If you run a fabric store, chances are you love putting together quilt kits. They’re a great way to give your customers a ready-to-sew project assembled from your beautiful fabrics. But let’s be real — managing kits can quickly turn into a logistical nightmare. That mountain of cut fabric, the misplaced backing piece, the endless inventory counts — it’s enough to make you just sell yardage again.
If you want kits to be a profitable part of your business instead of a drain on your time and energy, you need a strong product focus and a workflow that supports it. When your operations line up with how you build and sell bundles, everything gets easier.
In this blog, you’ll learn how to avoid the stress and simplify the entire kit-assembly process.
Let’s get started.
The Kit Problem: Where Things Get Messy
Any shop owner knows kits can get chaotic fast. Here’s where the process usually goes off track.
Inventory and Stocking Issues
It’s a constant battle to make sure every single component is available. Running out of that one perfect background print for a kit means delayed assembly and disappointed customers.
Then there’s the tracking — how much of that blue floral is still available for individual sale versus how much is locked away in 15 precut kits? You need meticulous inventory management to prevent these frustrating stock discrepancies.
Pricing and Profitability Concerns
Figuring out the final price for a kit can be tricky. You need a formula that accounts for the cost of every component, includes labor costs, and still feels appealing to the customer.
Because fabric and notion prices change constantly, you have to review and adjust your kit pricing regularly. If you don’t, you might sell plenty of kits only to discover your profit margin has quietly disappeared.
Assembly Burnout and Bottlenecks
Let’s face it, kit assembly takes a lot of time. Gathering, accurately cutting, and neatly packaging components can eat up hours that employees could otherwise spend running the store or helping customers.
On top of that, quality control is nonnegotiable. One small mistake in a fabric cut or a missing spool of thread can lead to a customer complaint and a costly return.
What Customers Actually Want
It’s hard to create kits that everyone loves. Customers have a wide range of tastes, which makes bulk assembly risky. Offering customization might sound ideal, but it adds a layer of complexity you may not be ready to handle.
Quilting trends move fast, too. That popular Christmas kit from last year might be gathering dust this season. Keeping your finger on the pulse helps your inventory stay relevant.
Related Read: 24 Key Retail KPIs To Track in Your Fabric Shop
10 Smart Kits To Stock in Your Fabric Store
Think beyond the basic squares. Kits should inspire specific types of quilters or address a real challenge — like helping customers tackle a tricky pattern, coordinating fabrics effortlessly, or offering everything needed for a popular project without the guesswork.
Here are 10 kit ideas to try:
- Beginner quilt: Keep it simple — think precut squares or simple strip piecing. These kits guarantee a fast, satisfying first finish.
- Fat quarter bundle: Take an existing, beautifully curated bundle and simply add a pattern that works perfectly with it. Easy assembly for you, and an easy decision for the customer.
- Block of the month (BOM): Encourage customers to return monthly with a series of kits. They’re great for large projects and building long-term engagement.
- Seasonal quilt: Create urgency and boost seasonal sales with time-specific projects like Christmas, Halloween, or spring-themed wall quilts.
- Holiday table runner: Assemble a quick, satisfying project. Runners are smaller, easier to cut, and perfect for gift-giving.
- Appliqué: Save your customer time by including precut fusible shapes. These projects appeal to quilters who love appliqué but dislike the cutting prep.
- Baby quilt: Focus on soft flannels, minky, or coordinating bright prints — a perennial favorite that’s always in demand.
- Panel quilt: Use a beautiful printed fabric panel as the main decoration. These kits are easy to complete, since much of the visual work is already done by the printer.
- Scrap buster: Offer patterns and coordinating notions for using up smaller leftover pieces. This appeals to thrifty quilters who want guidance for their fabric stash.
- Technique-focused: Center a kit around a specific skill, like paper piecing, binding, or mastering a particular block — great for workshops or class sign-ups.
The POS System — Your Kit Assembly Lifesaver
A modern point of sale (POS) system turns messy kit management into an efficient operation. It handles the math, tracks inventory, and simplifies kit assembly — from creating a new kit product to automatically updating stock with the completed kits and their calculated costs.
Let’s explore the added benefits a POS system brings to kit assembly.
Inventory Control That Actually Works
A solid POS system tracks every fabric component individually. You know immediately if you have enough of a specific print before starting assembly.
The system can automatically deduct products from inventory the moment a kit is created. This real-time update is a lifesaver, preventing you from overselling yardage that’s reserved for a kit.
Pricing Without the Guesswork
Comprehensive POS platforms calculate the total kit cost by instantly summing the current price of every item in the kit. This lets you set a profitable price confidently.
You get clear insights into your current profit margin and make informed pricing decisions easily, especially when individual item costs change.
Better Efficiency and More Flexibility
Modern POS systems guide you through the assembly process with a clear view of the components. You get everything accounted for, cutting down on human error.
You can easily modify existing kit structures — adding or removing items — to adapt to inventory changes or new customer demands.
Sales tracking is simplified because kits are treated as a single product. You see clean data that immediately shows you which kits are flying off the shelves and which ones are not.
The best POS systems make kit assembly manageable, accurate, and truly profitable.
Related Read: How To Train Staff: A Quick Guide for Quilt Store Owners
Manage Bundles and Kits With Like Sew
It’s easy to see that the right technology is the difference between effortless kit assembly and operational burnout. Like Sew is specifically designed for fabric shops and eliminates the core pain points of kit management using robust, integrated features.
Here’s what you get:
- Accurate inventory management: With Like Sew, you can easily track and organize every bolt of fabric, spool of thread, and notion needed for your kits. You can monitor precise stock levels of all items in real time, ensuring you have everything on hand to assemble complete kits without frustrating delays. Kits can even be disassembled, returning inventory to the sales floor independently.
- Smart product bundling and pricing: Like Sew helps you create product bundles. You can group all related items to form a kit under a single SKU. This simplifies the entire process. You define which products are included, set the final retail price, and the system manages the complex inventory deduction as a single unit, saving hours of manual tracking.
- Simple sourcing with vendor integrations: Sourcing is often the biggest bottleneck. With seamless vendor integrations, Like Sew makes it easy to add new materials to your inventory. You can quickly create orders for the latest fabrics and notions needed for your kits. This way, your offerings stay fresh, current, and appealing to your customers.
- Elevated customer experience with templates: Like Sew provides customizable kit templates you can use to create and bundle your kits. You can organize the products included in each kit. This gives customers all the fabrics, tools, and information needed to complete their projects successfully.
- Targeted marketing and data-driven decisions: Promote your kits using Like Sew’s built-in sales and marketing tools. Highlight your new BOM series in your online store or send targeted email campaigns directly to customers who bought similar prints last season.
- Detailed reporting and insights: Use Like Sew’s detailed reporting and analytics features to gain immediate insights into kit sales and customer preferences. Your data helps you instantly understand which ones are most popular, allowing you to adjust inventory and marketing spend to get the best ROI.
With these features, you can refine your kit offerings and stock the projects your customers are most excited to buy.
Try our Build and Price tool to create a custom quote for your fabric store.
by Spencer Wright
