Sewing, crocheting and knitting for kids, pets

Here are two true stories about women who turned their needle hobbies into extra spending money for retirement.

Sewing for Children

Liz was for decades the bookkeeper for her husband’s successful automotive repair business.  After her husband passed away, in her late seventies she began to use her sewing talents. At first she made small quilts and cute aprons for little children which she sold in a local open air market and in some neighborhood children’s stores.

Then she found some pre-printed fabric that could be made into washable books for little children and suddenly her weekly income doubled! Her primary customers were grandmothers who bought the washable books for grandchildren who live in distant cities. For Liz this success meant more money for her to spend on her own grandsons.

Sewing for Pets

Pet clothes, pet blankets, pet booties and pet beds–they all sell for very high prices both in local pet shops and online.  If you have both the interest and the skills to create innovative items for dogs, in particular, you can make a tidy amount of extra income. It probably is best to contact a local independent pet store to see what might sell in your area.

Knitting and crocheting

Search for handmade sweaters or hats or children’s clothing on etsy and you will discover that there are many, many women making crocheted or knitted clothing to sell online. The competition is fierce.

But Joanna came up with a solution that brought her extra money as she was approaching retirement. She had been selling inexpensive, casual women’s clothing successfully in an open air market for about a year. At home she crocheted a cute little bunny hat for her newborn granddaughter. Then she made a cute fuzzy bear hat. Friends of her daughter loved the hats and asked if Joanna would make ones for gifts.

She recognized that she could probably sell these hats at her market booth and Joanna’s handmade children’s hats business was born. She began to develop other creature-hats and make them in sizes for other ages of children up to pre-school. And she made them in bright, sometimes shocking colors. Little boys loved her vibrant green dinosaur hat and the black and white panda hat was a hit, too. Before long, the crocheted hats were creating more profits than the women’s clothing she sold.

With an eye to expanding her business she opened a store online and had trouble keeping up with the demand. That’s a problem many handcrafters would love to have! Eventually she and her husband moved out of state to the house they had bought for retirement near Seattle and she sold only online. (Note: Read Joanna’s husband’s story about a delayed retirement here.)

Practical tips: To keep your costs low when you are getting started buy your business cards from VistaPrint and set up a free website using WordPress.com or WIX or other website software company.