That bin of fabric scraps in the corner is inventory, you just have not sold it yet. These scrap fabric sewing ideas use fabric you already own, sew up in minutes and batch beautifully, which is how you fill a craft fair table in a weekend instead of a month. Keychains, zipper pouches, coasters, gift bags, little storage cubes, the things people buy three of without thinking twice. I sort my scraps into clear boxes with no lids in three sizes, because if you cannot see it you cannot find it, and a scrap you cannot find is a scrap you will buy again. Each idea lists the scrap size it needs, roughly what it costs and what it sells for. Perfect for craft fair season, market stalls, school fundraisers and using up fabric you could not bring yourself to throw out. Want fewer, bigger makes instead? Try the best sewing projects to sell.
Scrap Fabric Sewing Ideas for Craft Fairs
Scrap fabric sewing ideas are the fastest way to fill a table, because each one uses fabric you already own and sews up in minutes. Fabric scrap key chains cost about 50 to 90 cents and sell for $6 each or four for $20. A five minute key fob costs about $1 to $1.50 and sells for $8 each or three for $20. Batch them in multiples rather than making one of everything.
1. Summertime Pocket Placemats
Oilcloth placemats with a little pocket on the front for the napkin, which is the detail that makes a shopper pick one up. Oilcloth does not fray and wipes clean, so there is no finishing and no hemming fuss. Straight seams only. Cut a stack in one session and sew the stack in the next.
- Supplies: oilcloth or laminated cotton, cotton lining, thread, clips instead of pins
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3 per mat
- Sells for: about $10 each, or a set of four for $34.
- Batch tip: one yard of oilcloth yields six mats, and six sew up in about ninety minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Tatertots and Jello.
2. DIY Vintage Fabric Key Chains
Wool or heavy cotton scraps folded over webbing and clamped into key fob hardware. The hardware is the only thing you buy, and it is what makes the finished item look bought rather than made. Two inches of fabric each, so this is the project that eats the scraps nothing else will use.
- Supplies: fabric and webbing scraps, key fob hardware, pliers, thread
- Approx cost: about $1 to $1.50 each
- Sells for: about $8 each, or three for $20.
- Batch tip: a whole batch of a dozen in under an hour once the hardware is on the table.
Get the full tutorial at My So Called Crafty Life.
3. Key Fob Wristlet
The loop version, big enough to go around a wrist, which is what people actually want at a pool or a school pickup. Same hardware, same scraps, one extra inch of fabric. Everybody who stops at a fair table understands what it is in under a second, and that matters more than almost anything else you can sell.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, fusible interfacing, one inch key fob hardware, pliers
- Approx cost: about $1.25 to $2 each
- Sells for: about $9 to $12, or two for $16.
- Batch tip: about fifteen from one fat quarter, and ten sew in an hour chain-stitched.
Get the full tutorial at Crafty Staci.
4. Simple DIY Fold Over Clutch
Straight seams, a fold and a snap, and it doubles as a makeup bag, which is how most buyers actually use it. No zipper, so nothing about it slows a batch down. Make them in one bold print and one neutral and you will learn very quickly which half of your table buys which.
- Supplies: half yard of fabric, lining, fusible fleece, magnetic snap, thread
- Approx cost: about $3 to $4
- Sells for: about $18 to $24.
- Batch tip: four to five per hour once they are cut, and cutting six takes twenty minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Flamingo Toes.
5. Easy Sew Star Snuggler
A soft little stuffed star that sits somewhere between a toy and a security blanket. Stuff it lightly and it flops, stuff it hard and it stands up, and the floppy one is the one babies hang onto. Minky or flannel scraps, five seams, and new-baby gifts are a market that never has a slow season.
- Supplies: flannel or minky scraps, stuffing, thread, hand needle for the closing stitch
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $16 to $22, or $30 bundled with burp cloths.
- Batch tip: cut eight from a half yard and sew six in about ninety minutes.
Get the full tutorial at Wild Olive.
