When you create a garment or group of garments, are you trying to be the designer, source manager, project manager, patternmaker/draper, fitter, and stitcher? Face it, that’s a lot to manage. You could try to collaborate by working in a team for your next project.

In the fashion and costume industries, the image of the lone creative designer prevails. However, it is just a façade that media and brands like to portray. The truth is that good product is created in diverse teams of specialized artisans and technicians. It is not simply a matter of sharing the workload: Creativity greatly increases when you bring together different perspectives. An individual vision might be interesting at best, but a collaborative team can make that vision spectacular.

We teach design students who go on to successful careers in the fashion industry, where they need teamwork skills. However, we believe home sewists can also benefit from this approach. From crowd-sourcing inspiration on social media to finding a sewing buddy to help with fitting, you can boost your motivation and confidence by developing a supportive group of collaborators.

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Authors Lalon Alexander, MFA, PhD, and Theresa Alexander, PhD, are professors at the School of Media and Design, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas.