Starting At Home: Your Own Dressmaking Business

If you have the sense of fashion and people always comment on how nice the clothes that you have sewn yourself, then that could be a great idea to start earning at home. Right now, there are creative ways on how can you start earning additional money.

When starting a dressmaking or any sewing business, you would also need to be able to follow patterns, pay close attention to details and of course, have a business plan.  So, what exactly would you need to start a dress-making business?

First, you would need to consider what kind of clothes you are going to make.  There are a lot of things you can sew, you can do home decorations and accessories, bags, toys, pet clothes and or commonly, children, men’s and women’s wear.  The options are endless; you can do costumes, repairs, dance wear, and do custom sewing. If you are totally confused with what kind of sewing to do, then you can start identifying your target customers.  Determining your target would help define what you can make and sell.

When starting this kind of home business, of course you would need a reliable sewing machine.  If you have been sewing at home for a long time, then you must have a sewing machine already.  But if you are still planning to buy a new one, then make sure to buy a good equipment.  A sewing machine would normally cost from $129 to $6,000, the price depends on the model, brand and of course the functions that it include.

Aside from a sewing machine, you may also need a serger machine.  A serger machine can close fabrics and create seams similar to what you would see in industrialized shirts.    It would also allow you to create decorative stitches on different kinds of fabrics.  This could cost from $300 to $1600.  Other equipments that you would need would be simple and easy to buy, like measuring tape, rulers, scissors, needles, and dressmaking dummy.

When starting your own business and it is home-based, it can be difficult to let your business known.  Most of the advertising are too be done through word-of-mouth.  So, you would have to rely to your friends, relatives, and family.  They would be the primary promoters for your business.

You can advertise in the local yellow pages, local newspaper, post in community boards, and post some flyers around the community.  You can talk to local establishments if it would be okay for them to carry some advertisements like flyers.  A good way of getting known also is contributing your skill and talent to some community events, like local theatre performances, church activities, charitable events, and craft fairs.  These are great venues of meeting potential customers.

But if you have decided to work at home you would have to do some modifications. You would have to make sure that there would be space enough for you to keep your things, equipment and at the same time entertain visitors and customers that would visit you for fittings. When having customers over, it is best to advise your family so that they would be able to prepare.

When you also have decided to have your business set up at home and you have little kids, then it would be advisable to keep your working space closed.  This would keep little kids from touching harmful equipment and injuring themselves.

You would also have to consider business registration.  You could contact the local Chamber of Business to ask about taxes and business registration.  You could earn an average of $20,000 to $35,000 a year.  Some could earn as much as $60,000 just by dressmaking.  That is just by working at home.  So start transforming your hobby into a profitable business.