6. Reusable Snack Packs
Lined fabric snack bags with a velcro or snap closure, which people buy because the shop version is weirdly expensive and they have three lunches to pack every morning. Use food-safe laminate for the lining and say so on your sign, because that is the question you will be asked all day.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, food-safe laminated lining, velcro or snaps, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50 each
- Sells for: about $8 each, or a set of three for $20.
- Batch tip: ten to twelve per hour, and a school-season table will take every one you make.
Get the full tutorial at Classy Clutter.
7. Pretty Lace Zip Pencil Case
A flat zip case with lace trim across the front, which turns a plain pouch into the one people pick up. Zips intimidate beginners more than they should: sew the zipper first, before anything else is attached, and it stops being the hard part. Scrap-sized and quick.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lace trim, 7 to 9 inch zipper, lining, interfacing
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $14 to $18.
- Batch tip: five per hour once you chain the zippers; a fat quarter gives four cases.
Get the full tutorial at Torie Jayne.
8. DIY Homemade Heating Pad
Rice or flax in a flannel sleeve, three seams and a funnel. One minute in the microwave and it stays warm for the better part of an hour, which you can demo at a table on a cold market morning and sell out by noon. Add lavender to the fill and raise the price without raising the cost much at all.
- Supplies: flannel scraps, uncooked rice or flax, dried lavender, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $16 to $22, and $26 for a lavender one in a gift box.
- Batch tip: eight to ten per hour, and one yard of flannel fills a whole basket.
Get the full tutorial at Alice and Lois.
9. Handwarmers DIY
The pocket-sized version, two to a pair, warmed in the microwave and slipped into coat pockets. Tiny squares, so this is genuinely the smallest scrap you own becoming a product. They cost almost nothing and they are an impulse buy at every outdoor market between October and February.
- Supplies: cotton or flannel scraps, uncooked rice, thread
- Approx cost: about 60 cents to $1 a pair
- Sells for: about $8 to $10 a pair, or three pairs for $20.
- Batch tip: twenty pairs in an hour if you sew them in a long chain and cut them apart after.
Get the full tutorial at Sugar Bee Crafts.
10. Drawstring Bag
The plainest sewn thing on the table and one of the best sellers, because a drawstring bag holds shoes, toys, knitting, gifts and swimsuits, and a shopper will think of at least one of those before you finish your sentence. Two seams and a casing. Make them in three sizes and price accordingly.
- Supplies: cotton or canvas scraps, cord or ribbon, safety pin, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $3 depending on size
- Sells for: about $10 small, $16 medium, $22 large.
- Batch tip: one yard cuts into eight small bags, and eight sew in about an hour.
Get the full tutorial at See Kate Sew.
11. Patchwork Pot Holder
Scraps pieced into a square, layered over insulated batting and bound around the edge. The patchwork is the point: it is the only project here where a completely random pile of leftovers turns into something that looks deliberate. Insulated batting is not optional, and a buyer will ask.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, insulated batting, cotton batting, binding strips, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3 each
- Sells for: about $14 each, or a pair for $24.
- Batch tip: piece six tops in one sitting, quilt and bind them in the next, six per two hours.
Get the full tutorial at Moda Bake Shop.
12. Multi Purpose Zipper Pouch
The workhorse. A lined zip pouch in three sizes sells to every single person who walks past, because there is no one who does not have a loose pile of something. Make the sizes obviously different so a shopper buys the set rather than choosing between them.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, interfacing, zippers, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3.50
- Sells for: about $12 small, $18 medium, $24 large, or $45 for the nesting set of three.
- Batch tip: six per hour with the zippers chain-sewn; a fat quarter makes two mediums.
Get the full tutorial at Peggy Sew.
13. Pretty Fabric Envelopes
A fabric envelope for a gift card, a note or a bit of jewelry, which solves the December problem of handing someone a plastic card and nothing else. Tiny amounts of fabric, one button, one loop. They cost you almost nothing and they let you upsell every other thing on the table.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, fusible interfacing, button, elastic loop or ribbon, thread
- Approx cost: about 75 cents to $1.25
- Sells for: about $7 each, or four for $24.
