Several years ago I rejoined ASDP after a long hiatus as my career track had taken a sharp turn toward architecture. However, as I renewed my interest and learning in the field of sewing, I realized how many people skills learned in my 25 years in residential architecture related directly to the challenges met in dressmaking and design.

For example, we would often hear that a friend, brother, etc. had a house built in Wyoming, New York, etc. for $100 per square foot. How many of you have heard a client say that her friend, mother, etc. can make a dress for (fill in the blank) dollars? Yes, but what house and what dress, what materials and what size, and in what economic market?

For the most part, a short conversation with the potential client would yield whether they are open to learning how to match their expectations to reality. In both architecture and custom clothing, the role of the successful professional is to manage those expectations from beginning to end. If you do not think that is possible, walk away from the project, be it a $2 million house, a $2,000 wedding gown or a $20 alteration.

While most clients for home design had a level of sophistication and experience that led them to make reasonable decisions, the one class of client who could be a troublemaker, regardless of income or education, was the control freak. Whether because of insecurity or a need for power the control freak can greatly interfere with the design and manufacturing process often with a dose of unpleasantness to boot!

In an effort to help these clients understand the degree of control which can be asserted the building industry had a simple three part triangular chart: Price, Quality of Materials, and Size. The client can control any two of the three; the designer has control of the third. Think of it - if price and quality are most important, then the designer will need to determine the size. If price and size are most important, the designer controls materials. If quality and size are most important to the client, then the designer has free rein with the budget.

If a controlling client was unwilling to acknowledge the validity of this triangle, they were not right for us. As simplistic as this triangle seems, it did help to weed out those who were inflexible, but unwilling to pay for their inflexibility.

What relevance to sewing does this have? Since there is not as much variation in size between clothing items and houses, how does this compare? Replace the “Size” category with “Design Complexity” for your answer, as Design Complexity is directly related to the number of hours spent in creating the finished product.

Now, let’s review the triangle from a custom clothing point of view - if Price and Quality of Materials are most important to the client, you will need to control the complexity of the design. If Price and Design Complexity are most important, you will need to control the quality of the materials. If Quality of Materials and Design Complexity are most important, you will be in control of the Price. If your client can’t wrap their head around this concept and still thinks they can control it all, it may be time for both of you to move on.

How many of you have also had multiple careers and bring those skills to the sewing table?

Written by Kitty Daly