Sewing at home as a business

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

The Internet is full of websites, blogs and video tips on how to start a business. And the most relevant today is doing business without leaving the walls of your own apartment. People try themselves in all areas of individual entrepreneurship. But there is a unique profession that has always had all the characteristics of a real business. Historically, it began in the house of a tailor who created fantastic outfits with her own hands. Only after a while, tailors began to unite in artels, and then grew into sewing enterprises. However, even now there is such an activity as tailors who sew at home.

A seamstress at home - is there any point?

There is always a meaning, but this profession is not for everyone. To be successful in this speci alty, you need to have creative thinking, ingenuity, perseverance and great patience. Since painstaking work requires a lot of attention and, as the people say: "Hands must grow from the place where they need to." Usually, such home workshops either produce outstanding tailors, or "drivenhorses" who take only the lowest paid orders. But there are also seamstresses who work well and do not overwork, although this is rare.

Benefits of tailoring at home

1. Everyone wants to have their own business, tailoring services make it possible.
2. Don't spend a lot of time on the road.
3. You can vary and build a flexible schedule to keep up with family responsibilities.
4. You can sew at a convenient time. If it is convenient to do this during the day, you can use the first half of the day, but some creative people are more comfortable working in the afternoon and until late at night.
5. Professionals let you choose your own orders.
6. No problems with sick leave, vacations.
7. You don't need to ask anyone for time off when you are your own boss.
8. There is an opportunity to have time to drive and pick up children from school and kindergarten.
9. It is quite possible to have a hobby that is not overloaded with sedentary work, for example: sports or yoga.

Disadvantages of tailoring at home

1. The stumbling block of this type of income is disorganization. If this business is started by an unorganized person, then there is a high probability that nothing will come of it. Since at home it is most difficult to concentrate on the task. Constant household chores, children, husbands require attention, and in order to sew, you need to be able to concentrate only on doing the work, so as not toallow unnecessary mistakes and rework.
2. Expenses for equipment. It is necessary to have professional equipment: a sewing machine, an overlocker, a sewing machine, a professional iron and a comfortable ironing board.
3. Working area equipment. You need to have a separate workplace, preferably a separate room where equipment will be installed and a working area will be arranged, in which accessories, fabrics, patterns and other important items should be located.
4. Lighting costs. It should be suitable, it is desirable that daylight penetrate. And lamps for the dark time of the day should combine white daylight and warmer. Such lighting will be most comfortable for the eyes. Lighting devices should be located directly above the work area.

5. Many people forget that working at home as a seamstress is a vacancy that requires not only labor, but also financial costs for electricity. The mistake is made by those who do not include the cost of electricity in the price, since all equipment consumes a fairly large amount of electricity.

How to build a sewing business at home?

There are two options for organizing your small business:

• The first is to do business on your own. More suitable for professional tailors as it is a big responsibility. You either need to sew a lot, making a profit from the quantity, or get into the layer of extra-class professionals in tailoring expensive products. For example, an assortment of evening and weddingdresses.

• Second is to work for the employer. This option is becoming very popular, as many entrepreneurs prefer not to spend extra money on renting premises and buying equipment and accessories. And for seamstresses, this is a good alternative, since they do not need to look for customers and spend money on advertising. Basically, seamstresses at home are considering vacancies, experiencing a shortage of customers.

  

Most Popular Product Types for Home Sewing Business

Employers look for home-workers when it is not profitable to set up a sewing shop or if low-paying products are made:

• The range of bed linen, tablecloths and napkins is a very easy to sew group of products where only a straight stitch is required. It does not pretend to great professionalism, but it requires speed of execution and accuracy.
• Assortment of home clothes: bathrobes, aprons, pajamas - this is a more difficult group to perform, but also does not require special skills, just like the next two groups.
• Assortment of overalls: for doctors, builders, repairmen, etc.
• Children's assortment: bonnets, panama hats, baby's undershirts, envelopes for a newborn, sliders and more.
• Festive assortment. This activity is for elite and highly skilled tailors and fashion designers who make evening and wedding dresses.
• Also in demand are clothing alteration and repair services.

