RVE 208: How Krista Knits Clothes for Hollywood from her RV

How do you get Mindy Kaling to wear a sweater you knit in your RV?

Krista has been knitting for years. After graduating college, she started teaching knitting classes at yarn shops. One day as she was working from home, knitting while watching TV shows about travel, she realized she could knit from anywhere. So she convinced her husband to retire early and travel the country with her.

Most knitters go for a platform like Etsy when they want to start their own business. But everything on Etsy is so underpriced, Krista says. "I see a scarf that I know the yarn cost $7 and they are selling it for $8." Plus you need to carry tons of inventory to ship. She knew there was no way that could support life in the RV.

She also made custom things for people who came into the yarn shops where she worked. But with the hours it took to make each piece, she still wasn't making much profit from each piece.

Then a friend saw a posting on Craigslist for a knitter and shared it with Krista. She reached out and connected with a costume designer looking for a handknit piece for a little movie called the Hunger Games.

This opened her eyes to a need in Hollywood for quality hand-knit costumes.

Soon after, Krista saw an email for a conference for stylists. She had no interest in styling but knew that if she paid $350 to attend the event, she could get her card into the hands of costume designers.

In this episode, we dive into how Krista has started making custom knit costumes for major TV shows and movies in Hollywood. Krista shares:

• How to follow up with potential clients
• How custom costuming works
• Why knitting can be high stress
• How she communicates updates with costume designers to get swatches and feedback on pieces
• How she quotes prices for pieces (and deals with new customers who don't want to pay her rate!)
• The crazy range of prices Krista has been paid for a single sweater