Is it possible and how to make money from sewing? How to start working as a seamstress at home - a step-by-step plan Get started sewing.

To understand how to make money at home by sewing, you don’t have to take expensive courses or seminars. Having good experience in sewing her own clothes, every woman will be able to organize a small company and engage in her favorite pastime with benefit for her pocket. Below we will talk about what items are in particular demand, and we will give instructions on how to make money by sewing at home.

Step-by-step instructions: how to make money at home by sewing?

If a person knows how to sew, he will never be left idle. Handmade products are in great demand because they are unique and of high quality. People want to dress elegantly and stylishly, but not everyone has the means to purchase branded clothing or accessories. It is for such fashionistas that there are home-based craftsmen who charge a relatively small fee for completing an order and tailor the new item exactly to the client’s figure.

Before making money by sewing at home, a person will need to clearly think through a plan of action. Organizing a business in your own apartment requires certain features and nuances. It is not always as simple and safe as is commonly believed. The master must carefully prepare a special place and warn all household members that a certain area of the common home will now become a work office.

The following instructions will help you better coordinate your activities and set up a profitable business. How to make money at home by sewing:

If there is a lack of experience, it is worthwhile to undergo training. This can be done by watching videos or visiting a thematic group. Experts will talk about how to make money at home by sewing and give valuable advice to beginners. As a rule, expenses for such training are extremely small or non-existent. At the same time, the future master will have to sacrifice more than one hour of his time for training and acquiring additional skills.
Choose a niche and determine the direction of your creativity. Depending on your own skills, select several items that you could make with high quality. You should not take on too difficult projects at the beginning of your creative journey. Reputation plays a vital role, so it is worth assessing your own professional capabilities in advance. It’s better to start with simple products and gradually get richer with them than to take a complex order and ruin the material.
Assess your capabilities and make a rough plan for making a profit. Compare the time costs with how much income you want to receive monthly. If this is the only job, you need to think through the budget in detail and, based on the data obtained, determine the work schedule.
Inspect the equipment, check its performance and quality. Buy additional accessories. You don't need many tools to get started. All you need is a simple sewing machine, a set of needles, black and white threads, a few buttons, zippers and designer embellishments for quick clothing repairs. All other materials are selected according to specific orders.
Calculate the optimal cost of your labor and set a price list. To begin with, you should set the average hourly salary for your region, and after promoting the company, it will be possible to adjust the cost in accordance with demand. The more clients, the higher the price of the work. The master will gradually gain experience and will be able to attract the customer not only with affordable prices, but also with high-quality items.
Advertise yourself. To do this, it will be useful to place an advertisement on the city and district website. Communicate on forums and offer services to friends. Tell your friends about your professional passion, perhaps they will bring new clients or spread the word within their social circle. Be sure to start a group on social networks. It won't take much time or effort, but good community promotion will significantly increase the number of orders.
Work on your brand, create creative things. To better attract customers, it is recommended to come up with your own brand and create business cards. In some cases, it is permissible to sew things with small branded insignia. Most often this concerns fashion accessories or decorative elements.

This manual gives a clear understanding of how to make money at home by sewing. Not only beginners, but also experienced craftsmen who have been unemployed for a long time or engaged in other activities can use the step-by-step instructions.

Sewing business ideas

Love for what you do is very important for a master. Being carried away by the creative process, the seamstress will receive true pleasure and will be able to work much harder. Overtime assignments will not hamper her, and communication with clients will become easy and pleasant. To work with inspiration and pleasure, you need to choose the most attractive industry. Below we describe a number of products that a professional seamstress can create:

Clothing manufacturing is in great demand, despite high competition. Purchasing fabric and ordering a pattern is much cheaper than buying things in a brand store. As a rule, craftsmen work with a specific segment of customers. There are seamstresses for the middle class and for VIP clients. The former receive much more orders, but the latter can earn a very large amount from one client.
Pet clothing is becoming increasingly popular. If earlier stylish suits could be seen only occasionally and exclusively on small dogs, now things are sewn even for large breeds. The production of such products takes relatively little time, and the amount of material allows the cost to be significantly reduced. Due to their narrow specialization, the craftsmen receive a large fee, but clients can only be found in very developed cities.
Women and men of all ages need handbags, so a good manufacturer will never be left without customers. To create high-quality accessories you will need special equipment and skills, but in the end the costs will quickly pay off. Today you can find a huge number of attractive models in fashion magazines, but purchasing them is not so easy. At the same time, by placing an order with a private seamstress, a fashionista will be able to receive any model within a few days.
Children's clothing at reasonable prices will quickly find its buyer. In online stores, products for children and adults are priced almost equally, despite the significant savings in material. A private specialist will be able to reduce costs on fabric and thereby offer clients very affordable prices.
Home textiles for adults and children allow you to freely use your creative inclinations and experiment with style. It is known that a skillfully selected curtain or bedspread can completely transform a room and give it a special charm. Make several sets and put them up for sale. Accept individual orders and develop a product design taking into account the characteristics of the room.
Designer dolls can be made from different materials, including fabrics. By collecting a few scraps, the master will create an original toy for children or a stylish design element. If a seamstress has a good sense of taste, she will be able to produce several unique dolls and sell them profitably. After developing her company, she will receive more and more orders. Most often, such products have a low cost, but are highly valued due to their exceptional design.

Each direction can bring large profits, because all of them are in demand and are adequately paid by clients. Identify one or more areas for yourself and start working. Don’t expect simple and quick success, get ready for productive work and over time your small business will expand.

The habit of shopping without leaving home, as well as the fashion for things of one’s own design, have created a new niche for the Russian market - the online atelier. You won’t become a billionaire in it, but it’s enough to live on

Afour: fashionable sneakers

St. Petersburg resident Vladimir Grigoriev worked as a graphic designer before opening an online shoe-making studio and skateboarded in his free time. In 2008, Grigoriev’s friend Andrei Chentsov suggested that he order a pair of sneakers: Chentsov’s mother was a professional fashion designer. “For skaters, good sneakers are an object of worship, so I liked the idea,” he recalls. “I tried to draw a sketch of the shoes of my dreams, but nothing came of it: I either repeated existing models, or the result was something unwearable.” A few months later, Vladimir returned to the idea, but not as a client, but as a businessman. Today his company sews 70-100 pairs of shoes per month worth 700 thousand rubles.

Vladimir Grigoriev (Photo: personal archive)

The partners decided to sew men's and women's sneakers, sneakers and boots. Grigoriev and Chentsov spent 400 thousand rubles of their own savings on registering an individual entrepreneur, creating a website and its promotion, purchasing soles and accessories. Another 100 thousand rubles. was required to rent a workshop and purchase leather. There were no problems with equipment: thanks to the connections of their fashion designer mother, the entrepreneurs rented a workshop in a garment factory, which at the same time helped them with sewing.

The first clients appeared quite quickly - groups on social networks gave a good return, shoes made to individual standards were new for Russians. But the 2008 crisis confused the cards for businessmen: people abandoned this service, like many other luxuries. Grigoriev's partner became disillusioned with the idea and left the business. “I was faced with a choice: pay off my debts and return full-time to my previous job, or restart production alone,” says Grigoriev. “I was so used to not depending on the decisions of management that without any calculations I decided to take the second path.”

The relationship with the factory had to be terminated: despite detailed technical specifications, workers often confused the color schemes of the shoes. “We were getting yellow and green sneakers instead of green and yellow. And it was impossible to explain that this is a devilish difference. The pairs had to be altered at our expense,” recalls Vladimir. The entrepreneur decided to learn to sew himself. It took six months to study the theory and get the hang of it. In the fall of 2009, Grigoriev launched an updated website and began accepting orders.

The businessman handled all the processes himself, working in a rented workshop. Soon we had to hire a first assistant - a “weekend” shoemaker, who shaped the blanks and glued the soles to all the pairs sewn during the week. The company worked with this staff of one and a half people until 2011. When the number of orders per month reached 30, Grigoriev decided to leave my job as a graphic designer and switch completely to Afour. He rented a new workshop with an area of 120 square meters. m and began to recruit a team - now he has 10 people: six work in production, four in the office.

Until the online designer appeared on the site, Grigoriev sent clients printouts of sketches, which they colored with colored pencils. Now you can experiment with the color scheme of the outer and inner parts of shoes online. The site presents eight models of demi-season shoes and one of summer shoes.

To find the ideal size, the customer must measure the foot using a piece of paper, a pen rod and a sewing meter. Based on this data, Afour is sewing a test pair of shoes - slips (soft sneakers without laces made of denim). If the slips fit on the foot, the ordered pair is sewn according to the same measurements. The cost of a test pair is 990 rubles. — the company reimburses in the form of a discount on the main order. The cost of one pair of shoes ranges from 5 thousand to 16 thousand rubles. From the moment the design and size are agreed upon, 10-17 days pass until the order is received.

Today the company fulfills 70-100 orders per month, receiving revenue of about 700 thousand rubles. The business margin is 30-35%: 25% of the final price is the cost of materials, 40-45% is labor and rent. The operational payback came only in 2015, and Grigoriev plans to return the investment within the next 15 months.

Modcust: dream sweatshirt

When Anton Ilievich could not find the sweatshirt of his dreams in the usual stores, he decided to create it himself. In February 2014, together with two friends, Vladimir Solovyov and Denis Yakovchenko, Ilievich registered Modcast LLC.

Anton Ilievich (Photo: personal archive)

Having experience in online trading (he sold Casio watches), Ilievich began by developing a website, and at the same time studied the theory of sewing. About 1.5 million rubles were spent on creating an online designer, renting a workshop, and the initial purchase of materials and equipment. the founders' own funds.

