20 Sewing Business Ideas To Start In [2024]
Are you Interested in starting a sewing business?
A sewing business can be lucrative if you plan to start a side or a main hustle. Benefits of starting home textiles business range from creating consistent revenue generation to the possibility of your small business expanding globally.
If you are keen on starting a profitable sewing business, we put together a list of the best business ideas you can start in 2024
Here is the full list:
1. Start a quilt business
If you're crafty and creative, then selling quilts might be a great business for you.
Approximately, the size of the quilting industry is 4.2 billion USD.
How much you can make: $800,000/month
Project Repat turned their customers' memorable t-shirts into 2,000 custom quilts per week backed with cozy fleece, generating $10MM in sales per year from fine-tuning the production process making textile jobs more affordable and eco-friendly in the United States, with grown revenue of 70% over last year.
2. Start a religious embroidery business
Religious embroidery designs feature signs, icons, and ecclesiastical designs used since ancient times. In Christianity, the Christian embroidery designs teach and present Christian and catholic religious truths and spiritual reality.
You can start creating the ecclesiastical embroidery and sell it on Esty or other religious-based platforms.
How much you can make: $15,000/month
Rebecca Ringquist turned a side project of hand-drawn embroidery samplers into a full-time job, grossing over $15K a month with her business Dropcloth Samplers, which she launched accidentally after selling a few samplers at an end of session craft sale that prominent bloggers bought and posted about.
3. Sell leather accessories
The leather industry is among the oldest manufacturing industries in history. It is no surprise that the leather goods market will surpass $623.44 in the next few years.
The leather business is a lucrative idea for entrepreneurs targeting the elite consumer. Just as we know, the rich love antique leather collections ranging from shoes, clothes, purses, accessories, and bags.
If you are targeting the leather market, you can begin as the manufacturer, retailer, or distributor.
As a manufacturer, you will be responsible for the designs and ensuring that the end product suits the end user's purpose. Distributors or retailers work with the manufacturers to make sure the customer gets the products best suited for them.
How much you can make: $515 — $100,000/month
How long does it take to build: 400 days (?)
Silviano Sleeve Co-Founder Sonal Malhotra successfully raised $35k for their world’s first voice-activated luxury leather laptop sleeve through crowdfunding, which was fully funded in less than three hours.
4. Start a sewing and alteration business
Do you have sewing skills and looking for an entrepreneurship opportunity? You can start your sewing and alteration business.
A sewing and alteration business offers customers clothing repair, custom tailoring, button replacement, and other alterations. You can start a sewing and alteration business at home or set up a retail location.
To start a sewing and alteration business, you will need a commercial-grade sewing machine and a marketing strategy, so target customers learn about your business.
How much you can make: $200 — $6,500/month
A patch embroidery business based in New York City has grown to earn $6,500 per month on average within 18 months of starting, thanks to no custom embroidered minimum patches and a strong Instagram presence, with a future focus on B2B customers.
5. Start an aviation uniform sewing business
Aviation uniform sewing companies supply air hostess uniforms, flight attendant uniforms, and corporate attire for all staff working at an airport. If you have mastered sewing, you can target airlines near you and become their preferred attire supplier.
6. Start a sewing classes business
Many people are looking to learn sewing directly from an expert. If you have spent countless hours at your sewing machine and consider yourself an expert in sewing, you can start sewing classes and show others your expertise. Offer a convenient learning path and enjoy teaching what you do best without the pressure of selling anything other than your skills and time.
7. Start an embroidery business
Demand for embroidery supplies is growing globally, so starting an embroidery business in 2024 can be a great opportunity. The industry is experiencing a boom, and it has never been the best time to start your own embroidery business.
Before starting the business, weigh whether you have the right skills and knowledge of different fabrics and stitching. The size of embroidery equipment will depend on the size of the business you are looking to set up and how much you are expecting to grow.
Popular items within the embroidery business include:
- Caps
- T-shirts
- Polo shirts
- Shirts
- Jackets
- Sweatshirts
When choosing the items to stock up on, consider the types of customers always looking for embroidered goods and factor in the market size.
How much you can make: $6,500 — $10,000/month
How long does it take to build: 207 days (?)
A patch embroidery business based in New York City has grown to earn $6,500 per month on average within 18 months of starting, thanks to no custom embroidered minimum patches and a strong Instagram presence, with a future focus on B2B customers.
