What I think about before saying yes to a sewing gig
Over the past couple of months, I’ve taken on a various sewing gigs. Instead of writing “what I made” posts, I thought maybe I should write about what to think about before saying yes to a particular sewing project. I hope this will be useful for someone thinking about sewing for other people.
1. Do some research
Before agreeing to take on work, I do some research. List up the materials and notions needed to complete the project. How much do they cost? Can you buy the fabric online or do you have to go to fabric shops to buy it? You will have to estimate higher if you have to go buy fabric yourself, considering the cost of transportation and time. Try and estimate how long it will take to sew. Do you already have similar patterns you can modify or do you have to draft one from scratch? Writing this up will help you avoid the situation of agreeing to work that does not make monetary sense. It helps you come up with a reasonable fee for the client when you know what you are charging for. It’s better to know how much work is involved before going in than being surprised once you start.
Sometimes I agree to sew something that looks complicated which turns out not to be. For instance, when a client asked if I can sew the dress above, I was hesitant. The pin tucks, small ruffle details, tiered skirt…It looked like it would take hours and hours of work. Plus, I did not have any similar patterns. Surprisingly, it was fairly simple to sew since many pattern pieces involves straight sewing so the cutting was easy. It is a pleasant surprise when that happens! Also, I often ask clients to provide garments that fit them well and
are similar in style, so it would help me cut the time for drafting patterns, which results in lower estimate.
2. Is it mass production or one-of-a-kind custom work?
I get asked to sew for other people’s shops, sometimes. The work could be “make three of this top in size medium and four in size large”. I found out that this kind of gig doesn’t pay well and I don’t enjoy it as much… It’s one thing to sew multiples for my own shop, but it is another thing if I have to do it for some other shop owner. It might sound selfish but at least the former makes me feel like I’m suffering for my own cause!
3. It’s ok to take on work that does not pay you minimum hourly wages, sometimes.
It might sound like I’m contradicting point number 1, but if a project is something you are interested in, you can learn new skills from or you would enjoy making it, you might want to consider working on the project regardless of how much it pays you,. At the end of the day, it is not all about money. It is about growing your business and constantly learning new skills.
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We recently moved! Our new place is in Kiyosumi Shirakawa, not too far from our last place in Kiba. The new place is a bit smaller, and has much less storage space. I am usually good at sorting and throwing out excess stuff but it is a different story when it comes to sewing supplies and patterns. I had hard time deciding what to take and what not to take. Even supplies like buttons, I had to stop and think, “will I regret throwing this out?” I had about 6 boxes full of fabrics, threads, pattern files on top of three sewing machines including one industrial machine. Thankfully we had a mover who helped carry the sewing machine that weighted more than 80kg(!) up to fifth floor without an elevator. 
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One of the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur is to have consistent work coming in every month. Some months might be great and some months might not be so good in terms of the amount of incoming work. When you’re in busy season, you have to manage your work and triage it to get everything done on time. On the other hand when you know it’s not your busiest month, you have to work hard to create more work.