The rule of thumb in art is to charge 3-4 times what the cost of materials are. This way you are charging for materials, YOUR TIME, and the complexity of designing and/or creating an item.

So in this situation at 3X's your cost between $15-20 .... that is what it would go for at art and craft shows.

I agree! An artist/crafter should charge at minimum 3X the cost of materials or as high as 5X depending on what the art piece is, difficulty, materials, time, if it's there own design and such.

I have done machine embroidery for other people and have priced it two different ways. If your machine/software/design gives you the total humber of stitches in the design, I price it at $1/thousand stitches. I round to the nearest 500 stitches, making it an even amount. If your machine or design gives you the number of minutes it takes to stitch out the design, I price it at 50 cents per minute. I started out with a machine that gave only minutes and moved to one that tells me the total number of stitches, so the 50 cent approach may be a bit outdated. I do not charge for the cost of supplies as that is included in the total fee. Hope that helps!

One additional thought on the topic - I have a $5 minimum charge - no matter how small the job may be. The time it takes to hoop and prepare to stitch is a large part of the process, regardless of the design.

If you find a good market for this you need to consider expenses such as wear & tear on the machine, income tax, local sales tax, etc. There will be a paper trail for all sales except cash. Keep good records and keep ahead of Uncle Sam.

An interesting question. I will be interested in the replies. I have a Bernina Artista 200 which does the embroidery and you are right, it almost feels like cheating. I love to sit and watch how the program begins the web for making the lace. :-D