- Batch tip: fifteen per hour, and they are the best use of scraps under six inches square.
Get the full tutorial at A Spoonful of Sugar.
14. Loyalty Card Wallet
A slim card wallet with a few slots, aimed squarely at the person whose handbag is full of loose loyalty cards, which is most people. Small, flat and cheap to post, so this one earns online as well as on a table. Interfacing everything is what makes it hold its shape after a month of use.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, fusible interfacing, snap or velcro, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50
- Sells for: about $14 to $18.
- Batch tip: six per hour, and one fat quarter gives you five.
Get the full tutorial at A Spoonful of Sugar.
15. Zippered Pouches
The flat, simple, lined pouch, which is the first zip project most people ever finish. Mine come out in batches because once the machine is threaded I am not stopping at one. Buy zippers by the bundle in mixed colors, because the zipper is the only cost that moves, and it is what lets you price a scrap at fifteen dollars.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, interfacing, zippers, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $14 to $18, or two for $26.
- Batch tip: seven per hour once cut; cut twenty at once and sew them across two evenings.
Get the full tutorial at The Girl Inspired.
16. Purple Potluck Bowl Covers
Elasticated fabric covers that replace plastic wrap on a mixing bowl, sold in graduated sets of three. Shoppers work out what they are for the moment they see them stretched over a bowl on your table, so bring the bowl. Sell them in threes tied with twine, never singly.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, quarter inch elastic, safety pin, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3 a set of three
- Sells for: about $22 to $28 a set. Singles, if you must, at $9.
- Batch tip: nine covers per hour, which is three sets, from about a yard of fabric.
Get the full tutorial at The Cottage Mama.
17. DIY Dog Collar Bow Tie
A little bow that slides onto a dog’s collar, in whatever print the owner cannot resist. It uses a scrap the size of your palm and it sells at a price that has nothing to do with that scrap, which is the honest reason it is on this page. Bring a photo of a dog wearing one.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, fusible interfacing, narrow elastic or a fabric band, thread
- Approx cost: about 60 cents to $1
- Sells for: about $10 to $14, or a seasonal set of three for $30.
- Batch tip: fifteen per hour, and one fat quarter makes about twelve.
Get the full tutorial at Good Dogs Co.
18. Stickable Bottle Cap Pincushion
A bottle cap, a puff of stuffing, a circle of fabric and a self-adhesive pad on the base so it sticks to the machine itself. Sewists buy this instantly, because the pin they just took out has nowhere to go. Costs pennies, sells for real money, and takes about four minutes.
- Supplies: bottle caps, fabric scraps, stuffing, hot glue, adhesive pads
- Approx cost: about 40 to 75 cents
- Sells for: about $6 to $8, or three for $16.
- Batch tip: twenty per hour, which makes this the best filler item on the table.
Get the full tutorial at Tea Rose Home.
19. Patchwork Lanyard Tutorial
Strips of scrap pieced end to end into a lanyard, with a swivel clip on the bottom. Teachers, nurses and anybody with a badge will buy one, and they will buy a second one for a colleague if the print is right. It is a long strip of nothing, sewn into something people wear every working day.
- Supplies: fabric strips, fusible interfacing, swivel clip hardware, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.25 to $2
- Sells for: about $12 to $15.
- Batch tip: ten per hour, and the scraps that are too narrow for anything else are ideal here.
Get the full tutorial at Two Peas in a Pod Designs.
20. Wallet Organizer
The bigger one, with slots for cards, a pocket for notes and a snap to hold it shut. It takes longer than everything else here, so treat it as your one anchor item: the piece that makes the cheap items look like a bargain by comparison. That is a real pricing tactic and it works on a table.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, lining, heavy interfacing, snap, thread
- Approx cost: about $3 to $5
- Sells for: about $28 to $38.
- Batch tip: two to three per hour, so cut six and sew them across an evening.