Using the Modcust designer, you can create a sweatshirt according to individual sizes - you need to take the measurements yourself. There is almost no risk of not guessing the size, says Modcust. “A sweatshirt is not a shirt; it does not require detailed measurements,” says Ilievich. It is enough to know the size of the chest and waist, the length of the sleeve and the entire product. However, if the client still makes a mistake, the company will replace the sweatshirt with a suitable one for free.

The designer currently offers four models of sweatshirts and two models of sweatshirts (no hood or pocket). On the website you can choose the color scheme of each element of the sweatshirt and offer your own print.

The production of sweatshirts reacts sharply to seasonality: in the warm season, demand decreases, with the onset of cold weather it increases. Ilievich found a way out of the situation: in the summer he sells T-shirts under the same brand. “The margins here are much lower: the cost is comparable to a sweatshirt, and the final price should be much lower, so production volumes are small,” explains Anton.

Modcust workshop with an area of 70 sq. m is located in Moscow, next to Paveletsky railway station. It employs three seamstresses, a designer and a technologist. There is a separate workshop for printing prints and embroidery, which employs three more specialists. There are three managers in the office who handle sales. It takes two to three days to produce one sweatshirt, but 80% of orders are wholesale, so the turnaround time is two weeks.

The retail price of a sweatshirt ranges from 1.5 thousand to 5 thousand rubles, the wholesale price - from 0.9 thousand to 1.5 thousand rubles. The cost depending on the fabric is 0.7-0.9 thousand rubles. In 2015, the company's average monthly revenue was 330 thousand rubles. Such indicators forced the founders to pay rent and payroll out of their own pockets for the first eight months of work, and now the company has reached zero operating levels. Entrepreneurs plan to return their initial investments after another six months of work.

Modcust presents its products at city fairs and markets: Faces & Laces, Lambada Market, and the Chiffonier project at Moscow Fashion Week. Our own showroom is still under development.

In the near future, a massive merger of online studios and traditional stores is coming, Ilievich believes. The showroom, where you can see examples of models and order an item according to your own size on the spot, will become increasingly popular. “This is how men’s suit tailoring shops worked 100 years ago,” says Anton. “Now we’re just going back to that model.”

“Custom shirt”: Izhevsk tailoring

The idea to create an online shirt-tailoring studio came to Vasily Muntyan in 2008, after he ordered a shirt from the Swedish online tailor Tailor Store. He left the post of manager of the Izhevsk Bystrobank office, of which his father was a shareholder. Renting his own workshop, purchasing equipment and fabrics, creating a website and initial wages for employees cost Muntyan 15 million rubles. Production started in the winter of 2009. My father became an investor in Shirts to Order.

Vasily Muntyan (Photo: personal archive)

The lack of experience in sewing slowed down the process, Vasily admits: “For the first year and a half we learned to sew shirts that we would not be ashamed to offer to business clients. Most of the time was spent on perfecting the patterns: we bought shirts from world manufacturers and watched how this or that part was made.”

Now the company employs about 50 people: 40 are employed in production (seamstresses, craftsmen, designers, cutters, warehouse workers), 10 in the office. In addition to the production workshop with an area of 500 sq. m in Izhevsk, “Shirt to Order” has a showroom in Moscow, where you can view fabrics, take measurements and pick up your order.

The most expensive shirt costs 7.8 thousand rubles, the cheapest - 1.85 thousand rubles. This is a test shirt made from standard white fabric, which the client orders for testing or if he is afraid of making a mistake with the sizes. Now the company sells 1200-1500 shirts (90% of them for men) and 30-40 polos per month. The shirt is sewn within seven days. Delivery both in Moscow and in the regions is free.

In 2014, Shirt to Order made a profit of 3 million rubles for the first time. with revenue of 30 million rubles. The initial investment has not yet paid off. Muntean hopes this will happen in the next three years. According to the businessman, 60% of operating expenses are wages, 40% are rent, delivery and advertising.

While collecting customer feedback, Vasily realized that the desire to turn buyers into designers had deprived him of quite a large part of the target audience. “Our client is the one who managed to figure out the online constructor,” Muntean smiles. “But by simplifying the process, on the one hand, we will lose clients who are accustomed to diversity, and on the other, we will move closer to standard solutions that can be found in the mass market.”

Fairy Tailor: folk dress

Anastasia Grigorieva, an economist by training, never planned to get into the sewing business. After graduating from university, she worked for 3.5 years in an investment bank, and then decided to open her own business. “I was looking for a business for the soul that did not require large start-up investments,” says Anastasia. “Having become interested in the work of Russian designers, I realized that I would like to create clothing models together with clients.” As a partner, Anastasia invited her friend Yana Adlyukova, who then worked in the publishing house. Having registered an individual entrepreneur and conducted market research, the girls invested the accumulated 230 thousand rubles. in website development with an online designer.

