I sew for fun, but I am about to sew window treatments for a friend who recently purchased a beach home. How much per hour, plus cost of materials would be a fair price?
By ninamccampbell from Kennesaw, GA
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Rule of thumb is that you take the total cost of the items, fabric, thread, backing etc. and multiply .50, giving a 50% markup for labor. This gives a fair and reasonable price that every one can live with. Giving as example: 63.50 for all materials, multiply by .50 equaling out at 31.75, now add the two together and this is your selling price which in this case would be 95.25. If you want to go less just devide total cost by the percentage you want for labor as in 63.50 times .30 ( 30 % ) equals out at 19.50 for labor and 63.50 for supplies totaling out to 83.00. Hope this makes sense, if not message me and I will help you further! Good luck and happy sewing! 10% = .10, 20% = .20
I'd check out the price of curtains of the same size at the store then charge your friend at least that much, or more because you curtains are custom. Do yourself a favor, at least get minimum wage ($7) or double that ($14) per hour! If you are an exceptional seamstress, you can call around to home decorating & wallpaper stores & ask them how much it would cost to have simple custom curtains made. These will be extremely pricey, but it will give you the courage to charge what you're worth, somewhere between the store-bought price & the custom price.
* My friend makes custom boat curtains. Not including her fabric, she gets $400 per set, but she does an outstanding & professional job. These go in brand new custom boats. In many things. You take the price of the ingredients then triple it to get retail. (but that's not for cheap Walmart fabric prices!)
Being it's for a friend I would go with her/him to the fabric store and have them purchase all needed materials including thread, needles, etc and then charge the minimum wage your state pays or, better yet, no charge for labor and make them as an early Christmas or Birthday gift :-)
Hi,
Instead of asking for money, how about bartering for some time at the beach house?
Combine two of the above answers. Take her with you for her to buy the materials (inc. notions) and ask for beach time instead of labor.
I too would barter for beach house time, especially since this is your first time sewing for a friend. That way you could keep track of the hours it took you and figure out a reasonable cost for the next time. Keep in mind that your product can be its own advertising--friends who pass through her beach house will undoubtedly notice her nice valences and one or more are bound to ask for your number. I too have a dream of sewing home decor for friends and their friends, and I always figured the first time or two I would have to break even until I got my confidence up and my name out there.
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