8. Start a dress mending business
Dress mending can be a lucrative business opportunity. This is because tailoring will remain an essential service regardless of the economy. If you love sewing, consider starting a clothing mending business. Your ideal customers can range from students and staff who wear uniforms to residential and commercial clients such as hotels, lodgings, and restaurants.
9. Start a baby dress making business
Making children's dresses is one of the most profitable business ideas in the clothing industry. Generally, baby garments feature a wide range of designs, colors, and decorations. You can start a children’s garment-making business from home and expand to new locations as you grow the business.
How much you can make: $39,000/month
Joah Love is a children's lifestyle clothing brand that generates over $40,000 a month through its direct-to-consumer website, and has plans to expand to Europe and Asia, while also prioritizing sustainability and inclusivity for children with special needs.
10. Start a crochet business
The crochet or knitting business is one of the easiest ventures you can start today, so long as you have the skills. Crochet businesses can earn good profit margins, especially if you have a good business plan and target a highly potential market.
You can start crocheting part-time and expand your business as you attract more customers.
11. Start a bag sewing business
The global bags market is approximately 3 million and is expected to keep growing. With the demand for bags ever increasing, starting a sewing bag business can be profitable. With a good business strategy that targets potential customers, you can start a retail or wholesale bag production business with profitable returns.
How much you can make: $500/month
How much does it cost to start: $4,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 75 days (?)
To Go Cycles sells a beer-friendly saddle bag for bike enthusiasts and has already sold their product across Canada and the US, improving brand awareness by partnering with local breweries and cycling groups, and planning to expand globally and expand their product range.
12. Start a sewing custom wedding dresses
The global wedding dress market size will hit $61.1 billion in the next few years. With such substantial market growth, opening a wedding dress sewing business can be lucrative.
If you intend to start a custom wedding dress sewing business, you must market your business adequately. Targeting a certain market segment will also help you find the best customers for your business.
13. Start a sewing pattern business
A sewing pattern business focuses on creating custom sewing patterns. Due to the extensive use of measurements and geometric shapes, designing fantastic sewing patterns can be a great business. As an aspiring pattern maker, take enough lessons to equip you with the skills needed to develop trendy patterns that sell.
14. Start an upholstery sewing business
The upholstery sewing business charges customers for making new upholstery products or reupholstering old ones. Upholstery includes materials such as fabric, padding, webbing, and springs that make up the soft coverings of chairs, sofas, and other furniture.
To start an upholstery sewing business, learn basic skills and set up the business at a strategic location.
15. Start a denim sewing business
Denim garments are trendy casual outfits among every age group of people. If you are a fashion designer or sewing expert, you can start a denim sewing business. To succeed faster, focus on a niche item and market your business to the right demographic group.
16. Start a school uniform sewing business
The Uniform sewing business is one of the best to start in the industry. Different schools and management institutions recommend different uniform types, which could be a huge opportunity for your business. Thus, if you are a textile designer with a potential market size, start a uniform-making company.
17. Start a home textile and curtain sewing business
Home textiles and curtains are popular in every typical home. The flourishing growth of global home decor and the flourishing textile industry has been the major driving factor for the market growth.
With the thriving growth of home textiles and curtains, starting your business in that line can be profitable. You can start making brand-new home textiles and curtains or repairing torn curtains.
18. Start a sewing pet clothes
The Pet wearables market has experienced huge growth in the past few years, a trend that experts say will continue for years. Thus, if you are looking for an opportunity within the textiles industry, consider starting a pet clothes sewing business.
Here are ideas for sewing pet clothes
19. Start a sewing blog
Sewing blogs educate readers and answer their questions about sewing and embroidery topics. If you consider yourself a sewing expert, you can make start a successful blog that teaches your audience how to make stitches and how to start a sewing business.
How much you can make: $1,200 — $60,000/month
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
The Crafty Gentleman, a UK-based DIY and craft blog, generates over $1.2k per month through sponsored brand partnerships and recently launched an online shop after organically growing a reader base and consistently nurturing an engaging online presence.
20. Start a sewing machines and equipment distributor
Experts project that the global textile market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 4.0% over the next few years.
Thus, if you are interested in starting a business in that industry, you may focus on sewing machines. And sewing equipment like:
- Masking tapes
- Pins
- Pincushions
- Irons
- Sprayers
- Sewing needles
- Seam ripper
- Tracing wheel and other sewing accessories
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
