An ottoman came in with a broken leg. Customer said could you also sew the rip between the base and top cushion. I said sure - no worries. I didn't add on to the estimate - I should have.
What a mistake. To repair the leg I had to remove the cambric, tack strip, and fabric from one corner - 8 inches in each direction. After the leg was repaired I closed up and I tried to stitch the fabric up top. Too hard to get in there so I thought about how much time it would take to remove the base fabric completely now that I've already buttoned up around the leg. So I start sewing it in place with 69 and as I pull the cushion up to make room for my hand I tear the thread stitches I already have in. I switched to button thread - two hours later and the last few stitches using a hemostat - it was done. Never again - The stitches look a little like Frankenstein's head but they are strong
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Your intentions were good.
Your outcome is acceptable.
As usual with good intentions your profit is negligible.
No good deed goes unpunished.
My SCORE advisor:
You can be a nice person.
Or you can be a businessman.
Now, you can be a businessman who is also nice, but you make money by being a businessman.
gene
I'm not opposed to hot gluing a repair like that. Maybe one anchor stitch right in the corner.
It may not seem like a quality repair, but then again, you're not getting paid a quality rate either. If they want it done right, they can pay up. And I'll be happy to remove the whole cover and re-sew it on a machine.
I would've figured out a way to do a quick repair. No way I'm spending 2 hours for free on that corner.
Sometimes, you just do what you gotta do.
I didn't think of a hot glue repair and you're right the labor was not rewarded and not worth it. My own fault is that when I start something I'm obsessed to finish it. I loose sight of what I'm doing until it's done but when it's done that's when I complain - passive aggressive doesn't allow for an income or maintaining the responsibility of being a good businessman . But thanks for the hot glue idea for the next time. Flawed - I couldn't stop sewing long enough to ask for an easier solution :)
SA