If you can sew, you should never be short beer/wine/ice cream money

Do you have a sewing machine and have you completed a few projects with it to figure out your brand's quirks and tension foibles?  Have you hemmed a few pairs of your own trousers or skirts? Do you have a few colours of thread on hand at any given time? Great, you can easily make a few extra bucks each month and improve your skills at the same time.

Firstly, stop sewing for your friends for free. I have a great barter and trade system with my friends, that sometimes I work for food; bottle of wine; 6 pack of beer or cider. I currently have an outstanding tab with a friend for a few ice cream sandwiches.

For me, these trades often help me get a home cooked meal with a busy schedule. Or allow me time to visit with friends I don't see as often while I hem a couple pairs of pants. Now, I've been doing this for a while so I can measure, cut/stitch pick, iron and sew a couple pairs of pants or a skirt relatively quickly and carry on a conversation.

However, what a number of home sewers forget about is the internet and the art of the classified site listing. With a bit of research you can find out if your community posts on craigslist, used.com, kijiji, or another site. I only include my email address on my listing and the site I use the listing expires with an email notification after 30 days. This reminds me the ad exists and lets me decide if I want the ad to be "live" for the next 30 days or if life is too busy to make time for fittings.

Often requested repairs are simple and include things like replacing a button, hemming trousers or skirts and waistline darts. 

Don't be afraid to say no if someone describes an alteration or adjustment that you don't know how to do. Or be up front that you will be learning and offer a reduced rate and let your customer decide. 

My biggest problem with alterations for internet friends is delivery windows. I am quite active and do my sewing and general home time in the later evening which is not ideal for meeting people and discussing work that needs doing. My day job however includes a fair bit of driving around town, so I deliver my finished work to people at no extra charge.

The rates I charge for my work are based on the price list I took a picture of at a mall tailor shop. I try to make sure that I'm not getting my sewing machine out and likely rethreading and winding a new bobbin for less than $10.

I've started logging my alterations in my personal "completed" list as sometimes you end up fixing old things instead of sewing new things.

Progress report and finished items:
2 pairs swim shorts altered/repaired
6 floor length fleece cloaks (there will likely be a post about this)
1 pair casual trousers repaired
1 pair athletic pants hemmed
1 pair work pants heavy patched at the knee
1 zipper replaced in a costume onesie

Still working on:
Adding a drawstring to a pair of work out pants
Figuring out pockets for a floor lenght lined cloak I am almost finished
Getting fabric fully off the floor and stored in my new furniture