Two friends and I had a small crafting business back in the 80's, little half aprons with pockets filled with clothespin dolls (our biggest seller), boys tool work aprons, stuffed calico cats, gingham dogs and a few other things. Went to craft shows, consignment shops etc. and we each made a few dollars mostly because we already had sewing machines and received lots of donated fabrics. Biggest sales were when our DH's took the items to work. Other gals were stay at home moms and I worked but I couldn't bring sale stuff there.

We stopped for a few reasons, one gal's sewing and interest level wasn't very good, buying fabrics, thread was eating into our meager profits, and I was tired of being sales and delivery person as well as keeping the books. When setting prices people never estimate fully the time and effort they put into making their items as well as the cost of maintening their equipment.

When I first did this back in the early part of 2000, it flopped also. Alfter completing my bachelor's degree in 2010, I started again and doing pretty good. I think it all depends on what area you live in and the demand. I don't look at it as a job; I look at it as getting paid to do what I love too do. I get a kick out of putting a special touch on a project. Like the tissue cover holder; I add vinyl so you could put pictures in it. The pattern does not include this, just a added touch. There is a book by Barbara Wright Sykes entitled, "The Business of Sewing..How to Start, achieve and Maintain Success - Vol 1" it is a good book. She also have several others that I have.

Discuss & get in writing what the customer wants.
Get a deposit/down payment that covers materials used. No money, no work.
Balance due paid on pick-up.
Mileage/travel time extra.


If designing something, get a design deposit and then draw it up. Non-refundable but customer can have design.
If a customer isn't willing to pay any money up front, they aren't serious.

ladies! thanks for the heads up! yes I am/was considering =to do this for some added income! so this isn't really worth the time or effort? thanks again ladies for the advice... will look elsewhere for the added income.

how about Ironing??

I am just trying to find something to earn some extra money, not get rich or whatever.
I am a senior citizen so your ideas would be very helpful.
I have put job applications in to various places, so that may be a way I must go.

I make stocks, vests, ties etc for show riders (horses). Check out the web site if you're interested. www.magicbrowbands.com.au

You stated, "I worked but I couldn't bring sale stuff there." What about making exchanges in the parking lot or meeting at a different location on the way home?"

I agree wholeheartedly.

I did alterations for a couple of years, and what I found was that in most instances you had to remake the garment and they wanted to just "thank you". Besides, they wanted you to make a cheap dress into something that they would be proud to wear for just pennies. Needless to say, I did not make any money and am no longer doing it!

Only if I had a long-arm, otherwise it would take the fun out of it.

Sewing is my stress reliever. If I tried to make a living with it I don't think it would be as much fun. Sometimes you just have to have so relaxation.

I used to make slipcovers and do alterations plus work a
home health care job and I think the sewing only bought the
grocerys for me and the husband plus one daughter. I didn't
khow how to charge.
I found out it is a gift to be able to sew and do it right.
Lots of folks don't know how the thread a needle and they
are the ones willling to pay the price.
But when you love to do something you don't concider that.

SewFine, you do lovely work!! The color combinations are well thought out. And that handsome grandson with the crocheted afghan, that is a good color for a guy and well made. I do some crocheting and realize how many hours of work you put in on that.
It's good it will be loved for a lot of years.
And I LOVE that desk set, that is the neatest set I've seen in a long time.

I have tried several times over the years to make money selling handicrafts (knitting, sewing, quilting, etc.), & I have NEVER made enough of a profit to even want to try again, especially with the price of fabric & yarn.

I will do sewing, alterations, mending, making requested projects as asked if I desire. I don't charge; I ask those I service to make a donation to my church which is ever struggling. I do ask to be informed if a donation has been made. Most people do.

I make stocks, vests, ties etc for show riders (horses). Check out the web site if you're interested. www.magicbrowbands.com.au
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What about show shirts? The ones they have now aren't pretty, or at least the last few I've seen, with one side one color and the other a totally different one.
The older Western shirts were popular many years ago, and even then they went for surprising sums. I remember one I looked at but couldn't afford, it was a regular, personally fitted to a female form, blue chambray, with separate and massively curled edges for shoulder/back and front top of breast, wrist and shirt fronts highly embroidered flowers and vines.
With today's machines it would not have to cost many hours of hand work. I still wish that I'd saved up for one of those..and it's been about 50 years since I saw it.
This of course would be an online or very high end boutique sale item.

I just started with an Etsy shop a few days ago. I also did one commission quilt a couple weeks ago. Enjoy it!

I put myself thru college making Prom or bridesmaid dresses, I found out (the hard way) that people will pay for these fancy dresses, but if they want a simple sun dress, they don't want to pay for your time.
I will only replace zippers for my girls, I won't touch men's pants. I will only hem or alter for the girls. People find out that you sew and they expect you to do it for free or a couple of bucks. One time someone from work asked me to "finish" a prom dress her daughter had started. She just cut it out, and the dance was a few days away. No way!!

I make quilts for my family. But get commissioned quilts also.I make memory t-shirt quilts. Price varies 200-500. I average 2-5 commissions a year. That's enough for me. Other wise I wouldn't be able to get my own projects done.

Don't expect to make a living at first. I was in the business for 43 years and many of those years I spent 18 to 20 hrs a day at the machine.I had a very large clientele list plus new clients every day. My biggest problem was not being able to say "no".... I retired and even moved 60 mi. away to end it but people keep finding me...you can run but you can't hide! lol. I raised two grandchildren during these years and I think that kept me sane! Loved every minute of it!

I have had an alterations business for 35 years. It was nice to work from home on my own time. Did it for some dress shops in the area. It is a nice supplemental income. Hard to make a full time income.

