The 90 day fabric plan

Now we put together what you learned in a plan with dates and owners. A small plan carried out beats a huge one on paper.

Three phases

1. Weeks 1 to 3: the base. The fabric qualities, three candidates, and requesting specs and swatches.
2. Weeks 4 to 8: testing. Hand and wash tests, colours and lab dips, and comparing by cost.
3. Weeks 9 to 13: decision. Choosing the fabric, the minimum quantity, the bill of materials, the labels and roll inspection.

A weekly review

• What moved this week?
• Which swatch is late?
• What risks appeared?
• What is the most important step for next week?

The final checklist

• The fabric qualities are written in numbers.
• You compared three candidates on cost per piece.
• You ran the important tests and logged the results.
• The bill of materials is complete.
• Your labels are honest and match your market.
• You have a fabric library that gets updated.

Exercise

Open the 90 day fabric plan template and set its dates from your start day. Put the date for ordering your first swatches in your diary today.