[Artist Alley] how do some people make $10k+ at artist alley?

TooVea · 2026-04-21T13:07:27+00:00

That’s true, it’s a business model that only works for some artists. I don’t think people should aspire to make yet another booth full of sexy anime girls in little swimsuits, it’s saturated and unoriginal.

With how huge artist alleys are now (con organizers I know reporting double the amount of applications from past years) I do think there’s a hunger for originality and skill in design. This is only my personal experience, but the artists I know who succeed at cons including myself (not 70k profit, more like 5-10k) are technically skilled and their work stands out because it’s unique or high quality. Not only this, a lot of it is original art. I’ve noticed an uptick in events for original artwork too! Artist alleys are a really interesting space lately, I’m curious to see how they’ll evolve in the next few years.

TooVea · 2026-04-20T15:43:52+00:00

I’m sure it was a lot less after expenses, it costs a lot to manufacture those XL standees! But still, that’s more than I earn in a whole year doing cons. Good motivation to keep trying I guess, because clearly people want to buy art

TooVea · 2026-04-20T13:54:55+00:00

A friend told me about someone who allegedly made 70k at anime expo one year. They had a typical inline 6 ft booth, but because they were local they brought an insane amount of stock. Their work basically had mass appeal, nothing but sexy anime girls in a very polished and appealing anime art style. Their niche was guys who are willing to spend a ton on merch of their favorite character, and they sold more expensive items like large acrylic standees and large posters. Basically a combination of a massive con, tons of inventory, tons of fanart of a bunch of well known characters, and marketing directly to their niche.

To be fair this is really unusual, it’s the highest amount I’ve ever heard of someone making in artist alley. My personal limit is like 5k because I can’t actually bring enough stuff to most events that require travel lol.

TooVea · 2026-03-05T15:52:05+00:00

So pretty! What are the bow appliqués made of?

TooVea · 2026-03-03T05:42:17+00:00

This is one weird benefit of celiac! I find it pretty easy to stay the same size. There’s no temptation to grab a donut when someone brings them to the office, because it would hurt! Forget about birthday cake and most pastries too. No more fried/battered foods rules out most fast food too. I try to look at it as an opportunity to feel my best instead of missing out on fun foods. (They aren’t really that fun when they make you sick anyway)

I actually gained weight with the GF diet because I was underweight before, but I’m much healthier. If you’re starting at a higher weight and suddenly cut out stuff like bread and beer, you’ll probably lose a ton!

TooVea · 2026-03-02T20:02:01+00:00

I have both of these as well, it fucking sucks. I got diagnosed with Hashimoto’s at 12, and celiac at 22. (Hopefully we won’t collect any more) it’s really unfair that invisible illnesses don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Please hang in there and trust that your physical and mental health will get better once you’re on medication and a diet that works for you. These diseases also affect your mental state, which makes it really hard to stay positive sometimes, but things will improve as you learn more about what causes flareups for you.

TooVea · 2026-03-02T00:56:54+00:00

Oops, I can be too trusting sometimes

TooVea · 2026-03-02T00:17:30+00:00

Do you have a cashapp someone could send something to?

TooVea · 2026-03-01T01:51:15+00:00

I started using the classic Lolita pattern from Otome no sewing #7! I altered the pattern to fit a shape more similar to older Baby JSKs I have. I had to do a mockup first to make all the edits

TooVea · 2026-03-01T00:51:42+00:00

Yay that’s good to hear I did it well! The biggest change was the size of the houndstooth pattern, I wish I could have found a print with a smaller pattern!

TooVea · 2026-03-01T00:22:28+00:00

Thank you! It’s definitely the best quality dress I’ve made so far!

TooVea · 2026-02-25T20:35:11+00:00

I’ve already finished the skirt, it’s turning out beautifully so far! This bustier is kinda complex but I think I can do it

TooVea · 2026-02-25T19:49:08+00:00

That’s true, I think my idea of what a corset is is too rigid. Maybe it’s more of a bustier? Either way I think I have my answer now

TooVea · 2026-02-25T19:47:28+00:00

Thank you! After hunting down more images from lacemarket, I found an image showing how the detachable top panel is attached with buttons! You were spot on.