Anastasia Grigorieva (right) and Yana Adlyukova (left) (Photo: personal archive)

The friends decided not to spend money on production and office. Private seamstresses had to sew clothes at home. “Finding personnel was a huge problem,” recalls Grigorieva. “We selected suitable seamstresses by trial and error, testing clothes on ourselves and friends.” About 40 thousand rubles were spent on trial sewing. Currently, Fairy Tailor employs five seamstresses under contract.

The site went live in September 2014, and the company received its first order in November. The emphasis was on sewing dresses, but the designer also allows you to create trousers, skirts, overalls and children's clothing. Clients must take measurements themselves - for this Grigorieva and Adlyukova created detailed instructions with illustrations. If clients can’t cope on their own, the founders will help do it at home or in the office (for 300 rubles). Among the non-standard orders the atelier is currently working on are a stage dress for a participant in the “Voice” program and a princess dress from the cartoon “Cinderella” for a seven-year-old customer.

Currently, the site receives about 10 orders per month. The average bill is 8.3 thousand rubles. Profitability - 40%. Revenue for the first year of operation amounted to 1 million rubles. Invested 270 thousand rubles. The entrepreneurs paid for themselves in seven months. The girls succeeded in this mainly due to the absence of operating expenses: the only cost was payment for website hosting (3.3 thousand rubles per year). Grigoriev and Adlyukov also advertise themselves - on social networks.

Online studios will actively develop in the near future due to the instability of exchange rates, Grigorieva believes. “Things in the mass market of high quality and haute couture have risen in price several times. And at the client’s request, we can purchase Chanel and Dolce Gabbana fabrics, but such a dress will cost several times less than the original,” she says. “In addition, the customer can customize the item he likes by changing the length of the sleeve or the details of the style.”

Clothes and shoes on the Internet

RUB 93 billion— turnover of Russian online clothing and footwear stores

21% — growth in revenue from online clothing and footwear stores in 2014 (compared to the previous year)

4.8 thousand stores sells clothes and shoes on Runet

26% average daily orders made via the Internet are in the clothing and footwear segment

Data: InSales research

How to make money from sewing? The most common question asked by those who decide to devote themselves to sewing and needlework, not just for the pleasure of the soul, but with the firm intention of making money. I divide such people into two categories. Because for each group of needlewomen, the approach to earning money is different. And you need to clearly understand what caste you are from in order to formulate the right plan of action.

The first are those who make a business out of their hobby. And they often have a problem: they don’t know how to sell. That is, they do not know simple truths in business. Such as what is demand, needs, working with objections, a portrait of the target audience and other important aspects without which their favorite business will soon burst like a soap bubble. Because creative people come into business not because they want to make money, but because they like doing what they love.

There is also a second group of people whose business arises from the desire to get rich. They know how to organize demand, where to get a sea of hot clients, but they also don’t buy from them. And why all? Because selling without love for your business is initially a failure. I always say that if a person does what he loves, what his soul burns with, success will always await him. And if, roughly speaking, you push your goods and services onto people, customers will run away from yours - “buy”, “today is the last day of the discount”, etc.

Let's talk today about the most common mistakes of the first category of needlewomen, because I myself consider myself to be one of them. And from my own experience I went from being a hobby to my dream job. And if you, like me, are passionate about your own business, but still don’t know how to make money from sewing, I have something to share with you.

TOP 10 mistakes made by beginners on how to make money from sewing

1. Not knowing your target audience

Any aspiring business coach is now shouting about this on every corner. If you still haven’t heard what an ideal portrait of your client is, your business is far from making big profits. You are depriving yourself of hot buyers who are ready to order from you right now. And this is no joke!

Why is it important to know your target audience? Because when we offer our product (service) to everyone, this means we do not offer it to anyone. People love to buy a product that meets their specific needs. Therefore, you need to understand which of the people’s needs you cover with your service, their pains and problems. Ask yourself a simple question - “What can you offer people and why YOU?”

2. Not knowing how sales processes are built in the modern world

Many people are still convinced that in order for people to hear about you, you need to act the old fashioned way. Launch “word of mouth” among friends, stick advertisements on entrances, distribute flyers, etc. Believe me, if you act this way now, your clients will be grandmothers, pensioners and relatives. Both of these categories do not apply to those who are willing to buy “expensively”. You will have a job, but to earn your bread, you will have to plow like a horse. Did you dream about this when you started doing what you love?

3. Sell cheaper than competitors

This is the most common beginner mistake. Everyone thinks that if they set prices lower, they will lure all the clients away. But this method often has the opposite effect. That is, people see that it is cheap and think that for this price they will get a low-quality product. Therefore, never bet cheaply. Bet on quality, in this case you will not go wrong. If a client comes to you ready to pay the lowest price, then think for yourself what kind of buyers you attract.

4. Take on everything at once

I often meet seamstresses who sew everything. That is, they advertise their services - I sew evening dresses, do minor repairs, sew curtains according to your measurements, clothes for dogs, etc. Personally, when I see such positioning of myself, the question arises - What exactly are you an expert in? For example, I don’t order a dress from the atelier in my house because I know that all the workers there do minor repairs. Yes, they are great at hemming fur coats and replacing broken locks, but they have no experience in tailoring items to individual measurements. Therefore, it would be a mistake to go to a seamstress who does not know how to work with patterns to sew a dress for a celebration.