Harsh maybe, but once I was given two second hand size 12 identical dresses to turn into one size 18 for a stoutly brides maid. They would have been better off financially going to Ross or a discount store to begin with.

I have made Lazy Girls "Town Purse" on order. spent a lot of time looking for material in the color the customer wanted. It was more an "ego" thing than a "money making project". I still make reed baskets that I sell on consignment in a gift shop--usually make enough to buy more supplies and a little "fun" money. You never get rich making crafts.

Have you considered teaching? Mabe a Hand sewing class? This could be on your choice for class,ie: quilting a quilt top, by hand NO Machine work. Basic class on how to cut/sew not just quilt block include how to on aprons,and or other skills of this type???

I think you all have given me the right answer just have fun with it. If you can make some extra money great. Thank you so much for the ideas & expert advice.

I don't make a living from sewing but I do make enough money from it to take a trip up to WA every year to attend the Sew Expo. I've managed to make enough money selling things I've made over the last 5 years to go. Hopefully, that will continue.

I did wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses, alterations of such and prom dresses. It became very difficult to do some dresses, because the people buying the fabrics and picking the patterns didn't sew and didn't know what they were looking at. some had no clue what they even wanted. i made one dres by the pattern, had made a muslin base so she could see it, fine, go ahead and make the dress. She hated the sleeves and the neckline, and the length and the fullness of the skirt, didn't want the zipper, wanted buttons, didn't want the buttons wanted the zipper back--- the dress from hell finally left the house and I closed my doors. And these same people want a bargain because you made it, they didn't have to "buy" it.

I do make a living sewing as this is my second job.
I make quilts,pillows,table runners and mats as well as other things which I sell at a shop and also out of my home.
I am also make handbags which I sell and finish peoples needlepoint into pillows and such.
It didn't happen overnight but once enough people knew and passed my name about I am now booked for work to do until the end of this year

I've been making T-shirt Quilts for about 7 to 8 years now. I make a fair amount of money part time and could do better if I wanted to spend 40+ hours a weeks (which I don't). Even during this horrible economy, I'm amazed at how many people still have the money (250.00 to 600.00) to spend for t-shirt quilts (also memory quilts).

It's been slow for me to find the right niche for me but over the past year, I have been consigning scrub caps and stethoscope covers to a local hospital shop. Not many are willing to accept consignment items and don't seem to want to buy outright so I guess I just got lucky. I do pretty well with that.

People who know me have approached me for memory quilts or baby quilts. I give them a good price but still make some money for my labor.

I also seem to do pretty well with accessory items - wallets, totes, eyeglass cases, phone cases, things like that.

You run into people who want to bargain with you so you have to decide if you want to raise the price a little so you have room to come down in price. That also creates repeat customers because they think they're getting a deal from you as well as referral customers.

You will also run into people who appreciate the work involved in a custom item and will pay a fair price (so they pay the higher price without question). I recently made a bag for a repeat customer and when she picked up her latest bag, she gave me more than I asked.

I don't make a living at this because I'm on disability and can't sew everyday or promote myself as I would like, but it definitely supplements the income (and my fabric addiction). :-)

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions that I might be able to answer.

Hmmmmmmmmm ......don't like the word "fat".......would you prefer fluffy? LOL! I'm pleasingly plump, definitely fluffy, and yep FAT.....truth is truth. Political correctness is crap....JMO.

I used to do alterations for a bridal shop. It was an interesting job and I learned so much but I wouldn't go back to it for all the tea in China. It was long hours and tedious work with the beading. I have done alterations on my kids weddings and a few close friends since then but I don't do alterations very often anymore.

I would love to.

Your doll and placemats are adorable!

Thank you everyone for your replies! You have inspired me.

I know this is off topic but I just had to comment that it drives me crazy when brides choose the most horrible dresses for their bridesmaids knowing darn well that they have a bridesmaid that is short and "fluffy" because that almost guarantees that the short bridesmaid will end up feeling horrible after her dress fitting. I didn't have bridesmaids at my wedding but if I did I would have taken all their body types into consideration when choosing a dress style for them all. That's just my 2 cents.

I feel like the only one out there sometimes, but I sew for a living. I have my own shop downtown and come Monday, will be celebrating 12 years of business. I started it in my home and after 7 years, moved it into a uniform business. After three years there, I got my own shop. That was the best thing I could have done. I love the work I do and my customers are wonderful. They aren't afraid to ask if I can do something. Seems like I've done most everything under the sun from A-Z, but I do have my limitations. I'm honest with my customers as to how I feel about a job. Sometimes I do get something that is beyond my knowledge or out of my comfort zone. I don't like to practice on their clothing and tell them so. That is the best thing a person can do.

Having a sewing business isn't the easiest, but it can be done. I'm just thankful to have mine and I know I'm in a great location for it. Because of word of mouth and my reputation, I have a customer base that covers a nice portion of the map around my town. That took hard work, but it was so very worth it!

I pet sit for extra money. Of course I am retired so I can go to their house for a few days or a couple of weeks. Sewing is my hobby and I don't want to mess it up by making work out of it. And on top of that I hate alterations.

Um, dear, some of us are fat. It is what it is.

You forgot 'built for comfort, not for speed'. I also like "I am in shape. Round is a shape". Fat definitely has a negative stigma attached to it. And, people who are know they are. I just prefer that someone not point it out to me in such a way.

You mentioned uniform shop. Have you thought of making stethoscope covers for your medical customers? I consign them to a local hospital and they do pretty well - mostly purple (respiratory) and the breast cancer fabric with the pink ribbons (these are the biggest sellers). I make 90% of mine on the serger (fast to make). If you're interested, PM me and I can go into more details.

Glad to hear someone has done well sewing for a living. I don't do well making clothes for myself (fitting part) let alone for others. Good Luck in the future !!!