Pay attention to your business. If after a year you find that peasant costumes don't sell as well as royalty costumes, stop making peasant costumes and start investing in velvet!

Another Avenue. Rental. This is a whole other style of business, but it can be lucrative, and it can put to use all those costume pieces you have in your basement.

Another Avenue. Alterations. Because of my workspace setup and the fact that I own a blind hemmer, I can hem a pair of dress slacks in about five minutes; jeans, too. At $10 a pair, in theory I could be making $120/hour.

I get it, alterations aren't fun, they aren't creative, but they buy groceries. This is about making a living, not making art.

Be careful how you represent yourself. If you misrepresent yourself, you're going to create headaches that you just don't want. Nowhere on my website will you see the phrase "historically accurate" or "historically authentic." I don't do that kind of work because I can't afford to, and neither can the majority of people who order from me. The closest I come to dipping my toes into that puddle is "historically inspired," which leaves me a great deal of leeway in what I do. Customer's may ignore that or read what they want to read, or not read it at all (see the skirt story, above), but I've done my part.

Branching out...

 

 

« Prev

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Next »

 
Back To "Sewing For Others"...