5. Take many orders beyond the norm

Do you know the parable about the seven deadly sins? So in this case, one of the human passions, greed, can play a cruel joke on the needlewoman. The needlewoman says to herself, “I’ll take a lot of orders, I’ll earn a lot of money. And it doesn’t matter that I might not make it in time.” What could such an error actually mean? The most innocent thing is that you simply may not deliver the order on time, and the most irreparable thing is that you ruin the fabric. In pursuit of profit, arranging such a challenge for yourself, you only make things worse for yourself. I know from my own experience that when I took something beyond the plan, I made mistakes, which then cost me rework, and therefore time and money.

6. Take on complex orders

A simple example. If a client sends you a picture from a Gucci show, which shows a floor-length dress embroidered with beads and asks if you can create something similar, but you doubt it. I advise you not to take risks, and if you have little experience, refuse. Don’t let this seem like a belittlement of your own capabilities. Believe me, if you cannot determine what fabric the dress is made of by looking at the picture, then this is not your order.

7. Save on training

Beginners in sewing are sure that if you know how to sew, you don’t need any other knowledge. And this is the biggest misconception. Before you start making money from sewing, you need to become an SMM specialist, marketer, copywriter, website administrator, etc. You will say - Why do I need this, I can hire people for each individual option. Now calculate how much each such employee will cost you monthly. At first, it is cheaper for you to undergo training yourself, especially if you plan to develop and scale in the future, you, as a manager, should know how the technological process in a business project works.

8. Work without planning

I sometimes look through the pages of seamstresses with whom we started working together, and when I see some of the profiles, I feel sad. The person had the same vision five years ago, and that is how it remains. I don’t see any growth or any changes, the page was still there with bad photos or downloaded from the Internet, and still hangs to this day with the same number of participants. This means that the needlewoman initially has no planning or goals. In the language of a schoolchild, you need to understand from which point A you are moving, and to which point B you plan to arrive. There should also be time periods, that is, for example, I set goals for a year, a month, etc. The next step is to write down step by step the actions that need to be taken to achieve each of the goals.

9. Not taking responsibility for your actions

I think it is the most difficult of all the points listed, especially for those who are used to constantly complaining and whining. Many people are not ready to take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of them. That is, if they cannot make money from sewing, they will blame clients, the crisis in the country, lack of time, the presence of children, but not themselves.

Speaking to myself, I understand that everything that happens in my life is my responsibility. No one is to blame for this, and I will work with it. And when I take responsibility for my actions 100 percent, there is a total shift or breakthrough.

10. Looking for a “magic pill” to get rich

I’ll explain with an example where this hobby came from. Now it has become fashionable to promote simple methods of getting rich, for example, how to achieve a five-zero income in a month, how to find a rich husband, etc. People run to sign up for trainings with coaches, chant mantras in the morning, and say affirmations a hundred times a day. Yes, I’m not against meditation, but if you just sit back and look at the wish map, even if it was compiled according to the recommendations of the coolest business coach, nothing will come true for you! There is no “magic pill”; in order to achieve great results you need action; to turn a business out of a hobby – you need to work on a project sometimes 20 hours a day. Even what you love requires a tremendous amount of work, and it is not always done easily and simply. Few people dare to show the behind the scenes of their project, because behind a relaxing picture from the beach on social media. networks sometimes require titanic work.

If you are planning to open, then this article will help you understand some of the nuances of this process. We are not talking about extras, not about serial tailoring, but specifically about custom tailoring.

If we are talking about extras, then sewing some orders for enterprises is also quite possible to earn money from this, except that you will sew according to individual orders. Therefore, I believe that the basic building block on which everything should be based if you decide to do sewing at home is your professional skills.

If they are not there, then it is clear that you will not be able to sew, you will not be able to earn money by sewing at home.

I bring to your attention a small 5-minute fragment of one of the 33 questions discussed in detail at the seven-hour custom marathon

“How to make money by sewing at home or in a small workshop”

We will talk about two internal obstacles, because of which many sewing professionals cannot start their profitable sewing business.

I wish you useful listening!

Mind map: how to organize a sewing workshop

Perhaps you can organize some small.

I will also tell you examples of my clients who, having absolutely no knowledge in the sewing business, organized and are organizing these small productions. Mostly these are owners of some businesses or owners of some retail outlets.

For their business, they organize a small workshop, sew clothes that will be sold. If this is your situation, then you can also earn money from your workshop without having professional skills. I will also tell you how to do this.

When you have the basics of sewing at home, you have some kind of qualification, then, of course, comes discipline, clients, orders, sewing equipment, desire, incentives, perseverance, increased self-esteem - today we will look at all this.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that if you have the qualifications and desire, if sewing brings you pleasure, then, I will say in advance, even if you have nothing now, not a single client, you have not even sewn a single one to order products, then you already have a big starting advantage.

