My bird’s eye view of the custom sewing and dressmaking industry (mostly in the US) has taught me so much about the potential of this profession, and the type of women (we are mostly women, after all) who choose it.
Word of mouth is powerful. Negative or positive, word of mouth will bring attention to your business. While word of mouth is a great way to get new business, even the best dressmaker can find herself with less (or more!) business than she wants at any given moment. Scheduling a proper workload is difficult for dressmakers. The flow of clients can be unpredictable, and the variables are many…
The main market for dressmakers (like it or not!), is bridal. Dressmaking is very specific, careful, skilled work… and to navigate the bridal market, a dressmaker has to be able to deal with the emotional roller coaster that comes along with doing this type of work. I’m not just talking about the bride. There is the mother of the bride, mother of the groom, flower girls, bridesmaids, and the coordination of all of those people in their various locations, challenges (and temperaments) to handle. Some people are just lovely. Some people know exactly what they want. Some people have a positive body image. Some people are completely reasonable, puctual, and friendly. Some are none of these things. A dressmaker has to be prepared for any combination of problems, including her own variables. If one wants to do this type of work, she has to be sure to keep an ample supply Tums, Pepto and Advil…
Having said that, the general rule of thumb regarding what a bride should be spending, is 10% of her wedding budget on the gown. Anyone may choose to spend considerably more or less, but it would be best to know what she is really expecting, since, if she wants her gown custom-made, she is buying an invisible product. The woman who wants a knock-off of the $6000 gown she loves for $1000 is almost guaranteed to be disappointed. The dressmaker has to make sure she knows that it will likely require a significant downgrade in materials and labor to fit her budget.
Lastly, make sure she knows her options. The web is full of sites which will help her plan and budget her event. It can be hard to distinguish good ones from poor quality ones...there is such an information overload these days.
It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. No longer feeling the need to document my every move, and feeling much more in the flow of life since both of my children started school again last week, I can now focus on my business again. It has been a long,hard summer, fraught with all sorts of challenges and complete exhaustion, but I am coming out of it now. (Thank God!)
So, I will now be pulling in information from old posts, writing new ones, and updating the blog to reflect where I am now. For a little while, I will be cleaning up some projects, resolving unfinished business, and generally resuming my professional life. Deep breath... full steam ahead!
Subscribe in a reader 
Add to del.ici.ous
Very well stated, Mimi. I have occassionally sewn for bridal parties and it can be an emotional rollercoaster for the dressmaker and the bridal party.
ReplyDelete