Guide · Outside work
Working with outside seamstresses and workrooms
Few bridal shops sew everything in-house. Beading goes to an embroiderer, a rush of hems to a freelance seamstress, whole gowns to a workroom across town or a factory abroad. Each of those is a hand-off, and every hand-off is where a dress gets lost: what was sent, when it comes back, what it costs, and who told the bride. This guide is a way of working that keeps the dress in sight while it is out of the building.
One work order per hand-off
The mistake is to treat outside work as a phone call. Treat it as an order: a written record of what left the shop, what should come back, when, and for how much. One work order per dress per supplier, even if you send three dresses to the same seamstress the same morning, because each comes back on its own date and goes to its own bride.
- What was sent: the dress or its pieces, fabric, lining, trims, and a photo of each as it left.
- The work: in the supplier's language if needed, with the garment measurements, not the bride's body measurements.
- Return date: chosen so a fitting fits after it, confirmed by the supplier when she accepts.
- Price: agreed before the work starts, per piece or per hour, and the currency if the supplier is abroad.
- Status: sent, accepted, ready, returned, inspected, closed. “Returned” is not the end; “inspected” is.
What the supplier should see, and what she should not
An outside seamstress needs the garment, the measurements, the instructions and the dates. She does not need the bride's name, phone number, wedding venue or what the dress sold for. Keeping that out of the hand-off protects the bride's privacy, keeps your margins yours, and makes the supplier's view simple.
In SewingERP each supplier has a portal link of her own. She opens it on her phone, sees her open work orders with model, size, color, garment measurements, your notes and photos, accepts the job, gives a price if it was not fixed, and marks it ready for pickup. The bride's details never appear, and a supplier never sees another supplier's work or your prices. You replace the link at any time.
Return dates and the morning list
A return date only works if someone compares it with today. Keep one list of work orders past their return date and read it every morning with the rest of what is late: fittings in the coming week, dresses past due, materials that did not arrive. Call the supplier the day after the date, not the day before the fitting.
SewingERP puts “work at an outside workroom past its return date” on the dashboard's stuck list, next to the late stages of your own workroom, so outside and inside work are watched the same way.
The price is a cost of the dress
Outside work is often the biggest single cost of a gown after the fabric, and the one most shops forget when they price the next one. Every work order should carry its price, and when the supplier invoices, the invoice should be matched against the orders, not paid as a lump.
Because the work order is linked to the dress, SewingERP adds its price to the dress's real cost, next to materials, your workroom's hours at each worker's rate and overhead. Closing a supplier's work order creates the expense, so the books and the dress agree. The costing guide shows the formula and a worked example.
Example from the SewingERP demo salon: outside workshops were part of the gap.
Working with a factory abroad
- Measurements in their units. Send garment measurements in centimeters and inches both, with a size chart the factory recognizes.
- One contact and one language. Decide who talks to the factory and keep the thread in the work order, not in three people's chats.
- Shipping time is part of the return date. A dress that ships on the agreed date and sits in customs for ten days is late. Build the shipping and customs time into the date you give the bride.
- Inspect on arrival. Photograph the garment the day it arrives and compare it with the order; the claim window with a factory is short.
Questions
What should a work order to an outside seamstress include?
The job number, what exactly is sent (dress, pieces, fabric, trims), the work to do, garment measurements, the return date, the agreed price, and photos of the garment as it left. The seamstress confirms she received it and tells you when it is ready. The bride's name and contact details are not needed and should not be on it.
How do you keep outside work from being late?
Give every work order a return date that leaves time for a fitting after it, and keep one list of work past its return date that someone checks every morning. Confirm the date with the seamstress when she accepts the job, not when you call to ask where it is.
How does the outside work show in the cost of the dress?
The price of each work order is a cost of that dress, next to materials, your own workroom's hours and overhead. SewingERP links the work order to the dress, so the real cost and margin include it, and a supplier who charges more than quoted shows up before the invoice.
Does SewingERP give outside seamstresses access to the system?
Each supplier gets her own portal link. She sees only her work orders (model, size, color, garment measurements, your notes and photos), can accept a job, give a price and mark it ready for pickup. She never sees the bride, other suppliers or your prices. Outside work is in the Atelier and Pro plans.