Because many people start creating a sewing business in order to earn money, and they don’t really like this activity. You already have an advantage over such people. And the cards are in your hands and it’s simply a sin not to make money from it. If you like something, you are passionate about something, something brings you pleasure and you don’t turn this business into your business - you are simply limiting yourself.

This is what I wanted to say on this point, who can actually start in their own small workshop.
Only certain categories of people cannot earn money by sewing at home. There are also people who seem to be doing well: they have qualifications, they can sew, their health is fine, but I would say that these people, too, for some internal reason, cannot earn money. First of all, people who have a worm of doubt cannot earn money. those who are always doubting and hesitating: whether they will earn money or not. People are not obligatory, people are suspicious in this regard.

That is, the person decided...

For example, a seamstress advertises in the local press or on the Internet on a website. He places an order, then thinks: “No, that’s it. Not mine". People call, she refuses. I have had such cases in practice. After a while, this seamstress finally makes up her mind; she works somewhere else at another enterprise.

I had such a case with this seamstress. She had three or four days off a week. There was a small load. She worked part-time. A fairly qualified seamstress, she did the job quite normally, and at home. She had great equipment, great qualifications, but these doubts were killing her. They gave her the same salary. She just walked four days a week. She sometimes made attempts to find customers, which, given her qualifications, was, in principle, quite possible. The clients were happy. But she exaggerated her fears, and in the end her business was killed by these doubts.

These people also cannot earn money by sewing.

Today we will talk about various psychological issues, about the fears that many novice sewers have. If you have such a situation, then you need to initially decide: either you want to earn money by sewing at home, or earn extra money, or still work for your uncle and sew for yourself, for your soul, for your family. And just don’t waste your time and energy on endless attempts to start something.

If you have already decided, then we do it, but if in doubt, then let’s better not start.

We will talk about prices, quality, and clients in great detail on different pages of my website, in mailing letters and in training courses..
I also believe that people who wear dark glasses and are always negative in life cannot make money by sewing at home. There are people who wear rose-colored glasses in life—everything seems rosy to them. Even when they fall into a hole, they still don’t notice it.

And there are people with other light filters who are dissatisfied with everything in life. They are unhappy with their equipment, unhappy with their customers, unhappy with the situation. If you are one of these people, you don’t need to start not only sewing at home, but in general any business that generates income. If you don't like this business, don't try to turn it into a source of income.

A few psychological points in the sewing business at home or in your sewing workshop.

This situation often happens, at least in my practice it has happened more than once, when a person decides to take up sewing at home. There is a fire in his eyes, he is ready to move mountains, takes something, finds clients, places an order, but something has stalled.

For example, a client comes and says: “Why does your coat cost 2 thousand rubles, but on the next street they will make it for a thousand rubles. I won't pay you."

The second client comes and is dissatisfied with the quality. The third client is unhappy with the timing. And after that such a person wilts, turns sour and never sews to order again in his life. Everyone starts to blame him; just as quickly as he caught fire, he quickly went out.

A lot of home-based seamstresses have worked with me. And there is a certain percentage of people who quickly light up and quickly go out.

If you are one of these people, what should you do?

Internal settings need to be changed.

There is such a principle in life. I have a friend who is a water survival instructor. Extreme, you will agree. profession. He told me one survival principle: if one person does it, others can do it too. Here we have the opposite case - more than one person is engaged in sewing at home, and profitable sewing at home, so you can do it too!

The main thing is attitude, the main thing is systematic work, discipline. D

Even if three clients in a row found your work unsatisfactory in various respects, it is not a fact that the fourth client will not be delighted with you and will not come to you for 10 years.

How does a sewing business at home differ from a custom sewing atelier or serial tailoring (extras)?

To answer this question I will give an example. A woman came to me for an interview as a seamstress and told me that she sews, sews for herself and for her family.

But I know that for myself and for my family this is one quality.

And under what conditions does he sew for himself and for his family?

On an ordinary household machine, not always with the use of special paws, even for sewing in a hidden zipper. This is not always a high-quality overlock stitch. Perhaps even the finishing stitching and the width of the seams are not always of high quality.

That is, a person who sews at home does not always know the quality requirements of products that are sewn in an atelier, in tailoring or even in extras.

When do you need flow charts for the sewing business and how to draw them up correctly?

We have already spoken about technological maps.

And about when you need technological maps for seamstresses. If you have 1-2 seamstresses, and you sew a small number of products, and this is custom tailoring, then technological cards are not needed at all.

If you have the skills to sew some kind of thing, then you will most likely be able to earn money by sewing. But first of all, you need to learn how to start working as a seamstress and get your first client.

At the beginning of the journey, all seamstresses make mistakes, and there is a high probability that you will soon quit this thankless job. No clients - no salary. Today I will tell you a simple and profitable way from my personal experience.

Where to find your client?
Conclusion

Who can become a home-based seamstress?

