What Can I Embroider to Make Money?
The embroidered items that sell best are personalized gifts and practical items people buy again and again: baby items, towels, tote bags, hats, patches and seasonal decorations. Personalization is what lets a small embroidery business charge more than a store.
Here are the items most home embroiderers start with, grouped by who buys them.
Baby and children's gifts
- Bibs, burp cloths and blankets with a name or birth date
- Birthday shirts and first-holiday outfits
- Stuffed-animal ears and feet with a name
Home and kitchen
- Kitchen towels with sayings or seasonal designs
- Monogrammed bath and hand towels
- Pillow covers and table linens
Wearables and accessories
- Tote bags and makeup bags
- Hats and beanies
- Sweatshirts and T-shirts for teachers, nurses, sports parents and pet owners
- Patches, which are small, quick to stitch and easy to post
Seasonal and occasion items
- Christmas stockings and ornaments
- Wedding handkerchiefs and gifts for the wedding party
- Graduation, Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts
- Free standing lace ornaments and bookmarks
Work for local groups
- Shirts and caps with a logo for small businesses
- Team, club and school items
What makes an item worth selling
- Low stitch count. A design that stitches in ten minutes earns more per hour than one that takes an hour.
- Cheap, reliable blanks. Towels, bibs and totes cost little and are easy to hoop.
- Personalization. A name or date turns an ordinary item into a gift people pay more for.
- Repeat demand. Baby gifts, weddings and holidays come around every year.
Before you sell
- Price for your time. Add up the blank, thread and stabilizer, then add a charge for stitching time and setup.
- Check the license on each design. Most design shops allow you to sell items you stitch, but not to share or resell the design file itself.