Earlier this month was the 20 year anniversary of when I started selling handmade clothes. This photo is from December 2005 but my first event was Sellout Buyout in midtown Sacramento in June 2005. I remember being very nervous but I ended up having a great time and selling almost half the clothes I brought. It's funny how much I loved neon colors back then.
I did pretty well at local events until 2008 when the recession hit. I kept at it for a while after that but finally gave up around 2012 to focus more on online sales. Sometimes I'm tempted to sign up for another local event but since I changed my business model to made-to-order items it would be hard to make enough inventory, plus my clothes don't seem to be very popular in Northern California. Funny thing is I'd probably still be doing these events if I lived in the Pacific Northwest since I seem to get the most orders from the Seattle area.
-Annie Rose