Get the full tutorial at LBG Studio.
21. Metallic Gem Zipper Pouch
The same quick pouch with a faceted gem shape and a metallic panel, which costs you an extra ten minutes and doubles what people will pay. Metallic vinyl does not fray and does not need finishing, so it is easier to sew than it looks. This is the pouch that pulls people over from the next table.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, metallic vinyl or faux leather, zipper, lining, clips
- Approx cost: about $3 to $4
- Sells for: about $20 to $26.
- Batch tip: four per hour; do not pin the vinyl, clip it, because pin holes are permanent.
Get the full tutorial at See Kate Sew.
22. Easy Gadget Pouch
A padded little sleeve for a phone, a camera or a pair of glasses. Fleece or batting inside is what makes it a gadget pouch instead of a bag, and it is the thing a shopper checks with their thumb. Fast, small, and it uses scraps you have already decided were too small to matter.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, fusible fleece, velcro or a button, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50
- Sells for: about $12 to $16.
- Batch tip: eight per hour, and a fat quarter makes five with the padding cut from offcuts.
Get the full tutorial at A Pretty Cool Life.
23. Quilted Box Pouch
The three-dimensional one that stands up on its own, which makes it the pouch people use for makeup and knitting rather than for a drawer. Boxing the corners is two extra seams and looks much harder than it is. Quilt the outer panel from scraps first and the whole thing becomes a showpiece.
- Supplies: scrap panels, batting, lining, long zipper, binding for the seams, thread
- Approx cost: about $3.50 to $5
- Sells for: about $26 to $34.
- Batch tip: three per hour once the panels are quilted; quilt a yard of panels in one sitting.
Get the full tutorial at Fort Worth Fabric Studio.
24. Fabric Basket Tutorial
A stiffened fabric basket that holds its own shape, which people buy for bathrooms, nurseries and the hall table where the keys live. Heavy interfacing is the whole secret, and skimping on it is the difference between a basket and a sad fabric bag. Sell them in nesting sets.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, heavy fusible interfacing or fleece, lining, thread
- Approx cost: about $3 to $4.50
- Sells for: about $22 to $30, or $55 for a nesting set of three.
- Batch tip: three per hour, and a yard of fabric plus interfacing makes four mediums.
Get the full tutorial at Riley Blake Designs.
25. Fabric Gift Pouch Tutorial
Gift wrap that does not end up in the bin, which is a sentence that sells the whole item. A small lined pouch with a drawstring or a tie, made from whatever is left of a print you loved. Make a run in December colors in November and they go out by the armful.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, lining, ribbon or cord, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.25 to $2
- Sells for: about $9 each, or three for $24.
- Batch tip: twelve per hour, and they are the ideal home for scraps under a quarter yard.
Get the full tutorial at Handmadiya.
26. Fabric Storage Cube
A soft cube sized to drop into a shelf unit, which is why buyers ask for them in pairs and then come back for four more. Measure to a common shelf size and say the measurement on your sign, because the person asking has a specific gap at home they are trying to fill.
- Supplies: canvas or heavy cotton, heavy interfacing, lining, thread
- Approx cost: about $5 to $7
- Sells for: about $28 to $36 each, or two for $60.
- Batch tip: two per hour, so this is a cut-one-day, sew-the-next item.
Get the full tutorial at The Sewing Directory.
27. Double Sided Tissue Pouch Tutorial
A tissue holder with a second pocket on the back for sanitizer or a lip balm, and that second pocket is the entire reason someone chooses yours. Under fifteen minutes each, the smallest scraps you own, and a basket of them sells right through cold season.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, thread
- Approx cost: about 60 cents to $1
- Sells for: about $7 each, or three for $18.
- Batch tip: fifteen per hour, and a fat quarter makes about ten.
Get the full tutorial at Glue Sticks Blog.
