Charge? Fold n'Stitch
#21
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 16,398
My grandmother and her church lady group made folding wreaths (they were made for the kitchen table) from ready made potholders. I don't remember much but they looked just like the ones being made now but of course lacking the great fabrics.
#22
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 25
I have been offered $40 also for them. I have reworked the pattern to a smaller size and like it so much better. They still take a day to make. Author of the pattern did not write directions in a smaller size. I did my own trial and error. I like the size much better. They turn out to be 14 inches in diameter. Much cuter and fit the center of a table better. For them I have been offered $30.
#23
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,140
I just can't imagine how people can offer $30 for a day's worth of labor?! Assuming that's "only" 8 hours, it works out to be $3.75/hour -- assuming they bought all the materials & paid for your electric bill, and wear & tear on your machine & durable goods. I can't imagine doing that in this area. Minimum wage even for unskilled jobs like being a Wal-Mart greeter pays $10.50/hour. I can't for the life of figure out why people think it's okay to offer such insulting prices to quilters... well, okay, I can, but it still disturbs me. Hopefully some day, we as a society will cease to think it's acceptable to pay some child laborer in Bangladesh $1/day to sew our clothing & home goods in (typically) substandard conditions with the rationale that "at least they have a job now". Then, people will start to see the true cost to produce the things they so love. The fabric alone probably cost at least $10. Low-end for consumables and wear & tear and utilities would be $1. So that leaves you $19 for 8 hours of work (excluding your design time, time spent shopping for materials & any time spent with the buyer), or $2/hour. Sometimes I just want to ask people: "would you work for $2/hour?"
#24
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: knoxville, tn
Posts: 173
I donated 2 for a charity auction they went for $50 each. It takes me about 4 hours to make one. I use deco-bond and heat-n-bond instead of the foam so its a little cheaper. I try to buy as much of the materials as possible with 50% off coupons at JoAnns.
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,857
I sell a lot of fabric items so I only purchase fabric either wholesale or at a very good sale. I can make 2 'regular' size wreaths from 2 half yards of fabric and a half yard of a heavy interfacing. So, my total materials cost is around $6 - $7. I currently sell them for $18 - $24 and I sell a lot of them. The 2 pricing methods for selling items are either take your total materials cost x's 3 or if you make several at a time, take your total materials cost for several and add an hourly charge and divide by however many you made. Either of these final figures needs to be adjusted according to how things sell in your area. Also, if you are making them for a friend you may only want to recoup your material costs. The hexies use less fabric but take more time so I charge the same amount. You may also want to adjust for the amount of time you put into it. I make 2 at a time and it takes me less than 2 hours to do it, but, I have made a lot of them and have a routine.
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lansing, MI
Posts: 1,038
as someone else mentioned, I go with the 3-4 x cost price too.
#28
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
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