There are several different ways to make money with a craft or sewing blog and I’ve been working to consolidate resources and ideas in one spot! I hope you find some of the links below useful when you’re trying to figure out how to make money as a craft and sewing blogger! Do you know of something, somewhere, or someone I should have added here? Contact me!
There are links to relevant and helpful facebook groups, link parties, group pin boards, submission-friendly websites, affiliate programs, ad programs & media agencies, blogs that “talk business”, google+ communities, & blogging tools.
I’m always striving to improve, but you can see how much money I am making each quarter in my regular reports on traffic and income, all found here. I share my top methods for both making money and boosting traffic, below.
I also want to share that I’m a member of the Craft Industry Alliance – it is a unique community so I wasn’t sure which category to include it in! It is a trade organization for creatives, including bloggers, with a recurring online journal, private forum, and lots of resources – so check it out!
Pin this post to re-read later, here:
How to make money as a craft and sewing blogger – the mega, master list!
My top earning methods
- The Etsy Affiliate Program, join Affiliate Window here and then apply for the Etsy program.
- This is great for gift guides, like this one! I also link to supplies and patterns; you can see examples of Etsy links in this post and this post that have done well.
- The Amazon Affiliate Program, join it here.
- I link to supplies and books; you can see examples of Amazon links in this post and in this post.
- The Bluprint (formerly known as Craftsy) Affiliate Program, join Shareasale here and then apply for the Bluprint program.
- I link to classes primarily, though they do have supplies and patterns as well; you can see an example here.
- Ads – I am a part of the Mediavine Ad Network, who I highly recommend and have written about here. I started out with Google Adsense and Amazon CPM ads, switching over once I had enough traffic.
- Selling my patterns – you can see my PDF sewing patterns in my shop! I sometimes contribute patterns to bundle sales or online magazines like One Thimble, as well as on Etsy.
- Sponsored posts – I have approached companies myself (example post here) but list several other agency options below.
- Freelance writing – I have moved away from this but in the past I have worked with several different companies and other blogs, writing tutorials for them on their own sites and linking to it from my own (example post here).
Affiliate Programs for craft and sewing bloggers!
Affiliate programs all have different terms, but pay you when someone clicks through and makes a purchase or signs up for something.
This is treated as income for you personally or if you’re registered as a business – please talk with your tax advisor, etc. about taxes. Also check out FTC regulations; there are different ways to indicate affiliate links but they need to be noted as such.
Amazon.com
Annie’s Craft Store
Big Bag Bundle Sale
Connecting Threads
Consumer Crafts
Craft Industry Alliance
Craftstash
Create For Less
Creativebug
Cricut
Ebates.com – now known as Rakuten see my post explaining what Ebates is all about here, it is amazing!
- Check out what Ebates has to offer (right now, money back at Joann’s, Amazon, Fabric.com)
- Become an Ebates affiliate (register, sign-in, and click “tell-a-friend”)
Etsy
Free Craft Patterns
Fat Quarter Shop
Gotham Quilts
- Shop Gotham Quilts here
- Become a Gotham Quilts affiliate here
Groopdealz (sometimes has crafty stuff)
Joann Fabrics
M&J Trimming
Online Fabric Store
Sizzix
Sulky
Target
The Confident Stitch
Individual Sewing Pattern Designers
Bella Sunshine
Cozy Nest Designs
Golden Rippy
Itch To Stitch
Jennuine Designs
Love Notions
One Thimble E-Magazine
Peek-a-boo- Patterns
Straight Stitch Designs
Ad Programs & Sponsored Post Agencies
Google Adsense – ads
Martha’s Circle – ads
Mediavine (see my review of working with Mediavine, I love them, here!) – ads
Pollinate Media – sponsored posts
Social Fabric – sponsored posts
Ways to Network, Connect, & Promote
My top promoting methods
- For the record, most of my biggest boost are group boards or groups that aren’t currently accepting more members! I also get a huge bump in traffic by using Tailwind – it is a scheduling service that also has a ‘tribes’ feature, allowing you to easily repin other members’ content.
- I always submit my tutorials to Craft Gawker, Craft Gossip, All Free Sewing
Facebook Groups
Be sure to read the rules – some groups only allow link sharing on certain days or in certain places!
About Blogging/Designing
- Craft Your Blog: Bloggers Central
- Sewing/Craft/Creative Bloggers Group (No link! I created & am the admin for this group on Facebook, I set it to ‘secret’ because I was tired of weeding through 20+ membership/spam requests a day. Email me and I’m happy to add you.)
- While She Naps Softie Designers Forum
- Stitch Smarter
About Making
Link parties:
- Pam at Threading My Way has ongoing link parties that I like checking out and participating in, as well!
Group Pin Boards:
Boards that are welcoming new members!
- So Sew Cute
- Sewing Tutorials & Tips
- Get Pinspired with Crafty Bloggers
- A Refashion Obsession
- Teen Crafts
- Free Sewing Patterns
Websites That Accept Submissions
Some of these just feature tutorials, linking to you, and some are looking to publish it in full, read through and ask for more details if the page is unclear!
- 30 Minute Crafts
- All Free Christmas Crafts
- All Free Holiday Crafts
- All Free Kids Crafts
- All Free Sewing
- Craft Gawker
- Craft Gossip
- Craftster
- Cut Out and Keep
- DIY Candy
- DIY Cozy Home
- DIY Ready
- Dollar Store Crafts
- Fave Crafts
- Fave Quilts
- Free Quilt Patterns
- Fun Family Crafts
- Geek Crafts
- Get Crafty
- HomeTalk
- Instructables
- Just Bright Ideas
- Scrappy Girls Club
- Sew Can She
- Sewing 4 Free
Ways To Learn & Grow
Blogs that talk crafting business
- Oh My! Handmade
- While She Naps
- I post here from time to time, see the posts here
- Craft Industry Alliance’s blog
Blogging Tools I Use
- Name Cheap – where I bought my domain!
- Siteground hosting (for my other site! I use Techsurgeons for this one, but recommend Siteground as well)