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Crafters go online with Etsy.com
Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2009, 12:00 am
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Laura Anderson, landerson@qconline.com
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Cecily Olsen learned to sew when she was 7. Now, more than 65 years later, the East Moline woman is selling her handiwork online under the moniker "emquiltlady." About five years ago, Mrs. Olsen, 73, began selling her quilts on Etsy.com, an online site that calls itself "your place to buy and sell all things handmade." She's one of thousands of crafters around the country who use such Web sites for added income, or for money to support craft habits. "I used to go to my grandma's for the summer and she taught me to embroider," Mrs. Olsen said, adding that she worked mostly with tea towels, then "the seven-days-of-the-week towels." She said she eventually lost interest in crafting after she became "more interested in boys." However, a few years later, she began sewing again. "I made a lot of skirts and pajamas." Mrs. Olsen took another hiatus until after her two daughters were born, and "then, I started making their clothes,"she said. "I made swimsuits, winter coats, the whole thing." One of her daughters, Tammy Franck of Rock Island, also is a crafter. "I remember how I loved going to Sears with my mom to the fabric department to pick out fabric for my new clothes." . Mrs. Olsen then picked up the Shabby Chic style, a feminine meets rag style of quilting that frays with wear and washing. "Once you make a quilt, you get totally hooked," she said. "I do it mostly for fun and enjoyment, and a little bit for a living,"Mrs. Olsen said. Ms. Franck tried a variety of crafts, from clay sculptures and macrame to needlepoint, cross stitching and sewing, before deciding to focus on primitive crafts. Both women were selling their wares on eBay until 2007, when Ms. Franck learned about Etsy, where she sells under the name "rockriverstitches." So far, she has sold about 250 items through the site, and makes about $250 to $300 a month. About "half are my patterns that I sell, and half are finished items that I make. Since I don't work outside the home and love to craft, why not sell what I like to do the best," she said. She said Etsy fees are low -- 20 cents to list an item, plus 3.5 percent of each sale (not including shipping). Ms. Franck also sells patterns on www.paternmart.com and her own Web site, www.rockriverstitches.com. She said she likes that items must be vintage or handmade to be sold through Etsy. "It's fast becoming the place to sell things handmade. Etsy has some of the most unique artists I have ever seen." She said beginners shouldn't "get discouraged if you don't get any sales in the beginning. It takes time to get noticed." 
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