Perhaps for some I will say something different from what is usually told. But I have experience working as a seamstress at home, and I started my career in an atelier. So I studied this issue on both sides. So just believe)

And here is the first thought that is common to the “frequently encountered opinion.” Many people are sure that to work as a seamstress at home, you need to be very skilled at sewing. This skill is always first on the list. But what do we actually see?

The fact is that sewing is a very versatile thing. If you know how to sew well, for example, does this mean that you will be a good seamstress? Not at all. So-called “seamstresses with many years of experience” often come to me for cutting and sewing courses, but they do not know how to sew custom-made clothes.

Sewing and the ability to make clothes to measure are two completely different things. If you, an ordinary person, are now given a drawing of a pattern, you will not understand anything there.

And vice versa, if you give the same pattern to a cutter, he will understand everything that is drawn there without words, just from the drawings and calculations.

This leads to the main idea - in order to be a seamstress, you don’t need to know sewing very well. But you definitely need to have a good understanding of the niche you have chosen for sewing.

Does a seamstress need to have a higher sewing education?

Here’s your next “out-of-the-box thought.” In fact, a higher sewing education only prevents you from doing tailoring. Unfortunately it is so. If you are an artist or designer by education, or even an economist, you have a high probability of being a high-quality seamstress than a graduate of the Institute of Design and Fashion.

You may ask, but how can this be? Imagine a person who spent five years learning to create clothes and may have already released his first collection. And he thinks that he has definitely learned how to sew. This certified specialist with his wealth of knowledge comes to the employer - and there he is told that all his diplomas and certificates are worthless.

And that he is given the smallest salary. Mere pennies, just enough for bread and water. Yes, what did you want, they tell him. Learn to sew first - they shout after you.

Imagine the state and collapse of all this man’s hopes. Consequently, he decides that seamstresses are simply not in demand today. And he leaves to teach or become a marketer.

Now imagine another person - an art graduate - he also wants to sew. And I also inform him that for the time being he is only capable of carrying pins and sweeping the floors, and that, accordingly, no one is going to pay him big money. And this artist... agrees. Because he agrees that he doesn’t have any special knowledge or experience yet. And he begins to observe, fill his hand and eventually becomes a high-class tailor with a high salary.

Therefore, if you do not have a higher sewing education, this is only a plus. You are more likely to succeed in the sewing business.

What if there is no niche knowledge?

As I said above, it is very good to sew - not necessarily, but important - to understand a niche. But what if you don’t have the initial skills yet? Do I need to get additional education?

You understand that you need to study. But my advice to you is to conduct training "from the battlefield." That is, start sewing shirts or boudoir dresses, and after 3-5 orders, you yourself will begin to understand the technology of sewing these things perfectly.

Yes, at first you will sit with books on sewing technology and surf the Internet, but then you will see that the technology is the same everywhere, and the patterns are the same. And you will start sewing in your niche literally “with your eyes closed”.

Agree, this is better than sitting at a desk for five years, preparing for exams and writing term papers. And you will still earn money!

Moreover, you have not yet decided what you want to become - an economist, a seamstress or a stylist? Studying at the institute for five years is too expensive. Therefore, make good use of your first working time as a seamstress at home in order to decide on a niche.

Now, let's take a step-by-step look at how to find your first client and become a seamstress at home.

Where to find your first clients?

Seamstresses have two common types of clients—customers. The first is customers from the studio (firms, private owners). The second is direct customers.

Most seamstresses prefer to work through an atelier (firm, private owner). This is the easiest, but least paid option. The atelier is an intermediary between the client and the seamstress, so it pays little.

Of course, there are different ateliers. For example, the most upscale atelier in our city takes a very expensive price for tailoring a dress. But to work for them, you must have very good recommendations and a portfolio.

Most likely, you will not be able to immediately start working with direct clients. Because there you have to do marketing, advertising, and make a name for yourself. We will have to devote ourselves to these important issues. So there will be no time left to sew and earn money.

Therefore, the best choice at first is the atelier. But there are some nuances here.

How to get a job in the studio of your city

The atelier is very picky about beginners in sewing. In order to somehow protect themselves from novice seamstresses, they set conditions “from 1-3 years of work experience as a tailor or seamstress”.

If you give them your resume and attach a photo of the work, they will not bother you with attention. First, your resume must be well-written.

Secondly, you don’t have to take the word for everything that is stated in the requirements for tailors/seamstresses in the atelier. Most likely, they will agree to work with you, even if you have no experience at all. The main thing is to find the right approach.

That is, the studio can risk giving you a job if they have no way out. All the seamstresses and tailors at the studio are busy, but a client came with an order, and there was no one to sew it.

At this moment, the atelier begins to connect new seamstresses. If you have an interesting, good portfolio and resume, then most likely they will turn to you to complete the order.

And this will be your first step on the path to prosperity and success.

By the way, what “millions” can a novice seamstress at home count on?

How much can you earn from sewing?

