Of course, our Sewing Machine Repair as a Home Business, the Serger Repair for the Home Sewer and the Complete Guide to Treadle Sewing Machines are available at SewMachineRepair.com.  You can check out all of our books, and be able to keep your machines in tip top shape and ready for use!!

If you’re  in the alteration business, the “Animal pals” back packs and sleeping bags would be EXCELLENT items to add to your customer waiting area – those could be some great sellers, and later this fall you’ll probably be swamped with orders for making them for Christmas gifts.

It’s amazing how you can look through craft patterns and something just jumps out at you!  We have had super good luck with the childs’ portable playhouse.  As a matter of fact a few years back (before knee problems set in for me), we did a “circuit” of festivals and sold only the portable playhouses.  Kids absolutely love those, so even having one set up in your customer waiting area could bring extra sales to you.

So, be sure to check out Patterns That Fit You and see what you can find.  Oh, you might want to bookmark the site as we are constantly adding new patterns.

Craft fairs are a wonderful way to both market and sell your crafts—but some people simply do not have the time or the money to put up a booth at such fairs. More and more entrepreneurs are beginning to sell their items online. One website very popular among small businesses and hobbyists is Etsy.com.

Here are some reasons why, like other crafters, you too might want to sell your items on Etsy:

1) Etsy is a marketplace for all things handmade.

Unlike other online marketplaces, you won’t find mobile phones, DVDs or various retail items for sale on this website. Etsy.com is a website specifically for both buyers and sellers of handmade items, vintage items, and all sorts of craft supplies.

2) You are catering to your target market.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll make a sale on Etsy—but you can at least be assured that people who browse Etsy love crafts and all things handmade and vintage just as much as you do.

3) Buying and selling on Etsy is easy.

It only takes a few minutes to set up your Etsy shop. You can even choose to customize your online store with your profile and a banner image. Uploading your product descriptions and images are easy and will not take up a lot of time.

4) You are joining a community.

By choosing to sell your items on Etsy, you are not creating just another account, but are joining a community, as well. You can ask for feedback or suggestions from other knowledgeable sellers on the Etsy forums, or even collaborate with other people on Etsy whose style or products complement your style or items.

Similarly, purchasing items on Etsy is also easy. Prices of items appear in the buyer’s local currency, making shopping convenient, fun and quick. Thousands of people shop on Etsy on a daily basis because it is the go-to online marketplace for all things handmade. If you want to start selling your crafts on the Internet, Etsy is truly the best place to start.

The newly launched Patterns section of Craftsy is the fastest growing online marketplace for crafting patterns. Because Craftsy doesn’t charge designers any fees or commissions for listing or selling their patterns, creative indie designers are rushing over to the site to set up their pattern shops. Well over half a million active Craftsy members browse the thousands upon thousands of patterns of all types, for all crafts. It’s the perfect place to get inspiration and instructions at super low prices, or to set up your own independent pattern shop.

Regardless of the temperatures, it’s very much time for all of us to begin our regular “new season” sewing.  I’d like to recommend you check out our recently re-vamped PatternsThatFitYou site for dozens of great patterns.

Sewing for plus size children can be the hardest thing to do as there can rarely be anything found that will fit the overweight children.  PatternsThatFitYou has pattern making classes and regular packaged patterns for those hard to fit children.

If you’re looking for something for yourself, whether a regular size or full figure, PatternsThatFitYou has pattern classes designed just for you.  There are classes for slacks/shorts, blouses, dresses, sport bra and many others.

I’m so excited about getting my spring/summer wardrobe made and already have fabrics lined up for myself as well as for my grandchldren.

Let us know what YOUR sewing projects are!  Happy Sewing!

If you make and sell teenage type pillows, try adding some toddler pillows or additional “girly” type heart pillows.  A variety of additional items added to your current selection can be a great money maker for you.

As an additional example, we originally started selling a basic book on pattern making for women.  Then a few years later, because of a granddaughter that was very overweight, our plus size children pattern making classes and patterns was started.  The addition and popularity of the plus size children pattern making classes and patterns led to questions from customers if we had anything like that for plus size / full figure women.  TA DA!  The next thing in line for us was exactly what the customers were asking for, which began a whole new area of pattern making classes, which we set up as BigBeautifulPeople.

Listen to your customers talk when you’re at the craft fairs —- is there something specific that they’re looking for that you could add to your inventory?  Expanding your market with additional products can add more than you think to your profit margin.  Since you’re doing the craft fairs or Etsy selling, you’re already doing the motions of making items, so think “outside the box” and see what else you can add.

** I’m sure we’re not the only ones who’ve gotten “stuck in a rut” when it comes to the type of packaging we use. Well, now is the time to step out of your comfort zone and try new packaging products. For example, for years we have used the bubble type padded manilla envelopes for shipping soft, really unbreakable products. Recently we decided to try the tyvek type envelopes. WOW! The tyvek envelopes worked GREAT — they were more lightweight than the manilla padded paper packages, therefore brought the shipping cost down, plus they are untearable which the paper manilla packages were not. In addition, we found a supplier on eBay where we could get a large lot of 1000 tyvek bags for about 1/3 the price of only 100 manilla bubble packages.

