Need ideas, please read

stuff that is hard to get yet simple to make. geekstuff for kids for example. these are rippoffs of shirts i saw on thinkgeek.com you could try selling things like these on ebay:

simple to make and fun to give.

janm (good luck)

alterations

Just this morning I was in a local kid boutique in my town and saw some adorable bibs for sale. They are certainly easy to make -- these were just two different patterns of fabric stitched together with velcro for the closure. The key was that the fabrics were very different from eachother and looked adorable together. One that I remember in particular was a very pale yellow chenille backed with a blue/white gingham. If I still had a baby in the house, I'd have bought it. :-)

And of course folks love to see Baby's name on things!

I've also seen some cute oil cloth bib & changing pad sets.

- Alyssa

Teeshirts with your name and something about being a new mom. Show them at a baby group by wearing them. More ideas like that where people will ask if they can get one.

Ask a small business if they would like logo embroidered polo shirts for their "team" if you do digitizing. Some can be created by using existing patterns and adding some fancy words.

alterations

This is key. My kids carry stuff I make for them everywhere -- backpacks, t-shirts, hats, etc. And almost every b-day party I go to the kid gets something with my embroidery. I get loads of requests that way.

Ahem, and if you live near Scottsdale, AZ, I "hear" the craft-show embroidery market is already saturated. ;-)

- AP

I saw something last week at the super market that looked like it might be a big seller at craft fairs, and even to individuals--a seat for toddlers in a shopping cart. It was my neighbor so I had no qualms about asking questions. She said she made it because the shopping carts are dirty and it was all just straight sewing and heavy velcro to fasten it to the basket. She found it on a site offering free projects, but doesn't remember which one. You could do a search on Google and find it, I imagine. Look for "shopping cart seats". If I can find out, I'll post the site. Another thing, I have found to be a big seller at craft fairs are crib sheets and receiving blankets to match. Most of JoAnn's and Hancock's carry a selection of matching cotton & flannel. These can seamed up quickly. Purchased sheets are usually small for cribs and soon tear at the corners and the flannel receiving blankets are never large enough and tend to shrink when washed. I make mine at least 36 inches square and a little decorative stitch around the edges with matching or contrasting thread adds to it. Book covers are a big seller here as well. If you do not have directions for them and/or crib sheets, I can send them to you. Emily

Thank you Emily :)

If you could find me the link for the pattern, I would be eternally grateful! I tried googling pattern for; grocery cart cover, grocery seat cover, etc, etc, and couldn't find a link for a free pattern. Thanks again, that sounds like such a good idea!

Aqua

Hi Aqua

The pattern for the shopping cart seat was in a recent issue of Sew News or Creative Machine Embroidery, if you send me your email address I will look through my copies & scan the article in for you to make a copy of the pattern. Who knows you may be able to approach the Grocery store & show them the finished article & they may place an order for them so all babies can sit in comfort in their carts giving them an advantage over their competitors. One other thing is to buy plain baby/children's T-shirts when they are on sale at the end of the season & then embroider cute characters on the front & sell them on Ebay.

Thank you so much Allison!

my email address is: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Thanks so much for being willing to do this for me, and thank you for the idea of approaching the store management!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Aqua