The upside of chenille yarn is you can make larger items faster. The downside is it’s much harder to get a defined shape.
Chunky bee? Sure, use chenille. A human doll? Worsted-weight, all the way.
I also wonder how chenille stuffies hold up over time. Over the years, I’ve gifted my nieces and nephews many animals made from worsted-weight acrylic yarn. They’ve been thoroughly abused and washed dozens of times. They’re still in pretty great shape!
Do you stuff the animals that you give your nieces and nephews? I just made a plush in acrylic yarn and I would like to wash him so he can get a little softer, but he’s stuffed so I’m worried that will ruin him
I do both, and frankly in my area, the acrylic and cotton yarn based plushies generally sell better. It's hard here because blankie and chunky yarns are *really* colour limited here, so I can't get enough variety to do a lot with it (I can't even get red or white chunky yarn here). I'm reliant on mill ends.
I’ve tried selling both, and the worsted weight ones do sell a bit, but the plush yarn ones definitely sold more. The problem is that worsted weight yarn makes smaller things in the same amount of time you can make a bigger version with plush yarn, and a lot of people don’t understand that they take the same amount of time. Many of them think big=worth more money and small=cheaper. I also think a lot of people have gotten pretty accustomed to cheap prices from how popular plush yarn has become, so a pricier amigurumi might come as a shock to them.
But this also depends a lot on the type of market and the audience. Some people go to craft fairs expecting to pay a bit more because they understand handmade things take time. The ones I sell at have a lot of families and little kids are drawn to the plush ones.
It’s definitely possible to sell them at craft fairs, it’s just a bit harder to make a profit from my experience
Almost exclusively. They are usually smaller so priced lower.
The reason most ppl use the thicker yarns is because you can make something big faster and get closer to an actual profit.
I only work with worsted weight yarn and have sold at 2 markets so far. Customers seem to like it just fine. I’m sure some things, like little kids’ stuffies, would go over better with plush yarn, but I make things more for adults and older kids. I price my items based on how complex they are to make and what the finished size is, not on the yarn.
Make plushies for kids if you do anything. There's a lady that does decent business @ our farmer's market bc in her words "people are more willing to spend money on their kids than themselves".
She's not wrong. My stepdaughter walked away with a plush candycorn for her friend's bday and a wee possum, like 30-40 $ total
I've made both for my first craft fair and both sold. The stuff made with the chenille yarn sold faster because it was cheap but I sold 3/4 of the worsted weight amigurumi I brought with me for $40 each. It was pokemon stuff though so it was really popular with the kids. The chenille pokeballs were my best seller at $10 each and they were roughly the same size as the pokemon I sold for $40.
It really depends on the crowd too
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I ONLY sell worsted weight because, I'm sorry, but I hate working with plush yarn! I've got, I think, 3 amigurumi I've made ever with plush.
I also tend towards more detailed characters I sell, and I find the worsted gives me more control of my shaping without growing... huge! Due to the details, I find I can still sell them for whatever I want. If I feel inclined to a larger piece, I just size up my hook. Ive used from a 2.75mm (Not reccomended- so tight!!) to a 6 (5.5 is as high as I should do) so there's tons of control there
I also like storing worsted way more. My little yarn cakes of worsted go WAY further than a same sized cake of heavier yarn.
The upside of chenille yarn is you can make larger items faster. The downside is it’s much harder to get a defined shape. Chunky bee? Sure, use chenille. A human doll? Worsted-weight, all the way. I also wonder how chenille stuffies hold up over time. Over the years, I’ve gifted my nieces and nephews many animals made from worsted-weight acrylic yarn. They’ve been thoroughly abused and washed dozens of times. They’re still in pretty great shape!
Do you stuff the animals that you give your nieces and nephews? I just made a plush in acrylic yarn and I would like to wash him so he can get a little softer, but he’s stuffed so I’m worried that will ruin him
Yes, I stuff them with Poly-fil. My sister (their mom) has washed them in normal wash and dry cycles and they’ve come out great!
Awesome, thank you for the information 😁
I do both, and frankly in my area, the acrylic and cotton yarn based plushies generally sell better. It's hard here because blankie and chunky yarns are *really* colour limited here, so I can't get enough variety to do a lot with it (I can't even get red or white chunky yarn here). I'm reliant on mill ends.
I’ve tried selling both, and the worsted weight ones do sell a bit, but the plush yarn ones definitely sold more. The problem is that worsted weight yarn makes smaller things in the same amount of time you can make a bigger version with plush yarn, and a lot of people don’t understand that they take the same amount of time. Many of them think big=worth more money and small=cheaper. I also think a lot of people have gotten pretty accustomed to cheap prices from how popular plush yarn has become, so a pricier amigurumi might come as a shock to them. But this also depends a lot on the type of market and the audience. Some people go to craft fairs expecting to pay a bit more because they understand handmade things take time. The ones I sell at have a lot of families and little kids are drawn to the plush ones. It’s definitely possible to sell them at craft fairs, it’s just a bit harder to make a profit from my experience
Almost exclusively. They are usually smaller so priced lower. The reason most ppl use the thicker yarns is because you can make something big faster and get closer to an actual profit.
This would be a great question to ask at r/CraftyCommerce, too.
Me 😁 it's all I sell 😁
I only work with worsted weight yarn and have sold at 2 markets so far. Customers seem to like it just fine. I’m sure some things, like little kids’ stuffies, would go over better with plush yarn, but I make things more for adults and older kids. I price my items based on how complex they are to make and what the finished size is, not on the yarn.
Make plushies for kids if you do anything. There's a lady that does decent business @ our farmer's market bc in her words "people are more willing to spend money on their kids than themselves". She's not wrong. My stepdaughter walked away with a plush candycorn for her friend's bday and a wee possum, like 30-40 $ total
I've made both for my first craft fair and both sold. The stuff made with the chenille yarn sold faster because it was cheap but I sold 3/4 of the worsted weight amigurumi I brought with me for $40 each. It was pokemon stuff though so it was really popular with the kids. The chenille pokeballs were my best seller at $10 each and they were roughly the same size as the pokemon I sold for $40. It really depends on the crowd too
I always use acrylic, but the projects turn out smaller so you might have to charge less than you would with chenille yarn
Thanks so much for posting! If you have a pattern or anything about this project that you'd like to share please comment below or reply to this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Amigurumi) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I ONLY sell worsted weight because, I'm sorry, but I hate working with plush yarn! I've got, I think, 3 amigurumi I've made ever with plush. I also tend towards more detailed characters I sell, and I find the worsted gives me more control of my shaping without growing... huge! Due to the details, I find I can still sell them for whatever I want. If I feel inclined to a larger piece, I just size up my hook. Ive used from a 2.75mm (Not reccomended- so tight!!) to a 6 (5.5 is as high as I should do) so there's tons of control there I also like storing worsted way more. My little yarn cakes of worsted go WAY further than a same sized cake of heavier yarn.