I want to work with my wife but can't sew, what skill set should I gain?

[ballanrk]

There is a member on this board who can add significance to the dimension of marketing - Mojo (board name).  Read his previous post and talk - his understanding and experiences plus record is one to read/hear and enjoy - it is an inspiration.

Thank You Doyle

[sofadoc]

......... after the last one left I found my other bench man and myself can run rings around either of the strippers and do a much better job.

You're preachin' to the choir!

I've always said that stripping isn't equivalent to brain surgery in degree of difficulty. See a staple.....take it out. Sounds simple enough. But apparently, there are a lot of people that just don't get the concept.

[sofadoc]

Back to the original topic.

ballanrk: Some of the easiest sewing in the world is sewing plain seams on a walking foot machine.

My step-dad had no upholstery skills whatsoever. He was retired from the aerospace industry.
He started out sewing long runs of single welt just for practice. He gradually moved up to doing more advanced prep work, such as sewing zipper panels, double welt, etc. He could sew most any plain seam panels together. He never graduated up to sewing full cushions, but his "prep work" did help expedite a lot of jobs. Of course, this is only a benefit if you have an extra machine set-up. Otherwise, it would just be a hindrance.

Don't sell yourself short. Sewing on a walking foot machine is probably the least technical of all sewing. An experienced garment sewer could walk into an upholstery shop, and catch on pretty quickly. But an experienced upholstery sewer wouldn't fair nearly as well if they suddenly took up garment tailoring.

If you have an extra machine and won't be in the way, try your hand at some simple upholstery sewing. Sure, your wife will have to help you untangle your thread every few minutes for the first day. But you'll master some basics pretty quickly.

Another sideline that can be very profitable is building and installing cornices. Only problem is that most cornice work comes from decorators, and they probably already have someone who does them in conjunction with other soft furnishings.

[ballanrk]

Another sideline that can be very profitable is building and installing cornices. Only problem is that most cornice work comes from decorators, and they probably already have someone who does them in conjunction with other soft furnishings.

Excellent suggestions.  My wife already had to sub contract out a custom cornice.  She is working with a few decorators as well which I see as a good income stream, if I market her services to more decorators.

[Darren Henry]

Yes, marine can be difficult to master. And even when you do master it, the competition can be fierce. Marine is a difficult sector of upholstery to just "dabble in" as a sideline to other sectors.

Commercial re-upholstery has been a Godsend to my career. Restaurants, beauty shops, medical exam tables, etc. For me, way more profitable than residential furniture.

Furniture repairs, foam replacement practically pay the bills while consuming very little of my time.

I've got to agree whole heatedly with "Doc. Marine would be tough where you are. If you were just doing travel covers for 14' fishing boats in Stump Farm Saskatchewan ---maybe. Commercial and repairs are a large part of my work load. Restaurants are usually straight forward with a minimal amount of sewing for her to do to keep you busy applying the new skins. It is most usually the seats only. The vast majority of the repair work I do is for retailers (either their warranty or the manufacturer's) and I seldom have to sew. It is more economical for them to order pre-cut and sewn assemblies from the manufacturer than for me to try to match material and then have to pattern the new assembly, especially where so much of the stuff out there ( at least around here) is "marshmallow furniture" with semi attached arms and semi attached backs in 4-6 sections etc...It's generally open it up, fix the frame/replace the foam/replace any torn covers, put it back together. It's not glamourus work, but it is quick turn around to help level out your cash flow/ introduces you and your work to a large audience quickly, and you will be making the company $$$ in months, not years.  That will allow you to spend more time in the shop to move on to what ever excites you creatively, whether that is custom auto, or draperies, or ????

I got starved out of hand crafting orthopaedic shoes etc... back around 94 so took up upholstery in 95. I don't see why some people are reluctant to work in leather. There are some very good links on this site to great tutorials on the subject. I did a project as a 3rd or 4th year apprentice in a fabric the lady bought in India because it was only $275 USD/yd as opposed to $350 in New York. Measure twice, cut once !!!

Another area that I would suggest you invest some time etc.. is patterning. I have had a number of people work with me that I  was responsible for over the years and that always seamed to be a short suit for many. Even if they made the pieces fit, they'd fight the stretch or waste material by not laying their panels out to avoid waste etc...If she is sewing something "involved" , she could use someone to prep the pieces and just keep her focused on the machine.

[Darren Henry]

PSSST. I need a Y'all=Canuck translation for "cornice" please.

[gene]

Cornice board: a window treatment covering made of wood that often has padding, and then a face fabric. It's used to cover the window treatment hardware at the top of a window. There are soft cornice boards that do not use wood, only fabric.

My 2.34 cents:

1. Learn to sew. There are too many advantages to learning and too many disadvantages to not learning.
2. Read the book The E Myth Revisited.
3. If you have a local SCORE, go to their Saturday meeting with your wife. Find a mentor that has run a small business with a partner, it you can.
4. Put together a partnership agreement with your business partner. The folks at SCORE can help you with this.
5. Buy, learn, and use Quickbooks.
6. Decide which business entity will be best for your company. Make sure you protect your personal assets.
7. Pay your taxes. Learn which taxes you owe and when they are due. Fed, state, local, sales tax, self employment taxes. I have a customer who was not paying sales tax and owes the state over $25,000 in back taxes. She is an extremely honest person and simply did not know that she was required to collect and remit sale tax.
8. Fnd ways not to get too depressed when you realize how much of your money is taken away from you in taxes and government fees.
9. Don't forget that Hillary believes that all the money belongs to the government and that the government is being way too kind in letting us keep what we have.
10. Have fun when possible.

Best regards,

gene

[SteveA]

8. Fnd ways not to get too depressed when you realize how much of your money is taken away from you in taxes and government fees.

The deal is they take taxes and provide services - not entirely a crazy concept if only they didn't carelessly spend our hard earned income -
I used to get worked up when sending in a state or fed check. You learn to block it out !   What a system the leadership has created. 

SA

[Darren Henry]

Cornice board: a window treatment covering made of wood that often has padding, and then a face fabric.

Thanks Gene. I've always heard them called valences around here. I assumed that's what everyone was talking about but didn't want to comment until I was sure.

That would certainly fit it quiet well the business plan at a very minimal investment of time and re-tooling ( he might need to buy a ladder LOL). The knee jerk thought I have is how do you sell just the cornice boards? Personally I'd want to offer the window treatments as well and include that in my presentation when I went to talk about the upholstery, cushions etc... I would not sell custom made drapes  unless I had an outsource for them, I mean pleated shades, verticals, Venetian blinds etc...One of our major suppliers around here is a distributor for " Levelor Blinds" which are a quality product and have a good reputation. The shop I apprenticed in sold a lot of blinds while they were quoting on the furniture etc... and made a very healthy margin plus the install cost. Because all the blinds were custom order we carried $000 in stock or inventory. If we need a pink vertical blind X by Y with a right hand control we ordered it, the supplier put it together and sent it with the fabric for the rest of the project. If that kind of thing were available to them it would be a great service to add. And yes; we did get pretty "artistic" with some of the valences we made [wink]

[gene]

Not all IDs use the same terms. Most seem say a valance is fabric at the top of the window that is covering the hardware and is held up by a rod. A cornice, soft or hard, is usually 3 dimensional. It has sides on it where a valance is 2 dimensional without any sides.

The only window treatments I make are cornice boards, and I make a lot of them. In addition to IDs, there are women who make window treatments who work out of their basement and they cannot make big cornice boards or do not have the help to make them, so they have me make them.

42 feet long, with two piano hinges to help it fold up a bit for transportation and insertion into the house, is my record.

gene