Make, Borrow or Buy?

How I choose where to spend my sewing time

With several formal events packed into a few days and my dress sewing projects off the rails, I decided to rent the necessary dresses instead. It was a huge relief! Not only did I know I would have something appropriate to wear, but I was also free to move on to the other projects waiting in my sewing queue.

That experience got me thinking about how I decide whether to make, borrow, or buy something.

Of course everyone will approach that decision through their own lens, but I thought it might be useful to share the framework I use. If nothing else, it can serve as a starting point that you can adapt to your own preferences.

At the center of my framework is opportunity cost. Sewing time is finite, and every garment requires an investment of time, attention, and energy. When I decide to make something, I am also deciding what I will not be making during that same period.

Once I started looking at the decision this way, the question became less about whether I could make a garment and more about whether making it was the best use of my sewing time.