Bringing Your Vision to Life: Understanding the Custom Prototype Process

You have a concept for a new piece of furniture, a modification to an existing design, or a product you want to bring to market. That is exciting, and we are here to help you turn that rough idea into a physical reality.

Creating a prototype for commercial production is a highly specialized service. It is not just about recovering a piece; it is about engineering, design, and product development (R&D). Because this is a crucial step in bringing your product to market, we handle these projects with a specific, professional framework.

1. The Design Scope: From Existing Frame to Custom Base

The scope of your project determines the cost and timeline. Prototype work typically falls into two categories:

A. Prototype on Client-Supplied Frame: The client provides an existing piece of furniture, a frame, or a base (such as a chair shell or bench) onto which we design, cut, and fit all the cushions, covers, and padding. The focus is on the upholstery design and fit.

B. Prototype Requiring Custom Framework: In some cases, your design requires a base that does not exist. This means we must first design and build a custom structural framework (e.g., a wood frame, metal base, or custom seating platform) from scratch before the first stitch of upholstery can begin. This is a significantly more complex and costly service.

2. Materials and Sourcing Costs

When creating a prototype, we use various materials to ensure the final product meets your specifications for durability and comfort.

• Client-Supplied Items: If you are providing the base furniture, we will use that as the foundation.

• Basic Upholstery Materials: Materials like thread, standard zippers, basic batting, and low-cost mock-up fabric (muslin or scrap) are covered within the hourly Design Rate.

• Specialty Materials & Framework Components: If the project requires us to build a custom base (Category B above), or if we need specific, high-end components:

  • Cost of Goods: The client is responsible for the full cost of all materials needed for the frame (lumber, hardware, metal), specialty foams, springs, unique zippers, or specific fabric required for the finished prototype.

  • Sourcing and Shipping: We bill for the time required to source, purchase, and pick up these specialized components, as well as any associated shipping costs.

3. Charging for Design and Development (R&D)

You are paying for specialized engineering, not standard upholstery labor. To protect our time and intellectual property, all prototype work is handled using a specific structure:

• Design Rate: Prototype development time is billed at a higher 'Design Rate' (our hourly R&D fee), which reflects the expertise and problem-solving involved in creating a brand-new product.

• The Goal: The Prototype Fee covers the time, labor, and materials required to engineer and construct the final physical, finished prototype (the item itself).

4. How the Prototype Process Works

1. Consultation: We meet to discuss your sketches, photos, or rough mock-ups and determine if a custom framework is required (Category A or B).

2. Detailed Work Order: We write a specific Work Order outlining the scope, estimated hours, framework requirements, and a clear list of what is included and, more importantly, what is NOT included.

3. Deposit & Retainer: A deposit is required to cover initial sourcing costs and book the R&D time on our bench.

4. Build & Revisions: We build and refine the prototype. Any significant changes requested mid-project will require a written change order and incur additional charges at the Design Rate.

5. Completion: You receive the finished prototype.

Policy on Patterns and Design Ownership

This is the most critical part of the production process. When we create the prototype, we are also creating the custom patterns (templates) and engineering specifications required for its assembly.

• Winters Sewing and its owners retain ownership of all proprietary patterns and design templates created during the process. These patterns are our intellectual property and the result of our specialized engineering expertise.

• You own the physical prototype that we deliver to you.

What if I want to mass-produce the design?

If you plan to take the physical patterns to a factory, we require a separate Pattern Release Fee (or "Buyout Fee").

• Payment of this fee grants you a manufacturing license. This means you can use the patterns to produce the item commercially.

• The fee does not transfer full ownership of the design or the copyright. We remain the original designers, and we simply license the use of our patterns to you for production purposes.

This two-tiered system ensures that our labor and specialized design work are fairly compensated, whether you just need a perfect prototype or the full license to manufacture hundreds of units.