28. Circle Zip Earbud Pouch Tutorial
A round zip pouch for earbuds and charging cables, which is more fun to pick up than another rectangle and takes barely more fabric. The curved zipper looks alarming and is honestly just slow for the first one. Teen and teacher gifts, and it uses scraps the size of a coaster.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, fusible fleece, 9 inch zipper, lining, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50
- Sells for: about $12 to $16, or two for $22.
- Batch tip: six per hour after the first; cut all the circles at once with a plate as a guide.
Get the full tutorial at Erin Erickson.
29. Simple Zipper Pouch
If you only make one thing on this page, make this one. A lined zip pouch sells in every fabric you can produce, at every fair, all year, which is not true of anything else here. The tutorial has video, so the zipper step stops being frightening in about four minutes.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, interfacing, zipper, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $14 to $18.
- Batch tip: seven per hour, and a fat quarter gives three.
Get the full tutorial at Polka Dot Chair.
30. Reversible and Reusable Gift Bag Tutorial
One bag, two prints, flipped depending on who is getting it, closed with a little wooden button and a loop. Two looks from one bag means two photos for a listing and one fewer thing to make. Gift wrap that gets kept is exactly the sort of thing a booth gets remembered for.
- Supplies: two coordinating cottons, wooden button, thin elastic or cord, thread
- Approx cost: about $3 to $4
- Sells for: about $18 to $24, or three for $50.
- Batch tip: four per hour, and a yard of each print makes six bags.
Get the full tutorial at Then She Made.
31. Fabric Hearts
Little stuffed hearts from scraps, which is the project I reach for when I want the calm of sewing without committing an afternoon to anything. They sell as ornaments, as bowl filler and as small Valentine bundles, so the same batch has three seasons to earn in. Ours, with the full tutorial on the site.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, stuffing, ribbon for hanging loops, thread
- Approx cost: about 50 cents to $1 each
- Sells for: about $6 each, or a bundle of five for $24.
- Batch tip: twenty per hour sewn in a chain, and they use scraps too small for anything else.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
32. Pencil Case Tutorial
A boxy zip case big enough for pens, pencils and a small pair of scissors, and it is billed as one of the easiest ways to learn a zipper. Print is everything here: every parent at a school fundraiser wants the one that is not the same as everyone else’s. Scraps only.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, interfacing, zipper, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $14 to $18.
- Batch tip: six per hour, and August is the month to have forty of them ready.
Get the full tutorial at Crazy Little Projects.
33. Coffee Cozies
Small, fast and made almost entirely from scraps, which is the best margin on this whole page. I sew a rainbow of prints and they go out by the basketful, and most buyers take two because one lives in the car. Reusable, useful, cheap to make. Our tutorial has the full method.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, insulated or fusible batting, snap or button, thread
- Approx cost: about $1 to $1.75
- Sells for: about $8 each, or three for $21.
- Batch tip: twelve per hour, and a fat quarter makes about eight.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
34. Sewn Drawstring Bag
The kid-sized version, for pool days, toys and travel, which shoppers pick up faster than the adult one because it looks like a solved problem. Simple seams, a hem casing, a cord. Make them in bright prints, because a child choosing the bag is what closes this sale.
- Supplies: cotton or canvas scraps, cord, safety pin, thread
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50
- Sells for: about $12 to $16, or two for $22.
- Batch tip: eight per hour, and one yard makes six kid-sized bags.
Get the full tutorial at Crazy Little Projects.
35. Fabric Scrap Key Chains
Two inches of fabric, a loop and a ring. This is the item that exists purely to turn the bottom of the scrap bin into money, and there is no shame in that at all. Keep a jar of them by the cash box as the thing people add on while they are already paying.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, key rings, interfacing, thread
- Approx cost: about 50 to 90 cents
- Sells for: about $6 each, or four for $20.
- Batch tip: twenty per hour, and a single fat quarter makes about eighteen.
Get the full tutorial at Craftiness Is Not Optional.
36. Heating Pad Infused With Essential Oils
Rice, scraps and a few drops of oil, which is the upgrade that lets you charge more for the same sewing. Put the oil on the rice and let it sit overnight before you fill, or the scent sits in one patch and fades in a week. Lavender for sleep, eucalyptus for sore shoulders, and label them.
