Seamstress

Did you like Cinderella’s Fairy God Mother better than the princess herself? If so, the job of Seamstress could be of interest. A Seamstress is someone who creates costumes, wedding dresses, or other clothing using skillful hands, a creative flair, a bucket of patience, and of course, a sewing machine.

Variety is the name of the game of a skilled Seamstress, as all sorts of things will be dropped on your doorstep; you design clothing, create patterns, cut, iron and sew fabrics together, and embroider or otherwise embellish the finished project to create one-of-a-kind works of art.

With so many ways to use your skills, you may choose to develop a specialty. Perhaps you have a great eye for fit, or the vision to reshape old dresses into the height of today’s fashion. Or else you dream of being head of costuming for a theater, or creating talk-of-the-town wedding dresses. Maybe you just always do really high quality work. Regardless of what it is, you’ll build a reputation around your expertise.

This job can be great for someone who needs flexibility, as its easy to start a business at home offering mending and alterations services. Squeeze in simple mends, take in the waist on a pair of slacks, shorten the hem on a skirt, or replace the zipper in a jacket in between cub scouts and soccer practice.

Whether working from home or as an employee, be prepared to deal with time-crunched or emotionally volatile customers (think pre-wedding jitters), as its your job to maintain the sometimes fragile customer relationship while working to complete the project.