Classic version, friends, I have two news for you - which one should we start with? The bad thing is that they won’t pay you much. When novice seamstresses find out what prices they will have to work at, their jaws drop in surprise.

How so?! Only 1000 rubles for a dress? Yes, this is titanic work - to sit and understand patterns, cut, sew, study sewing technology. Who came up with the idea of paying seamstresses for pennies?

The money of a freelance seamstress is different money. You actually earn them.

In fact, not just any studio will offer you 1000 rubles. Some will pay even less. In addition, the studio justifies the “heaviness” of labor by the fact that the seamstress simply does not yet know how to work. Once you learn how to sew, you’ll develop speed and be able to sew a dress in half an hour)

How much time do you think a factory should spend on sewing one thing? There is a standard according to which a dress cut at the waist with sleeves and a hidden zipper can and should be sewn in two hours. If a worker does not meet this time, it means she is a bad seamstress and may be fired. That's it!

And if this is your first dress in your life, it will seem like it’s just titanic work. A novice seamstress will cut out several pieces in a day and faint from fatigue. But with experience, the picture is completely different. An experienced seamstress can easily sew five dresses a day (especially if they all belong to the same niche, such as boudoir or bridesmaids).

Ultimately, the profit for such a seamstress will be very high. In addition, she will work from home, in comfortable conditions, without managers and a schedule from 7 a.m. - which is a big plus.

Yes, I still have good news for you! If the studio likes you, they will agree to raise your earnings, higher than other employees. In some cases even much higher. But how to become the atelier's favorite?

How can you earn twice as much?

An interesting question is, what is the client willing to pay for? By the way, this is the third and last interesting thought in this article.

Many seamstresses will say that the client will pay “for quality.” And they will be 1000% wrong. In fact, the “quality” of sewing is an even more multifaceted concept than the “level of sewing knowledge.”

The most important thing that clients will pay for is responsibility. And I will always say that. If you take an order and complete it by the agreed date, you are loved. If you don’t shirk from work and don’t disappear from sight of the studio for two weeks, you will never be ignored.

It is very difficult to find such a seamstress. The studio will be afraid of losing you. And therefore, when you say “a little” to increase your rate for tailoring, the atelier will unanimously agree. With these very “little bits” you can earn twice as much as other seamstresses. Therefore, be a responsible worker. Employers value this quality above all else.

Work plan for a seamstress based on the example of one niche

Let's take as an example one business idea to start - tailoring clothes for Muslim women. This type of activity has a number of advantages:

A clear target audience, which means you can intelligently think through advertising and marketing, that is, everything without unnecessary gestures
Accordingly, you can think of a good product line with goods
You can prepare in advance good basic patterns for “your” clients, that is, make a list of all the women who go to the mosque and who simply need appropriate clothing for prayers and walks
In addition to clothing for Muslim women, nikah dresses, Muslim swimsuits, prayer mats, scarves, shoes, etc. will be an excellent addition to your business.
Clothes for Muslim women require large expenditures on fabrics, because all dresses must cover the legs and arms completely, but they can be sewn from inexpensive fabrics such as knitwear and staples. Also, the cut is the same, does not require a fit to the figure, you can sew quickly and without darts. The emphasis in such clothes can be on decor. But in terms of cost, such things are expensive.

What you need to get started:

Basic patterns. There are plenty of them on the Internet, the main thing is to check the fit
Sewing machine, overlock

Marketing and advertising

website and advertising in search engines. One-page landing page made for key queries
High-quality and interesting content on social media. networks
Active advertising on . Prepare in advance, take business cards, think about gifts.
Affiliate. Make a list of partners, draw up a competent conversation script and go ahead. Offer good mutually beneficial conditions: barter advertising, joint events and master classes, exchange of client base. Who are your partners - mosques and events related to Muslim themes, thematic groups in social media. networks
Make cold calls throughout the database. Come up with your own bonus, for example, a free visit and fitting, a gift of prayer mats, rosary beads, etc.

I hope my article has brought some clarity to the question of how to become a freelance seamstress at home, and how to develop the right approach to business in order to become a highly paid specialist.

Business plan on how to make money by sewing at home

And for those who want to have a step-by-step guide to action that will lead you to a good result, I made a business - a sewing plan. In it you will find answers to the questions: how to make money by sewing at home; how to start working for yourself as a seamstress; what is easiest to sew on a machine so that you can sell it later, etc. You will find out what the risks of seamstressing at home are and you can avoid them; find out how much money you need to invest in a seamstress business at home, what equipment and tools you need, etc. And I would like to end this article with a quote from Jim Carrey:

My father could have become a great comedian, but he didn't believe it was possible, so he made a cautious choice - he chose a "safe" job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was fired from this secure job. I learned a lot from him, and one of the main lessons is that you can screw up what you don't like. Therefore, you should try your luck in what you like. Because everything you achieve in life will die and become dust. Only what was in your heart will remain. There are only two paths before you - love and fear. Choose love and never let fear get in the way of a light heart.