Plush Lore — Response
Jim,
I wanted to thank you for taking the time to tell me about your journey with plush. I do think it’s quite inspiring to hear others’ success stories. It’s funny something only meant to keep a few people employed became such a huge hit... Just to reiterate, yes I was absolutely serious when I said it would be a dream to create crocheted animals for a living.
I’ve always been a dreamer. I’ve dreamt of being a touring musician, a fantasy author, a broadway performer, an olympic gymnast, a wildlife biologist… And these were all things I was pursuing in some way. Somehow I was able to master new hobbies almost as quickly as I picked them up.
So where does crochet come in?
When I was in elementary school, I had a substitute teacher named Mrs. Lavendry… Or as I called her , Mrs. Lavender (after my favorite color, of course). Instead of showing us movies like all the other subs, Mrs. Lavendry taught us how to knit. And I completely fell in love. Knitting, yes knitting, not crochet, stuck with me for a few years… Until I got to middle school and decided to forgo this hobby for “cooler” ones.
Fast forward to the year 2022. It’s the winter after my very first field season working with beach nesting birds. I couldn’t believe I even had this job. My whole life people told me a career in wildlife would be impossible to obtain. And while it comes with its own unique challenges, I was doing it. But now it was winter and for the first time in years, I had a significant amount of free time. So I taught myself how to crochet.
While often confused with each other, knit and crochet are completely different. You can do way more things with crochet which is why I decided to teach myself crochet instead of trying to remember how to knit. Maybe my past knitting experience helped me learn as quick as I did, but before I knew it, I was crocheting everything under the sun.
Crocheting almost felt like this strange form of meditation. When I’m crocheting, my mind (which is usually going 100 mph), is completely clear.
Suddenly I had a hundred crocheted items flooding my apartment and no clue what to do with them. So I signed myself up for my first crochet market. I had very low expectations for some reason and only brought about 20 items… big mistake. I sold out.
It felt incredible to sell something I made with my own hands. Seeing kids’ faces light up with joy at my crochet animals made me so happy and encouraged me to keep trying my luck selling at in-person events.
Craft markets are very hit or miss, though. Success depends on so many factors. I went to a market this year that had ELEVEN other tables selling crochet. I didn’t get a single sale that day.
How do I differentiate myself amongst all the other crochet competitors? Here are some ideas I’m in the process of trying:
Combining my passion of wildlife with crochet by crocheting endangered animals.
I started making and selling crocheted endangered animals this past year. My best sellers are the Black-footed ferret, Rusty patched bumblebee, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle… and before you ask, I’m still in the process of figuring out how to crochet a Piping Plover.
I also had the idea to include an endangered animals fact sheet or some kind of “birth certificate” that lists information specific to each species like the name, location/range, actual size, etc. I haven’t tried making those certificates yet, but will probably give it a go this winter.
Even though I love this idea, it just begs to ask the age old question… Do people actually care about endangered animals?
I sold a black-footed ferret plush to a woman who initially called it a “rodent”. I began giving her my whole wildlife biologist spiel, explaining that there are less than 500 black-footed ferrets left in the world—but she impatiently cut me off with a dismissive “that’s nice”, grabbed her “rodent” and walked away.
Making “custom” cat plushies.
Custom is in quotes because they’re not really custom. I just make multiple cats in different colors and patterns in hopes that they look like someone’s cat. This concept is similar to your company’s shelter pups. People really go crazy for anything that remotely resembles their pet.
The first cat I crocheted was the absolute ugliest thing I ever made. THAT looked like a rodent. I brought it to a market and two people wanted it just because they both had a cat the same color. I sold it to one of them and told the other I can try to make another on the spot. She said she would be back… Two hours later she had her very own super ugly, mouse-looking cat.
Crocheting specific characters from movies/ shows/ games.
I haven’t done this as much but if I can reach the right audience, people are willing to pay way more money for their favorite characters. This is definitely very difficult and time consuming.
My biggest conflict has always been figuring out how to cut through all the noise, especially on the internet. It’s my goal to become more active on social media, complete my website, take better photos of my products to share online, and launch an Etsy shop .For some reason, creating an online presence for crochet feels… daunting.
I do love writing though. Maybe I need to start a blog.
This ended up turning into a bit of a diary entry… If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.
