I have in the past and i still try whenever i can.Now it's mostly by word of mouth,since i don't work outside the home anymore.
Kathi

I sell purses for $40 and paperback book covers (see Gallery) for $10 each to friends and friends-of-friends on a very limited scale. It's word of mouth also. Not a money-maker by any means when one counts one's time!

Mary

I sell the pillowcase style dresses and pantaloons to local people by word of mouth. I sell a fair amount on ebay. I make sure that the things I put on ebay are made out of fabric that I bought on clearance. That way if I've only got a $1.00 in it I'm making a little money for my time.
Susan

Alterations and repair work
Cushions/draperies
Awnings/marine canvas

I used to do alterations also,but i didn't enjoy that.I'd rather make something from scratch than to alter or take over something someone else has started.

In the 80's my gf and i made christening outfits and sold them at consignment shops,as well as kids clothes.

Now i mainly make small purses and wallets,and still every so often someone will order a vacuum cleaner cover after they have seen one i've made somewhere else.
Kathi

Kathi, never fails to amaze me how many people share your opinion of alterations/repairs. After Home Ec./4-H my formal training was in the shop of a tailor (4+ yrs.). I was taught well by someone who buttered his bread fixing/altering garments... and what I learned to love about that aspect of the trade was the VARIETY... . Sure, there were hems, sleeves, waist adj's., zipper replacements, but there were also pocket replacements, relines, lapel modifications, and countless "simple" mending jobs. Occasionally the addition of a hand-worked boutonniere! It was never "boring"!

Interestingly, I feel no such excitment when it comes to Bridal work. I loathe it! and rarely deign to accept it. Give me straight alterations/repairs any day of the week; I've endured one too many brides late for app'ts. and have little time/patience for the "do I look fat in this?" routine. I feel a similar loathing when it comes to working on furs. The fur industry is fascinating from a technical aspect, but I've never quite been able to get past the philosophical aversion I have to the industry as a whole... (that's why I never bothered to buy the machinery when the occasion presented itself!).

Funny how certain aspects of a trade appeal to some and repulse others! :)

Only upon request (someone having viewed something I've done). I mostly sew for my family which thankfully includes several new babies...and a niece who at 30 still cherishes the dresses I made her when she was 8,9 and l0. How nice to see them still hanging in her closet in a place of honor. That makes you feel so good! Budster.

Chelone,
I forgot about the bridal stuff.I did a lot of bridesmaids dresses,bridal headpieces(those i enjoyed,Headpieces).I refused to do bridal gowns.too many brides are bridezillas,no thanks.
Some of the people that wanted alterations were way out there too.Buying a size 14 dress,then bringing it to me to see if i could make it a little bigger,when they were everybit a size 20,22 at the least.Hello,i'm not a magician!!!

I did a lot of alterations for seniors who needed them but couldn't get out,so for them i picked up and delivered,and they almost always compensated me more than i asked.

It was fun,but i'm glad it all behind me now and i do what i want,when i want,and somedays that's nothing.But i earned it!!!! IMHO.
Kathi

I've been doing my quilts on commission for several years. In the past I have made simple jumpers and slacks for friends, but I did not find that rewarding and fitting was hard for me to do, so I said NO to doing that.

This weekend I had a booth at a gift gallery sale in a larger city near me. I sold mug rugs, needle cases, pillow cases, small quilts, aprons, etc. The sale was O.k. for me, not fantastic, but I did get two possible quilt commissions. And now I have a better idea of the set-up and what might sell if I do the sale next year.

Next time I would make more children's items and less expensive gift items, plus some table runners and table toppers. I will still have some quilts for sale, but maybe not as many as I did this time. I do not underprice my quilts because of the time it takes to make them and because my quilts are more than simple fabric squares put together - they are pieced patchwork blocks or machine applique.

I have sewed everthing at one time or another.I covered
car and truck seats that is why I bought an industral
machine. when CTS got the best of my right arm I give it up. one day a friend called and ask if I would make him
a sea anchor. I didn't have a clue what a sea anchor was.
when I saw it I said yes if I can fine the materals. I
did and he took them fishing with him. they are used to
slow a boat down when drift fishing. I thought that was
the only 2 I would make. he called me from his boat while
out fishing and ask if I would make 6, then later it was 8 as time went along it seemed all the fisherman needed one
I now mail them all over the USA and other countrys.
it isn't a land slide busness but it helps my SS check.
if you are wondering what is a sea anchor google
sea anchor I am the first one on the lift.
Yardnut in SC

We call 'em "drogues" in New England. They're important parts of onboard safety gear, too. They assist in controlling the boat is heavy seas and storm conditions. Knowing how to properly use one has gotten more than one sailboat to port safely after losing a rudder (good article about it in either "Sail" or "Cruising World").

I've never made one before, what did you end up using for the material?