I need advice on custom orders

[Former_Member]

I've been making pillow covers from shirts I find in thrift shops and would love to be able to offer custom orders for people to send me a favoruite shirt to transform. But all I can see is problems. Most shirts won't work for this, I'm very careful picking them out. They need, for 1 thing, to be button front. Then they can't have any seams, darts folds or anything like that in a 15" square area etc. What would I do if someone sent me something totally inappropriate?

Also what if something happens to someone's shirt in transit or I make a mistake and mess it up? I really don't know if this is something I could do.

[ArtfulFolk]

Take a deep breath! One of my favorite things to do is craft custom orders. Think if it this way: You are creating a family heirloom. Someone appreciated your work a great deal to have this piece specially made! You should feel all warm and fuzzy -- not worried to death!

Spell out clearly what you need in order to make it work, and do not hesitate one second to refuse an item you aren't sure of. After you've made yourself clear about what you need, and if something arrives that isn't useful, you send it back with an explanation -- or try another style or shape -- after communicating.

If something happens in transit there isn't anything you can do about it -- and you shouldn't give it any thought. That's a risk we all take. You aren't going to mess it up or make a mistake. You're going to make a fabulous work of art that generations will treasure.

Jump in. How much worse can it get than taking a favorite shirt to the trash bin?

[girlindustries]

Have you considered turning a description of the commissioning process into wording for a custom listing? It could even be so clear as to use the heading - Custom Listing: let me turn your button down shirt into an heirloom piece.

At the start of the listing make it very clear that you need a clean shirt with a flat, unembellished 15 ins square surface area. Explain all the basics, that they need to mail it to you, that you'll let them know when their shirt has arrived, what you'll be doing to the shirt, whether you'll use all of it, a little bit about your process (without giving any secrets away), any opportunities for customer input on how the finished item will look and an up to date estimate of how long the work will take, and when they should expect to receive the finished product. That way everyone knows where they stand, and it could save you a few back and forwards with convos or emails, too.

Wishing you every success - I have a couple of things I've made for myself from favourite clothes I couldn't bear to throw away, and I smile whenver I see them.