I am doing so much less custom work than I used to, the kids take up
too many of my brain cells. My sewing is very part time at the
moment.
I usually charge an initial $25 consultation fee to sit down and talk
with the client about the project (either in person or by email).
This can be applied to the final project fee and is not refundable.
When I first started doing weddings I had so many people either make
appointments and just not show up or meet with me once and never
return, the fee helps weed out the casual inquiries.
I then try and figure out a general project fee based on past
experience. My husband keeps telling me I charge way too little. I
do find I make better income off of undergarments than gowns, but
gowns are so much more fun.
Basic balldresses start at $350 for labor only, fancy trimming or
beadwork is added by the hour at $25-50. I state that if the estimate
is off by more than a certain percentage I will get their approval
before proceeding.
There is also the "I really don't want to do this" factor, for
projects I am not enthused about I might quote a huge price and hope
they'll just go away.
Repair work or restoration/conservation is done by the hour. I try
and avoid alterations like the plague. My mother had a booming
alteration business in South Carolina and she charged by the hour for
wedding dress alterations especially, but had a chart she had made up
of what various alterations typically cost that she had worked out
from past experience.
Katy
On 7/21/06, Chiara Francesca Arianna d'Onofrio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I am not a professional seamstress by any means. My forte is gloves.
But upon occasion a theater buddy will tap me to alter very special
pieces and for those I do charge hourly. I do not announce that my
rate is hourly. I use it to calculate the set fee.
Now mind you, for web work and development of applications I charge
75/hr. There is no way in heck I would charge that for what I do. I
do not do beading or embroidery. THAT stuff is worth the higher
rates. My stuff is more along the lines of 12/hr.
Gloves ... I do not take commissions for those for pay or from
anyone I do not know. But if I did, I could not sell a pair for less
than 200/pr.
The last one was a wedding gown from the 30's. It was OMG gorgeous.
The silk was heavy and thick, and the only reason why I said yes.
Had it been a very fine silk I would have said no cause it would not
have held up.
The first thing I had to do was sit with the dress to figure it all
out so I told her that there was an initial consultation charge of
50.00 to spend a day with the dress to assess if I can even work
with it. This involved talking to her, seeing her in it as is,
seeing what she wanted it to look like afterwards, then testing the
seams. Yes, testing the seams. I needed to see if the dress had been
altered before and if so what thread they used.
It had been altered before and they used cotton instead of silk
thread. The seams popped immediatly. Thankfully the cotton thread
was of a darker color than the silk thread so it was easy to find.
I do not announce what the hourly rate is. I use it as a calculation
of the cost and give a set price based on it.
Now when I was done she decided to give me an extra 100 on top of
the total fee cause she said that other person she went to
previously wanted 3 times what I charged her and I did it in half
the time.
I know why that person did that, they were anticipating that all the
seams were going to have to be redone thus taking the entire dress
apart. So yeah, had I had to do that, my price would have been the
same as the other seamstress. But I did not want to tell her that.
It was a one time gig. A wedding dress for her wedding. :)
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> Dear Listees,
> I have been asked by some folks to make some costumes for them.
> Problem is,I've only worked in community theatre before and that
> doesn't pay anything (about $300 per show). For those of you that
> sewing as a do business, how much do you charge for sewing?
> Do you charge by the job or the hour? Any help in this
> would be greatly appreciated.
> Sharon C.
>
>
Chiara Francesca
Ansteorra
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Katy Bishop, Vintage Victorian
[EMAIL PROTECTED] www.VintageVictorian.com
Custom reproduction gowns of the Victorian Era.
Publisher of the Vintage Dress Series books.
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