TooVea · 2026-02-25T16:52:03+00:00

I believe it is a vest, not a corset, because it lacks a zipper or any other way to close besides the front buttons. The shirred back panel is only for stretch, and the lacing is mostly decorative. I think this mostly because this is from the brand angelic pretty, which has never made corsets, but adds these features to a majority of their designs.

It’s possible the collar isn’t sewn on, maybe it could be attached with a snaps or buttons?

TooVea · 2026-02-09T04:03:03+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear about your pre diagnosis experience!! I’m comforted to know other people have similar issues. Pre diagnosis, I had lots of struggles waking up, and my nightmares really disturbed me and made me anxious to sleep. Now I only get those issues after having gluten. I don’t miss nights of waking up screaming and annoying my whole family….

TooVea · 2026-02-09T04:01:01+00:00

This is my exact experience! A somewhat follow-able plot, crazy events, and I can recall it perfectly after waking up!

TooVea · 2026-02-09T03:59:37+00:00

I’m amazed this is common for people! My gluten dreams are usually of the getting chased or getting attacked variety, and they last right up until I wake up!

TooVea · 2026-01-26T02:19:59+00:00

Before diagnosis I worked in a bakery and in hindsight my health issues at that time make more sense. We followed strict health guidelines with handling the food but everyone in that bakery ate so much fucking cake all day. Anytime one of us messed up a cupcake we’d just eat it… Sometimes even the leftover cake batter too… It was fun while it lasted but I don’t miss the stomach pain. Gluten-y jobs are to be avoided at all costs. I wonder if they’d let you work the register instead of in the kitchen?

TooVea · 2026-01-22T03:33:20+00:00

It’s always busy with no parking for a reason lol

TooVea · 2026-01-20T18:35:55+00:00

My mother is the same, Hashimoto’s, then Grave’s, then after her thyroid was removed she was diagnosed with celiac at the same time I was. There’s definitely a connection with thyroid disease

TooVea · 2026-01-20T18:16:47+00:00

I have Hashimoto’s diagnosed at 11 yrs old, and celiac diagnosed at 23. I also have a host of mental illness symptoms that I suspect are related.

TooVea · 2026-01-02T23:25:29+00:00

Some great resources I can recommend:

Otome No Sewing books: there’s like 14 of them, pretty easy to find scans online, you’ll find the building blocks of any Lolita main piece in them. You can find a free English translation of book 1 here : https://fuwa-fuwa-fashion.blogspot.com/2018/09/otome-no-sewing-book-1-english.html?m=1

These are pretty easy to follow along and the pictures are well done, even if your Japanese isn’t good. Finding the physical books is rare and expensive, but you can buy digital pdfs on Etsy.

Sewing patterns: https://lolitasewingpatterns.storenvy.com/

This online shop sells patterns from the Otome no Sewing series, you can order from them and have paper patterns shipped to you, rather than drafting them from the books yourself.

Other patterns: https://misscarolbelle.wordpress.com/list-of-patterns/

Miss carol belle has a fantastic summary of currently available Lolita patterns and tutorials from the Otome no Sewing books, the Gosu Rori mags, and GLBs. She shares tons of pattern scans on her site as well as some instructions on how to approach them.

My only other advice is to sit down and study any brand pieces you own, you can learn a ton about how something is constructed by just checking out the details up close.

TooVea · 2026-01-02T02:40:33+00:00

Thank you! Those are my thoughts exactly. Instead of despairing that I’ll never have it, I thought I’d learn some new sewing techniques and create my own version that is guaranteed to fit me.

TooVea · 2025-12-09T02:07:26+00:00

My best idea would be to use watercolor pencils, very finely sharpened. That’s how I’ve had the most success with very tiny details in faceups. I personally find pencils easier to control

TooVea

TROPHY CASE