How to turn your craft hobby into cash

➊Technology is your friend. Markets like Renegade Craft Fair make it easy for creative folks to make money on their craft prowess. But you still need to know how to use your nimble sewing fingers on a computer keyboard. Markets offer online applications; for Renegade, which throws a summer (Sept 10, 11) and winter fair, all applicants must link to a website, like a Flickr, Etsy or Facebook page, with images of products.

➋ It’s okay to be a market beginner! Festivals like Renegade rate applicants on quality and consistency of work—but don’t be afraid to have little fair experience. “We are always looking for new people,” says Renegade Craft Fair media liaison Sarah Spies. “Even with crafters who do [Renegade Craft Fair] year after year, we look to see they’ve evolved.”

➌ Be different—but not too different. How do DIY fairs jury their vendors? “It’s a general vibe,” says Spies. “It’s natural that there be a general like-minded aesthetic, but we do look for diversity in what is made.” So if the festival receives umpteen million applications from silk-screen T-shirt makers, some of you won’t make the cut. Kelli Wefenstette—who, along with Jessica Duff, organizes the monthly market Urban Folk Circuit—says when choosing sellers, she looks for interesting pairings. In the March market, those pairings included a 13-year-old girl who embellished fashionable tees and her dad, a maker of deftly crafted folk ceramics.

➍ Minimize your entry fees. Renegade Craft Fair tables go for $400 a pop. (And all applicants fork over a $25 fee.) “You can always split a booth,” Spies notes, which whittles down the cost to $200 for you and a fellow designer. That money also places you in Renegade’s popular website promotional materials. Still, if you need to get your feet wet before shelling out that kind of dough, check out other fairs; Urban Folk Circuit tables cost a slim $40.

➎ Get to know other crafty types. Wefenstette, who makes cloth tote bags, claims that she felt overwhelmed by her early market experiences; so when she started Urban Folk Circuit in 2010, she also organized networking nights where crafters meet each other, feel relaxed and share ideas. Another organization called Chicago Craft Mafia throws business-building events and workshops every three months.

➏ If all else fails, ask a friend for help. A regular vendor at Renegade Craft Fair, Sarah Fox says her accessories company Cursive Design is successful partly because of the help she’s received along the way. “My friend Lisa has been invaluable,” Fox says about the person who assisted her with the ins and outs of fairs and transferring her sculpture know-how to her line of well-made jewelry.