The Skills that Make You Rich: Sewing
I don’t even mean go out and buy a sewing machine! I mean the type of sewing you do by hand, although a sewing machine takes it to another level. Sewing by hand is actually fairly easy, and getting rich with sewing should be advised more often.
The costs for getting started are minimal: you just need to get a basic sewing kit. They come with everything you could possibly need for less than ten dollars. If you want something a little more fancy like this one or this one they’re still very affordable and less than twenty dollars.
Several YouTube videos make it easy to understand basic stitches, which breathes new life into clothes with minor rips or tears. Stay uber stylish and maintain the best parts of your wardrobe for future you. Plus, having a sewing kit on-the-go can really save your bacon if something on you rips before some big meeting or interview.
In the beginning your mends to clothes won’t be that noticeable. If they are and you’re self-conscious about it, just pretend like it’s intentional and part of visible mending. These upfront costs give you an amazing ROI when it come to saving your clothes and those you find thrifting. If there’s only some small cosmetic issue with it, why not repair it instead of discarding it?
Best of all, knowing your way around a sewing needle pays you back twofold, both by lowering your clothes costs and by potentially making you money.
How It Lowers Costs
Darning holes! Fixing buttons! Even tailoring, if you’re that advanced! Getting rich with sewing is especially pertinent when you consider how many clothes you can revive with some new stitching.
Let’s say your favorite pair of jeans is practically threadbare in the thigh area. Do you just wear them out and mourn their passing? Not in the Guac household, you don’t; we put those jeans on life support and artificially extend their lifespan by months and years!
I really like the walkthroughs Sew Guide gives, which got me more time with my perfectly broken-in denim. If you want even more guidance than that, again YouTube is your best friend. Thanks to the related videos section I also got into embroidery somewhat, which has covered some of the biggest rips and made them look kinda nice! Even when said embroidery was made by me, done as I plodded along my first embroidery project.
This also levels up your thrift store game. Other people might pass on that perfect shirt or scarf because of some minor flaw, like a sad little tear or a super loose button that you know will come off in the wash. With your sewing skillset, that bother you at all. Buttons are the easiest things of all to re-stitch. Nailing that sucker back on is a freaking walk in the park, and when you’re done you know that button is likely never coming off. Win.
Additionally, I’ve seen some folk enact clothing bans, during which they straight-up don’t buy new clothes. If you’ve one of them, sewing definitely supports you and makes it easier to stick with it. There’s no downsides to knowing sewing, and it should be taught as a basic life skill like starting a fire or how to wash your hands.
How it Can Increase Your Income
Remember when I mentioned other people pass on slightly-flawed stuff? Flipping clothes is an interesting niche of sites like Depop and Poshmark that can make a neat side hustle; getting rich with sewing has never been easier. If you advance to embroidery (which is your basic stitch, just done in a design) your market just opened up even more. Make the clothes you’re selling into statement pieces; jazz up that jacket with embroidered art or that button-down with the We Want Guac logo. 😉
Heck, look around your town and see if there’s a particularly high number of people you can market your skills to. There might be an elderly population who can’t do the sewing themselves. Or a huge Boy or Girl Scout troop near you with endless badges to sew on their vests. Lots of blue-collar workers might need their work uniforms mended instead of getting a whole new outfit. See where you can help the most and adapt your offerings to fit that audience.
If you find a real knack for sewing, you might find other crafty things to be up your alley as well. The art of sewing and embroidery naturally lend themselves to all things fabric-related and/or crafty, like knitting, crochet, and macramé. It also lends itself well to anything that involved detailed work and good hand/eye coordination. Who knows what you’ll end up falling in love with? The only thing you risk by trying is finding out it’s not your thing, which is a very low-stakes approach to making money in the long run.
So what’s your take on getting rich with sewing? Ready to buy that sewing kit and go off to the races?