- Supplies: cotton or flannel scraps, uncooked rice, essential oils, thread, kraft labels
- Approx cost: about $2.50 to $3.50
- Sells for: about $20 to $26.
- Batch tip: eight per hour, and scenting the rice a day ahead is what makes batching possible.
Get the full tutorial at Living Chic on the Cheap.
37. Washable And Reusable Bowl Covers
The everyday version of the covers, in plain cottons for people who are simply tired of buying plastic wrap. Make them in three sizes to fit a cereal bowl, a mixing bowl and a casserole dish, because those are the three a home cook actually owns.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, elastic, safety pin, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3 a set of three
- Sells for: about $20 to $26 a set.
- Batch tip: three sets per hour, and one yard of cotton covers nine bowls.
Get the full tutorial at The Gracious Wife.
38. 5 Minute Key Fob
Five minutes, which means a dozen in an hour with time left over for a cup of coffee. Do not skip pressing the raw edges in before you clamp the hardware, because that step is what stops the fabric pulling out later. Pure scrap work, and it is the best filler item you can stock.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, fusible interfacing, key fob hardware, pliers, thread
- Approx cost: about $1 to $1.50
- Sells for: about $8 each, or three for $20.
- Batch tip: twelve per hour, and a fat quarter makes fifteen.
Get the full tutorial at Crazy Little Projects.
39. Easy Fabric Bows
Fabric bows on clips, which are two minutes each and go home with every little girl who touches one. Make them in three sizes and put them in a bowl at child height. Bows are one of the things I have made most over the years, and the fabric version is faster than the ribbon version once the strips are cut.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, fusible interfacing, alligator clips or pin backs, thread
- Approx cost: about 40 to 75 cents
- Sells for: about $5 each, or four for $16.
- Batch tip: twenty per hour, and the strips come out of the offcuts of everything else here.
Get the full tutorial at Stitched by Crystal.
40. Fabric Heart Coasters
Heart-shaped padded coasters, sold in fours, and they are the Valentine item you can also sell in plain linen all year. Quilting the front panel from scraps first turns a cheap coaster into something that looks considered, and that is where your price comes from.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, cotton batting, thread, turning tool
- Approx cost: about $1.50 to $2.50 a set of four
- Sells for: about $16 to $22 a set.
- Batch tip: three sets per hour, and they are ideal for scraps under five inches.
Get the full tutorial at Thirty Handmade Days.
41. Easy Burlap Drawstring Bag
Burlap drawstring bags for wine bottles, candles and gifts, and burlap costs almost nothing by the yard. It frays enthusiastically, so serge or zigzag every edge before you assemble, and iron it, which is the step everyone skips. Rustic sells hard at fall and Christmas markets.
- Supplies: burlap, cotton for lining or trim, twine or ribbon, thread
- Approx cost: about $1 to $2
- Sells for: about $10 each, or three for $26.
- Batch tip: ten per hour, and one yard of burlap makes about eight bottle bags.
Get the full tutorial at Sewlicious Home Decor.
42. Quilted Circle Coasters
Round quilted coasters, four to a set, tied with twine. The circle is what makes them look professional and it is also the reason people pick them over square ones, and it costs you nothing extra. Piece the tops from whatever is in the scrap bin, which means the cost is basically the batting.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, cotton batting, binding or turn-and-topstitch, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 a set of four
- Sells for: about $18 to $24 a set.
- Batch tip: three sets per hour, and a half yard of batting does five sets.
Get the full tutorial at CraftFoxes.
43. Geometric Zipper Pouch
The pouch again, but pieced into a geometric panel first, which is how you sell the same shape twice on one table. Piecing is where your scraps go and it is also where the price goes: a plain pouch is fourteen dollars and a pieced one is twenty-two.
- Supplies: fabric scraps, fusible fleece, lining, zipper, thread
- Approx cost: about $2.50 to $3.50
- Sells for: about $20 to $26.
