Selling Sewing and Quilting Supplies – Pick a Niche ~ Non-Fabric Supplies
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Welcome to Day 6 of How to Earn $ From Sewing and Quilting! Today is part two of Pick a Niche, and I’ll be talking about selling Non-fabric Supplies. (This post does NOT contain affiliate links.)
Before I get started, however, I’d like to quickly introduce you to Dione from Clever Chameleon Quilting who is also doing the Write 31 Days challenge! Her chosen topic is Everyday Quilt Inspiration which has been fantastic so far! Go check it out and get inspired 🙂
Selling sewing and quilting supplies is not just about selling fabric. There are plenty of other supplies you can sell. I am sure there is a name for non-fabric supplies, but I couldn’t think of it 🙂 I could have said notions, but it is more than just notions. Some I mentioned yesterday…
- quilting rulers
- scissors
- pins and needles
- templates
- Accuquilt Go! products
Even within those categories above you can niche down. Let’s have a bit of a look…
General Sewing and Quilting Supplies
Of course a great way to start is to have a range of general supplies that those who sew and quilt might need, like:
- the basic rulers
- rotary cutters
- assorted pins and needles
- tape measures
- chalk pens
- other fabric marking pens
- fabric scissors
- embroidery scissors
- thread cutters
- quilting gadgets like That Purple Thang! or The Cutting Gizmo
You can carry a range of the above, or niche down into more specifics:
Selling Sewing and Quilting Rulers
We all have our favorite brand of rulers. Mine is one that I started with many, many years ago. I bought them in Arabia, and they are not sold anymore. Mine are losing their lines, which is probably why they don’t sell anymore! But I still love using them.
The most popular brands now seem to be Omnigrid and Creative Grids. They have rulers of all shapes and sizes. If you wanted to pick this as your niche, then having the whole range available would make your customers very happy indeed 🙂
Add to that special rulers like the Square in a Square ruler, and books on how to use them, and you’ve added some more variety to your stock.
You might want to get into selling rulers for free motion quilting. There are so many out there, you could easily get a good variety for customers to compare and buy. There are Parrs free motion rulers, Westalee, and Kelly Kline quilting rulers.. just to name a few.
~ Remember, you don’t have to do just one “arm” of a sewing and quilting business! Teaching free motion ruler work? Sell the rulers! ~
Selling Threads
As with rulers, we all have our favorite threads! Mine are actually 100% Italian Cotton, which I have only found in Arabia. I stocked these in my shop because they were easy for me to buy from the wholesalers. My customers could have gone to the same place to buy it, but they would have had pay for a taxi and head out in the heat… so I was providing an easier way for them to buy the thread.
Of course Nora stocks a bunch of threads too, including the Italian threads I sold, Aurifil, Superior and a Japanese brand (can’t remember what it is called!).
Specialising in thread would be a great niche. People like me are always looking for different colors to use for raw edge applique, and having a huge range of thread would be fantastic!
Again, if you are teaching raw edge applique classes, for example, selling threads would be a great side business.
Ok, there are a few ideas for you! I’ll also be writing a post in a few days on how and where to actually sell your supplies once you have decided that is what you want to do 🙂
That’s it for today folks… Come back tomorrow for Selling Sewing and Quilting Supplies – Where to Get Supplies
PS Please remember I am answering your comments in the comment section below and not via email like I usually do. Sorry for the hassle, but I am hoping this month we can share ideas!
PPS The main page of this series is here along with links to each post for this series.
PPPS You can download the FREE EBOOK of last year’s series, 31 Days of Quilting UFOs HERE!