Why didn't they include an assortment of topclothes? Because this is the field of activity of the atelier, few homeworkers deal with this group of products. And if they do, they are seamstresses who work for themselves, and they have enough money. This is a rather extensive group of products: coats, jackets, trousers, skirts, suits, dresses and more.

Work as a seamstress at home repairing clothes

People can not always afford to buy new things often, so they turn to the atelier. Many tailors use outworkers to do minor repairs, which are time consuming because they handle more expensive tailoring services. Not every seamstress at home takes on alterations and repairs, but this service is in high demand, especially in areas with low living standards.

What jobs are interested in for amateur and professional tailors?

Those who do not have a high level of qualification are interested in the offers of employers offering simple work on tailoring bed linen and children's products.

Professionals also differ in rank and experience. There are ordinary seamstresses with secondary specialized education. This is the largest layer of workers who are looking for jobs as homeworkers.

And there are pros! These are fashion designers who highly appreciate their services. Such seamstresses at home do not need vacancies from third-party companies. But in some cases, wedding salons use their services. Fashion designers and high-level tailors sew wedding and evening dresses for the elite.

What are employers primarily interested in?

Ifsuddenly there are not enough customers and there is an opportunity to find a customer on the Internet, why not take advantage of this? There are many job sites in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Common employer requirements:

• Territorial residence.
• Experience: how many years and previous jobs.
• Skills: Frequently asked questions about the specifics of a seamstress applying for a job.
• Accuracy and responsibility, as the employer provides his materials and requires the minimization of marriage.
• The quality of the equipment that a seamstress has at home, in some cases the employer provides his own equipment, but this is extremely rare.

Some employers play it safe and give a task for a trial period. And then, satisfied with the result, they increase the payment and give more serious orders.

Necessary questions for job seekers to the employer

You can use any search engine that will display all the latest job ads for seamstresses at home. Vacancies are provided, but they do not always stipulate all working conditions, so you should read them in more detail.

Required Questions List:

• What is the pay? How is it produced? After the completion of the entire order or on a per-unit basis, in cash or to a bank account, prepaid or upon completion?
• Are there any bonuses for an order completed on time or ahead of schedule?
• Are there any pen alties if the order is not completed on time?
• Does the employer provide all the necessary accessories: threads, needles, pins, buttons, zippers, etc.?
• Are templates provided or already cut parts provided?
• What are the marriage deductions?
• Is the customer willing to help troubleshoot equipment during the order process?
• How the transfer of finished products will take place, whether the employer will pick up the order himself or the tailor will need to deliver the completed order to the employer. Then you need to take into account the transportation costs.

In order for the contractor's expectations to be justified, it is better to ask all your questions and clarifications for each received order without hesitation. It is also important to know the phone numbers and legal address of the company.

Popular jobs for homeworkers in Moscow

Internet resources that distribute information on employment in Moscow put up a lot of offers for homeworkers. Designer tailoring of curtains, lambrequins, bedspreads and decorative pillows has now become especially popular. There was a demand for this service, and, consequently, home-based seamstresses familiar with the specifics of curtain and interior textiles became in demand.

The second most popular jobs are seamstresses at home in Moscow, working with an assortment of light clothing: dresses, sundresses, summer blouses and skirts.

Sewing bed linen is a fairly common offer, always in demand from both employers andworkers. The third most popular work of seamstresses at home in Moscow is the tailoring of bed linen, as this is a fairly simple operation that requires only speed of execution. But it has its own specifics, since often the employer requires not only manufacturing, but also ironing and folding bedding. And sometimes packaging.

Popular vacancies in St. Petersburg

Unlike Moscow, the northern capital provides vacancies for homeworkers manufacturing sportswear, car and aviation covers. Need seamstresses at home in St. Petersburg, who can sew leather and leatherette products.

At the moment there are not so many offers for those who want to sew at home, but they are. Announcements are updated regularly, and it is not known what exactly will be in demand in this field of activity tomorrow. But the latest vacancies for seamstresses at home in St. Petersburg are tailoring children's sportswear and sports accessories, and with good pay. Judging by the provided options for employment sites, professional employees are mainly required for production and sewing workshops. Perhaps this is due to distrust in the quality of performance without the control of technologists. Everything shows that today in Moscow they use the home work of dressmakers much more than in St. Petersburg.