- Batch tip: four per hour; piece a stack of panels one evening and sew them up the next.
Get the full tutorial at Sew Delicious.
44. Binder Pencil Case DIY
The version with grommets down one side so it clips straight into a three-ring binder, which is the detail that makes a parent buy it instead of the plain one. Grommets go in with a hand setter, no machine required for that part. A back-to-school item with a very short, very busy season.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, interfacing, zipper, grommets and setter, thread
- Approx cost: about $2.50 to $3.50
- Sells for: about $16 to $20.
- Batch tip: five per hour, and stock forty of them for the first two weeks of August.
Get the full tutorial at Gina Michele.
45. Crafty Crayon Roll Up
A fabric roll with stitched slots for crayons, tied shut, which is the thing every parent wants in a handbag at a restaurant. Measure the slots against an actual crayon and sew the dividing lines in one continuous pass. Sell it with the crayons in it and it stops being fabric and starts being a gift.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, lining, ribbon tie, thread, crayons if you sell it filled
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3 empty, about $3.50 filled
- Sells for: about $14 empty, $20 filled.
- Batch tip: five per hour, and a fat quarter makes three.
Get the full tutorial at So Sew Easy.
46. Soup Bowl Cozy
The fabric cradle that lets you take a hot bowl out of the microwave with your hands. Use 100 percent cotton fabric, cotton thread and cotton batting, all of it, with nothing synthetic anywhere near it, because this goes in a microwave and that is not a detail to improvise on. Demo it at the table and they sell themselves.
- Supplies: cotton scraps, cotton batting, cotton thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $12 each, or a pair for $20.
- Batch tip: eight per hour, and a yard of cotton makes eight.
Get the full tutorial at Happy Hour Stitches.
47. Pom Pom Burp Cloth
A burp cloth with pom pom trim along the edges, which is the version that gets picked up off a table of plain ones. Sew the trim into the seam rather than adding it on top, or the first wash will tell on you. Baby gifts are the steadiest money at any fair, all year round.
- Supplies: flannel or cotton scraps, terry backing, pom pom trim, thread
- Approx cost: about $2 to $3
- Sells for: about $12 each, or a set of three for $30.
- Batch tip: eight per hour, and a yard of flannel plus a card of trim makes six.
Get the full tutorial at Mary Martha Mama.
FAQ
What can you sew from fabric scraps to sell?
Small goods that only need a fat quarter or less. Fabric hearts cost about 50 cents to $1 each and sell for $6 each, or a bundle of five for $24. A stickable bottle cap pincushion costs about 40 to 75 cents and sells for about $6 to $8, or three for $16. Neither uses a piece bigger than your hand.
How do you fill a craft fair table quickly?
Pick five items and make twenty of each rather than one of forty things. Fabric envelopes cost about 75 cents to $1.25 and sell for $7 each or four for $24. Double sided tissue pouches cost about 60 cents to $1 and sell for $7 each or three for $18. Both cut and sew in production runs without changing your setup.
Which scrap projects batch the best?
Anything with a repeated shape and no fitting. Easy fabric bows cost about 40 to 75 cents and sell for $5 each or four for $16. Coffee cozies cost about $1 to $1.75 and sell for $8 each or three for $21. You can cut a whole stack at once and sew the pile in one sitting.
Do bundles sell better than singles at a fair?
Considerably, and they move your stock faster at the same time. Potluck bowl covers cost about $2 to $3 for a set of three and sell for about $22 to $28 a set, with singles at $9 only if you must. Handwarmers cost about 60 cents to $1 a pair and sell for about $8 to $10, or three pairs for $20.
Can you sell sizes rather than singles?
Offering sizes lets one pattern earn three prices. A multi purpose zipper pouch costs about $2 to $3.50 and sells for $12 small, $18 medium, $24 large, or $45 for the nesting trio. A drawstring bag costs about $1.50 to $3 depending on size and sells for $10 small, $16 medium, $22 large.
Where to Next
