Importing clothing fabric from Asia

**Portia**

Hi All,

I am thinking of setting up a small business selling handmade children’s clothes.
Does anyone have any experince in buying fabrics (for clothing/fashion, not textiles) from Asia? Are there any assurances/certifications that can be gotten from factories to certify that they are not made from toxic materials etc.? Also, what is the best market place for buying wholesale...Alibaba? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

brynne

I'm a designer dressmaker myself and, although I have no direct experience buying in from Asia, I would advise caution. Yes, Asian fabrics are very cheap, but buying wholesale quantites (generally bolts or rolls of 25-30m) is likely to attract significant shipping costs and duty, which may negate any benefit of importing from outside the EU. If you are a small home-based manufacturer, you will need to think carefully about how much you can reasonably charge for the finished product. Sadly, there is a reason that there are not many 'manufacturing' dressmakers around anymore. Cost! Knowing that they can buy clothes cheaply from the big chains or online, people are reluctant to pay more, making it very difficult to turn a profit. Unless you intend to mass-produce clothing lines, you might be better to buy in from a wholesale supplier like Oddies, who have an agent in Ireland.

**Portia**

brynne wrote: »

I'm a designer dressmaker myself and, although I have no direct experience buying in from Asia, I would advise caution. Yes, Asian fabrics are very cheap, but buying wholesale quantites (generally bolts or rolls of 25-30m) is likely to attract significant shipping costs and duty, which may negate any benefit of importing from outside the EU. If you are a small home-based manufacturer, you will need to think carefully about how much you can reasonably charge for the finished product. Sadly, there is a reason that there are not many 'manufacturing' dressmakers around anymore. Cost! Knowing that they can buy clothes cheaply from the big chains or online, people are reluctant to pay more, making it very difficult to turn a profit. Unless you intend to mass-produce clothing lines, you might be better to buy in from a wholesale supplier like Oddies, who have an agent in Ireland.

Hi Brynne,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for all of the information.
I am looking for cute prints in soft jerseys/ribbings/cotton lawns etc. to make children’s and babies’ clothes. I think it’s all about the fabric so a good fabric supplier is key!
Do you independently design and dress make?

brynne

I'm a designer dressmaker, so, yes, I'm independent. However, the reality is that there isn't enough of a market to exist solely on income from dressmaking and I'm too remotely located to compete with the county town for alterations. So, I've diversified. I teach sewing/dressmaking and I run an online haberdashery store for (mainly) dressmaking tools and notions. 
I think you're right to be cautious about quality certification. I would worry that sites like Alibaba are a bit like eBay in that they provide a platform for independent vendors, and there's no way of knowing what you're getting until it arrives. I know a few people who've successfully bought from the Far East but they tend to buy high-end luxury fabrics and have all either travelled out there or had reliable contacts.
I buy relatively small quantities of fabric for individual commissions, but I buy almost uniquely from UK retailers, where there is considerably more choice and fabric prices are lower than from Irish retailers. For cute jerseys, for example, I would have a look at girlcharlie.co.uk.
Anyway, good luck with it all. If I can be of any more help, feel free to pm me.

sysprogrammer

hi Portia,

you said "I am looking for cute prints in soft jerseys/ribbings/cotton lawns etc. to make children’s and babies’ clothes. I think it’s all about the fabric so a good fabric supplier is key! "

this is at odds with your earlier statement of making handmade clothes.

I'm trying to understand which of the two you would like to do ?
Make the garments yourself from fabric or print onto existing garments.

could you clarify please ?

I have a t-shirt/hoodie and merchandise printing operation here in Dublin and I think you would have better success (and better margins) if you print on pre-made clothes as they are assembled at a lower wage base.

I'm happy to answer any questions if you are going down the print-design route.

Rgds,
Sys

brynne

sysprogrammer, there is no ambiguity. The OP states quite clearly that she is looking for cute prints in certain specified fabrics, i.e. she wants to manufacture handmade clothes in those fabrics in cute prints. Nowhere has she suggested that she is interested in printing or cheap pre-made clothing. Any dressmaker would understand her meaning.

sysprogrammer

I see a little ambiguity, which is why i asked the OP to clarify.

OP there is no money in handmade custom dressmaking , as clearly explained by brynne.

Are dressmakers aware that it is now possible to print the entire surface of a garment? , in about 40 seconds . so I don't see why anyone would want to buy a roll of pre-printed fabric. ever.

There are two popular methods of garment printing , all over or cut and sew.

With these methods it is possible to create custom clothing , in batches of 1 or 100.

allowing you to create custom orders or service wholesale clients. with a far lower cost of product.

I hope this helps both of you, feel free to ask away.

Sysprog