How & Why We Price Our Handmade Samples
If you hadn't already seen, our shop is in the middle of a sample sale right now (July 2026), with pieces marked 50–90% off! If you've stopped by our store, you've no doubt seen all the samples we have around that show off our yarns and patterns. You may have also read the information on our sample tags to learn more about the piece or how to make it for yourself, and noticed the pricing breakdown we include on every piece. We wanted to write about why we include that information on every tag!
We put a lot of information on our sample tags, mostly to help answer the common questions we get about them: What pattern is this? Where can I get the pattern? Does it come in other sizes? What yarn did you use? What weight is it? Etc, etc.
But to us, the most important information on our sample tags are these three things:
- How long it took to make the sample
- How much the materials cost
- How much we're willing to sell it for
With the cost of materials typically ranging between $20–$200, and hours of labor ranging from 6–20, the prices of our samples are often much more than what people are expecting. Even the smallest samples we have are typically over $100.
We live in a world shaped by fast fashion, where the labor and expertise behind a garment are rarely reflected in what it costs to buy. This has trained a lot of people to expect handmade pieces to be priced "competitively" with mass-produced goods, as if the goal were to sell as many as possible, as cheaply as possible.
Of course, that is not our goal in making or selling our samples. The sticker shock people experience when they pick up a hat marked as $250 does this lovely thing: it triggers curiosity, which then allows for deeper understanding to take root.
If we only had the final price on our tags without laying out the time and money that went into making it, people would think we're crazy, or snobby, or both. Including this extra information allows people to consider: why would anyone make something if not to sell it?
If you're reading this you probably know exactly why, because you probably make things yourself! And makers do it for so many varied reasons: the process, the rhythm, the care and attention, the customization, the connection, the skills & techniques, the history—I could go on and on!
As a shop, we have another reason to not price our samples to sell: they do a lot for us just by existing in our shop. Our samples show off how a yarn works up into fabric. They are examples of how a pattern looks and feels and fits. They show our customers what's possible, how a yarn will drape and bloom. They show how far a single skein will go, or what you can do with five. They are examples of specific techniques and combinations and just general inspiration. Because of all these reasons, our samples are worth far more to us (both practically, and emotionally) than the money we could get by selling them.
So why sell the samples now? Because these particular pieces have finished their job! For all the samples in our sale, we either no longer carry the yarn, or the pattern is unavailable, or we have better examples of both, which means they're no longer useful as examples for our customers. Selling them makes room for the new ones we're creating with new yarns and fresh patterns (we can't wait to show you).
The sample sale is running for the next few weeks (through August 2026). It is in-store only at Cleo's in Bushwick, with prices dropping continually until everything's found a new home. We'd love for you to stop by to see what's available and maybe take a piece of Cleo's home with you!