If you love fashion and design and you have a talent for dressmaking you could become a self-employed seamstress.
Maybe you’ve done a college course or you have always made your own clothes. If you have the right skills then working for yourself enables you to work from home at hours that suit you. Why not try dressmaking?
If you want to make clothes for a customer you will need to be able to communicate well. More than likely they will come to your home and you will talk about the kind of design they want. You can show them pattern samples and advise them on the types of materials that will be best for a particular design.
Measurements and Pattern
Once that’s done you can take your customer’s measurements and create a new pattern or adapt one you already have. After this phase, you will know what costs are involved and you can set your price and take a deposit.
The pattern then needs to be cut and the pieces loosely sewn together. If your customer is buying expensive material you might want to make the first pattern cutting on cheaper fabric to avoid expensive mistakes.
Adjustments
The customer will then try on the newly cut fabric and you can make any necessary adjustments. Once the fitting is over you can then make up the garment.
Bespoke
Most of a dressmaker’s work is done using an electric sewing machine. But, you can offer bespoke services such as hand-stitching or embroidery. You can also offer to carry out repairs and alterations.
As you become more experienced you will obviously build up a good collection of patterns, material samples, buttons and other accessories.
Storage
If you don’t have room at home then you can store your dressmaking tools and materials in self-storage. Store-Safe have three locations around the Stoke area with affordable units that are protected by 24 hour CCTV.
If you are planning long-term storage Store-Safe will come to your home with a van and pick up your items free of charge.