Made to Margin
THIS IS A TWO-PART COURSE. ATTENDING BOTH SESSIONS IS MANDATORY FOR PARTICIPATION.
Made to Margin – Costing Sewn Products for Profit
Part 1: Thursday, October 29, 2026 | Part 2: Thursday, November 5, 2026
9:00am - 1:00pm both days
Reuse Commons Lake City – 12558 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98125
Coffee, tea, and snacks provided
Makers know how to make, but what about scaling a business? This two-part course is about knowing your numbers — and building a scalable business that's actually profitable.
Over two half-days, you'll work through the real business of sewn products: where you fit in the industry, who your customer is, and how to cost your product so your pricing reflects your true work. You'll leave with tools you can use immediately.
Led by Crystalyn Brennan — 25-year sewn product maker, Lean Manufacturing practitioner, and co-author of an upcoming fashion industry textbook — this workshop brings together business fundamentals and real-world making experience.
What you'll work through:
How the sewn products industry is structured — and where your business fits in the chain
How to define your customer in real depth and use that to set a price they'll pay, and you can sustain
How to build a Cost Sheet and Tech Pack for your own product
The real math on Cost of Goods: materials, labor, overhead, and markup — and what most makers forget to include
How costing works differently with second-use and upcycled materials — yield, sorting, prep time, and irregularity all affect your true cost
The production decision: from making it yourself to hiring sewists to working with a local shop or overseas manufacturer — what you control, what you give up, and how to know when you're ready to move
What you'll leave with:
A Cost Sheet in progress for your own product
A Tech Pack template
Clarity on whether your current pricing supports your business
Reference materials and glossary to keep using
Who this is for:
Sewn-product entrepreneurs, makers, upcyclers, and small-batch producers — whether you're developing your first product or have been selling for years and want to get the business side on solid footing.
Partial discounts are available on a sliding scale. Send inquiries regarding course discounts to the coordinator, Sydney Porter, at sydney@goodbusinessnetwork.org.
This course is produced by Good Business Network of Washington as part of our Northwest Sewn program. Northwest Sewn convenes businesses and organizations working to strengthen the Pacific Northwest's textile and sewn product industries. Learn more about membership here.
Production of this course is sponsored by the Washington State Microenterprise Association and Evergreen BizLink.
Location
Reuse Commons – 12558 Lake City Way NE, 98125