Planning ahead for made-to-measure: why earlier is easier

The stages that take time

A made-to-measure order passes through several stages, and any one of them can raise a question that takes a little time to answer. Some depend on you, some on us and some on the post.

• Buying the fabric: popular designs sell out, and parcels from Pakistan or India can take a while to arrive. See buying unstitched suits from Pakistan online.
• Checking the fabric: your photos are checked to confirm there is enough for the design. If a suit is short, there is time to find a matching piece. See what to do if your suit is short of fabric.
• Agreeing the design and measurements: questions go back and forth, and a measurement that looks unusual is checked with you.
• Posting your fabric: with Stitching Only, your fabric has to reach us in Pakistan once we have confirmed what to send and how, and it goes through customs on the way, wherever you post it from.
• Making: cutting, stitching and finishing, including any lining or embellishment.
• Delivery: the finished outfit is shipped from Pakistan to your door, through customs in your country, with delivery and any import charges included in your quote.
• Trying on: as soon as it arrives, with time to raise anything that needs attention.

Busy seasons

The weeks before Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha are the busiest of the year for anyone who stitches South Asian clothing, and the start of the lawn season brings a wave of summer orders. If your date falls in one of those periods, start earlier than you think you need to.

Both Eids move about eleven days earlier each year, so the busy weeks shift too. Our Eid planning timeline works backwards from the day, and our Ramadan outfits guide covers planning the month and Eid together.

What starting early gives you

• Choice: time for the design you actually want, rather than the one that is quickest to make.
• Room for questions: fabric shortfalls, lining choices and measurement checks can be sorted out without pressure.
• A plan B for fabric: if your own fabric turns out to be unsuitable or short, there is time to buy more or switch to Fabric + Stitching, where we supply the agreed fabric.
• Slack for the post: a parcel delayed in transit or held at customs does not become a crisis.
• Time to try on: so any small issue can be looked at before the day, not after it.
• Calm: you are not refreshing a tracking page on the night before Eid.

How to start early

You do not need to have everything decided to ask for a quote. On the stitching quote form, give the date you need the outfit by and say whether it is fixed or flexible; that lets us tell you honestly whether it is realistic. If time is short, a simpler design is generally quicker to make, and we can suggest options.

A simple rhythm works well: buy the fabric as soon as a collection you like is released, request a quote the same week, and post the fabric as soon as the quote is approved and we have confirmed how to send it. Nothing then waits on anything else.

If you are ordering from abroad, read ordering from the USA or ordering from Europe, and see how it works for the full process. The custom stitching service explains what we make.