I hate this town. I hate this fucking town.
I just want to sew. I’ve been looking for local sewing jobs for fucking ages!!! Everyone in my area is looking for upholstery work. There’s a fuckton of boats in my area that people want done. But every single upholstery shop has told me “no”. Four local shops. Have a fuckton of work they want done, but they don’t want to pay me the amount!!!
A local shop finally called me back. Guy gave me 4 outdoor cushions to make and said he’d evaluate my work & pay me when it’s done.
I worked on 4 cushions, 2 different sizes, complete with piping & zippers on all of them. Took me 3 days. Approximately 6 hours per day of work, a total of 18 hours, and that’s the low estimate.
Got it done. Looks awesome.
He gave me 100$. Then he said I could compete with his current seamstress for jobs and he’d choose the cheaper of the two estimates we give.
I want to fucking cry. I have to take this job. Any job. I need the money.
I’M ONLY ASKING FOR LIKE 300$ PER WEEK IN ORDER TO SURVIVE??? Am I crazy??? Is that too much???
At least he gave me the job where I quoted 35$ each for 2 vinyl boat pieces… that’s 70$… I think I can get it done in day… wow… 10$ an hour… fucking wow…
I hate this. I fucking hate this so fucking much.
God, I want to cry…
EDIT: Start my own business?
During a looming economic crisis + ridiculous foreign tariffs + with real estate currently at an all-time high?
Don’t think I can take the risk that right now, as much as I’d like to.
The fabric was patterned and he said that he expected the pattern to match / line up on each one, and they have to match no matter which cushions were switched out. I had to be meticulous and make sure the back cushion pattern started where the seat pattern ended. Had to do the same with the boxing.
I also used a hot-knife to cut, as I had wanted to make sure fabric wouldn’t unravel. That was probably overkill, but I wanted to show I could do clean work and was serious. Too bad I felt I was the only one taking it seriously, in the end.
I live in a town on the water, and we don’t have a marine canvas / upholstery shop, which baffled the hell out of me. Now I realize that old, out-of-touch shop owners would not want to fairly pay employees, so that’s why we still have none.
I looked into starting my own shop… but with my country’s current leader actively plunging us into an economic crisis… it’s a frustrating no-go, as the risk is far too high. Plus, I looked into buildings where it could be feasible, and I could not afford it even in my wildest dreams.
I appreciate your input. I’m too angry and frustrated to do more rn, but I do very much appreciate your kindness. Thank you.
Ya, patterns suck. Unfortunately, a great way of learning the trade can be eating some assholes shit for a while. If you can find a shop you can suffer with, it will get your face out there. People will quickly seek you out if you’re talented.
It doesn’t sound like you’re able to start a business, but you will be able to build one. I say, I’m not building boat tops, I’m building relationships lol. It’s a piece of cloth, they’re going to be back for repairs. Sometimes you eat the bear, but this time the bear ate you. Remember this one and carry on with the next one. It takes a stiff spine to slut yourself as a custom shop. I call myself an upholstitute or an upholstwhore.