your time, travel, and the realities of average conversion rates.
❓ Average Conversion Math: For instance, if only 4% of 350 attendees buy (that’s about 14 sales), and your profit per item is $5, you might clear only $50 for a whole day of work.
💡 Pro Tip: If the event audience isn’t actively shopping for handmade or craft goods, your time and energy are likely better spent elsewhere. Tracking your true profit margins can prevent major disappointments—don’t just look at sales volume, but at actual net income after all costs. Grab my free Handmade Product Pricing Calculator below to help you figure it out! ⬇️
special designed for handmade sellers
Get Your Product Pricing Calculator
Opt to price your products based on time, stitches, or yardage and find the suggested retail and wholesale prices PLUS get graphic charts showing your per-product profits. It’s an indispensable tool for all handmade sellers!
3. Can You Sell Multiple Niches in One Shop? (Earrings and Plants, for Example)
If you thrive on variety, you may wonder whether you can sell distinct product lines—say, both crochet earrings and crochet home décor—in the same shop.
The Secret: Customer Overlap
- Identify Your Ideal Customer: Is there significant overlap between who buys your jewelry and who buys your plant-themed creations? For instance, if both are geared toward a style-conscious, playful, and feminine audience, merging them makes sense.
- Brand Cohesion: Use a Venn diagram approach: Find your “sweet spot” customer and focus all branding, messaging, and booth displays toward her.
- Separate When Needed: If the audiences are very different or one niche may even alienate the other (e.g., sweet floral décor versus edgy novelty items), keep them in separate shops—with distinct branding and messaging.
Read more about the pros and cons of having two distinct target customers here.
4. Social Media: Views vs. Sales—What Really Matters?
One of the trickiest areas for crochet business owners is leveraging platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
The “Secret” to High-Conversion Social Media
Remember, a lot of creators get thousands of views on social media and they are not making any sales because people don’t go to social media to buy things. I think the sooner we come to recognize that followers don’t equal sales, that engagement doesn’t equal sales, that views don’t equal sales, the sooner we can get over that.
Social media is not a sales strategy. Social media is a marketing strategy. With that in mind, here are a few key strategies for using social media to boost your crochet business:
- See Social as Community, Not a Cash Register: Focus on engaging, entertaining, and connecting with your audience. Build trust, start a conversation, and nurture interest so that when they’re ready to buy, you’re top-of-mind.
- Drive Traffic to What Sells: Your sales will likely come through your own shop, website, or platforms with strong search intent (Etsy, Google, Pinterest)—not directly from social.
- Grow Your List: Use social platforms to build your email list. Your list is your most powerful sales tool.
- Stand Out Visually: Quality visuals are key—make sure your product shots are clean and compelling.
- Consistency and Value: People follow creators who consistently deliver value (tips, stories, how-tos, or relatable insights)—not just sales pitches.
Not sure where to start with social media? Check out this post to learn more about planning a social media content strategy that generates results! And make sure to grab my free Social Media Content Calendar below. ⬇️
social media planning: in check
Access your Free Social Media Content Calendar
There are so many details to handle when creating a cohesive and strategized social media presence. Handle all the details with our Social Media Content Calendar Canva template.
5. Turning Booth Interest into Real Sales
Are you getting lots of positive comments and booth visitors at craft markets, but few actual purchases?
Diagnose the Issue:
- Do Customers Need (or Even Want) It? Being “interesting” isn’t enough. Your product needs to solve a problem, fulfill a desire, or clearly improve the buyer’s life.
- Is the Value Clear? If customers don’t understand why your creation is worth the price, they won’t buy. Use signage, displays, or demonstrations to communicate how your product benefits them.
- Seasonal Mismatch: Some items might sell better at different times of year. Consider the timing of your product launches and event participation.
⭐ Golden Rule: Step into your shoppers’ mindset. Address objections before they come up. Make it obvious what makes your creation special, useful, or giftable.
6. How to Get Seen as a Pattern Designer
Breaking through as a new crochet designer is tough, but there are effective strategies to accelerate your growth.
Action Steps for Visibility
- Gorgeous Photography: Invest time in attractive, scroll-stopping images.
- Leverage Networks: Collaborate with other designers, ask testers to share, and participate in blog hops or bundle deals to get in front of other audiences.
- SEO is Everything: Craft your Etsy or website listings with strong, searchable keywords at the beginning of your titles.
- Use Pinterest: Still an amazing traffic driver for craft patterns!
- Unique, Click-Worthy Listings: Make your listings stand out visually and with clear, benefit-focused copy.
- Email List: Your best source of loyal, repeat buyers.
More Resources for Designing and Selling Crochet Patterns
- 5 Crochet Pattern Writing Mistakes Designers Make
- 12 Ways Crochet Pattern Designers Can Make Money from one Design
- How to Grow Your Crochet (or Knitwear) Business Online
7. Selling Items Made from Other Designers’ Patterns: What’s Legal and What’s Kind?
This gets complicated, but here’s the scoop:
- Check Designer Policies: In the US, designers generally can’t legally stop you from selling finished items made from their patterns unless otherwise agreed in advance. In the UK and elsewhere, laws differ—always check!
- Respect Requests: If a pattern says “not for commercial use” or “personal use only,” be considerate of the designer’s wishes, even if enforcement is unlikely.
- Trademarks Matter: Don’t sell finished products based on copyrighted or trademarked characters (e.g., Disney, NFL) even if you bought the pattern—this is a legal issue, not just etiquette.
- Give Credit When Possible: While buyers rarely care who designed an item at a craft fair, credit the original designer when listing online, as a courtesy.
✅ Best Practice: Choose patterns that explicitly allow selling finished goods, or create your own when possible.
More In-Depth Info about Legal Concerns for Your Crochet Business
- Can You Sell Crochet Items Made From Someone Else’s Pattern?
- Crochet Pattern Copyright: The Real Deal with Attorney Gordon Firemark
Final Thoughts: Build a Thriving Crochet Business on Your Terms
While it’s tempting to try to do all the things, your crochet business will flourish by focusing on:
- Serving your just-right audience
- Developing multiple, mission-aligned income streams
- Making strategic choices about markets and events
- Raising your game with visuals, customer engagement, and marketing
Whether selling patterns or finished products, mindset and audience fit are the keys to true financial freedom through your craft. Build with intention, measure what matters, and don’t be afraid to test and tweak as you go.
For more in-depth advice, join my Crochet Business Chat community on Facebook and subscribe to the Crochet Business Chat Podcast for weekly business-building inspiration!