** Before simply making the call or visit to an office supply store for your packaging needs, check out eBay to see what might be available there. It’s been our experience that you can get larger lots of the shipping item for less. However, if you are still wanting to use the local office supply store, be sure you check the newspapers and flyers that come in the mail for discount coupons.

** When you get ready to actually package the items to ship, it would be wise to check the various shipping companies (USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc) to see where you can get the best shipping price. I usually think that if my product won’t fit in a USPS “flat rate” box of some kind, it will be cheaper and quicker delivery to send the box via FedEx. Once again, I had an eye opener yesterday when I was shipping a rather big/heavy box (12 pounds and in my own cardboard box, not any flat rate type box). I was doing my online shipping label at FedEx and got down to the price area and it told me the price would be $23.85. WHAT?? And this box was going to a BUSINESS so didn’t even have all the “residential” surcharges tacked on. I immediately opened a new window to check out the US Postal Service rate —-sending from my zip to their zip – box size and weight —- the priority mail price was $13.59! You can guess right away that I closed up the FedEx label window and finished the label using the US Postal Service. Never “assume” that one carrier will be cheaper than all the rest —- when you have a package that is a little different than those that you normally ship, be sure to check the various options before making any assumption about which would be cheaper or faster.

** One other reminder on the shipping supplies – remember that the Postal Service provides a wide variety of flat rate boxes as well as regular priority mail boxes and shipping envelopes — all FREE to you, the customer. This can make a big difference in the final cost for shipping your items, where every penny saved can add up to additional profit for you.

Check out the giveaway and get yourself registered.   Who knows, this might be your lucky week!!

If  you’re looking to repair an old treadle sewing machine or your serger, you can head over to SewMachineRepair.com and get information on those books.

There are other small things the machines will do that you have to keep an eye on.  For example, my machine appears to have a real dislike for sewing velcro – the rough part.  The thread keeps popping out of the little hook that directs the thread down to the needle.  I have no earthly idea why it does this, but does  it only when sewing velcro.  After the first couple of times of getting the thread knotted up, I’ve learned to keep one eye on the fabric/velcro and the other eye on the little hook to see if the thread has popped out so I can get it back in line and continue sewing.

The “Sewing Machine Repair for the Home Sewer” is a perfect book to get you through the many problems that can occur, and keep your machine out of the repair shop.  This book goes through many problem/solution scenerios such as thread knotting in the bobbon area or on the fabric under the presser foot, in addition to teaching you how to “time” your machine and even shows you how to take apart the tension and put it back together again.   If you’re like me, I just can’t do without my machine, and anything I can do to keep it out of the repair shop (and those super high repair prices!), the happier I am!

Check out the Sewing Machine Repair for the Home Sewer book and the do-it-yourself information it contains!

I went into Joann’s today to get some denim fabric — sounds simple enough.  They had all their denim fabric on a round table type rack with a price sign above the bolts “denim $12.99 yd”.    Some bolts were 45″ wide and some 52″ wide, so I started picking up the fabric so I could read the bolt end to see if they were 100% cotton, or what the fabric make-up was.  WELL, I noticed SOME bolts had the regular printed $12.99 per yard on it, some had the “original” price blacked out and $12.99 hand written on the end of the bolt,  some had the original price blacked out and a printed new tag (from a tagging gun) with $12.99 on them, and ONE of the bolts still had the original $9.99 price on it.   I made up my mind very quickly that the $9.99 denim was exactly what I wanted —- AND I had a 50% off coupon.   When I went to the measuring counter I told the lady that I wanted to confirm the price to be $9.99/yard.  She scanned it with her little hand held device then informed me that the price of the fabric was $12.99, but was on sale 30% off (NO sale price was anywhere by the fabric bolts), so I’d be getting it for $9.09 per yard.  I told her that the price on the end of the bolt said $9.99 per yard, and asked if she could do a price over-ride to give me the price that was on the bolt.  I figured if she could do that I could maybe use my 50% off coupon.  Well, she did the price over-ride at $9.99/yard, but the charge slip showed that it was a SALE PRICE, so I wouldn’t be able to use my coupon AND I’d be paying more than the 30% off the newly raised prices.   So I asked her if she could do the price over-ride and take into consideration the 30% off as well to let me take advantage of the sale.   She really didn’t want to but finally said, “let me see if the hand held device will let me”, so she did figure the 30% off the $9.99 price and used that as the over-ride price and it went through just fine.   The facts are that all prices keep going up and up, however IF a company changes the prices, but leaves the end of the bolt with the old price, they are obligated to sell it to you for THAT amount, not the higher amount.  If you are not observent and notice the little things, you could end up paying the higher price, even though the price on the end of the bolt is the old price, simply because the NEW price is in the computer and that’s what you’ll be charged if you don’t question it.

We buy a lot of fabric and there have been times that we’ve gone in one week to buy certain fabric, and the next week the price has been raised by $2 or $3 per yard  —- in one weeks’ time!  Or some specialty fabric that all of a sudden jumps up by several dollars a yard.   I would suggest to you to check the prices very carefully on the fabric that you need — and if at all possible save up some discount coupons that you can use.  Most of all, be sure you read the prices on the end of the bolts and CONFIRM with the measuring person that the price you see is the price you will be paying!  You could just be saving yourself a couple dollars per yard by getting the price verified and confirmed.