Making a little extra cash

[GoddessDanu]

What do you make and sell to earn a little extra money?

I was thinking of sewing baby doll quilts with my leftover scrap fabric and selling them at our local crafters bazaar.

Any other ideas?

 

[hwillm1977]

I draw portraits for extra income... I try for one a week, at $80-100. I dream of one day making this my primary income so I'm working on getting more and more portraits.

I sew LARGE dog clothes. I can never find nice coats for my dogs (very short hair pit bulls living in Canada) who weigh 65 and 85 pounds, so I started sewing them and people asked me about them... so I started selling them, but just through word of mouth.

I buy wedding dresses on ebay (usually from China) and then re-sell them locally. That can be a risk though, I have gotten dresses that weren't good enough quality to make any money on. If the dresses are nice, you can usually make $100-300 profit/dress.

Pretty much, I'll try anything to make a few extra dollars here and there

 

[ksalvagno]

What about sewing your scraps together for child size quilts? Like something you would throw on when watching TV. Not necessarily for a bed. Or even making throws for adults that could be used as just a quick throw for watching TV or something.

 

[Dace]

I think I agree with ksalvagno....in this economy I think people would be more apt to buy something useful for a child that a little quilt for a doll.

A kids quilt seems like a more useful thing....or how about your own version of a quilted Snuggy. Those things are everywhere right now!

 

[Wildsky]

I found it so difficult to make a buck out of sewing stuff, the amount of time spent, and the cost of fabric etc was just too much to make money.
When I was sewing to sell, I'd be lucky to make $5 an hour - based on electricity use, fabric etc...

Folks can go buy a blanket at walmart or other store for $20. A home-made blanket would cost that to make if not more, then add in the hours spent making it and you'd be lucky to break even.

 

[Bettacreek]

$5 an hour is more than what you'd be making just sitting on your tush. If you enjoy it, or have the extra time, why not?

 

[Wildsky]

$5 an hour is more than what you'd be making just sitting on your tush. If you enjoy it, or have the extra time, why not?

I make more working at a real job where someone else pays me for my time. Hence I threw in that towel.

Also I can get more value for my time doing other things for my family - not 24/7 but the time I have free, I can sew clothing or fix torn clothing etc..
make more food from scratch than when I spent my days behind a sewing machine.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Well, I doubt anything that I make from my farm currently could be considered "extra" cash, more like "cash I wouldn't have" cash or "not quite as deep in the hole" cash. LOL

Right now, we just sell extras. Extra rabbits, extra chickens, extra geese, extra eggs.

So far, the only things that are definately "profitable" would be the rabbits. Because the amount of food, space, and work I put into them, compared to the amount of cold poo, meat, fur, and selling extras don't put me in a hole, or not one that I have a problem with.

Whereas the chickens, they tend to go on periodic egg strikes and then I'm just feeding something that isn't giving anything back. lol

 

[Wifezilla]

I was planning on selling duck eggs...

Then a hawk decapitated 2 of my layers. Then the others went in to a heavy molt. Then freezing temps hit. I am lucky to get one egg a day now

My solution to this was to, naturally, get more birds. So now I have a quad of quail. I am gathering eggs for a test hatch. If that goes well i will have quail to sell in a few weeks. If nobody is interested in buying them, I will have meat for the freezer.

In the past I have sold knitting. I still do custom work from time to time.

I have sold plus sized costumes on ebay, but then they started feeing me to death so I stopped that.

Like Wildsky, I make more at my "day job", but I would like one of my hobbies to pay

 

[Nifty]

One of my favorite topics! I have a lot of stuff I can do on the side for when I need extra cash. Some are things I love to do but don't pay very well. Some are things I hate, but pay better.

My eternal struggle for work/life balance and quality of life and quality of work.

Some of the things I use to love to do were inkjet cartridge refilling and LED light design & construction. Both of which were totally fun and didn't pay well, but then moved into being something that didn't pay well and I hated doing (at least when there was a demanding client on the other end).