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Posted by Kate Dicey on November 2, 2005, 1:29 pm
Ward wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I am a complete newbie to sewing as a business. It is something that I have
> always wanted to do and finally have both the time and the cash to start. I
> want to do this correctly from the start. That was the plan anyway. What
> really happened is that I about a month ago I opened my mouth to a few
> people and they started coming at me left and right. I can already tell by
> the volume of requests I am receiving that I am not charging correctly.
>
> After approaching the problem from an financial point of view, and being
> completely honest with how much it will cost to support myself, I find that
> I need to earn $41,600 a year which comes out to $20.00 an hour based on a
> 40 hour work week with most of that money going to outrageous health
> insurance coverage. If I went back to a 9 - 5 office job (semi-retired now)
> in my neck-of-woods I'd make between $32000 & $37000 a year with company
> paid medical. I have not uncovered any method to determine if the $41K
> figure is even possible, but I'm working on it. It's crunch time. Either I
> find a way to earn a living sewing or I go back to the office, something I
> dread. What do you think of "The Small Office Survival Kit for Custom
> Clothiers"? It's expensive at $199.00 for the General Dressmaking Package
> and I'm not quite sure from the website how the kit works. On the flip side
> of that is "Pricing Without Fear" by Barbara Wright Sykes for $19.95 on
> Amazon.com. This book is advertised in the back of "The Business of Sewing
> Volume 1".
>
> The concept of sewing as a business is so new to me that I have not narrowed
> down a specific type of sewing to do, and I'm not sure I want to narrow the
> choices. I like diversity. Right now I have a couple pairs of pants that
> need hems shortened, a flower girl dress in the making, and Civil War
> Reenactment clothing in need of repair. The Reenactment folks seem to be
> the most willing to pay for sewing services. Gettysburg PA is 3 1/2 hours
> from this area yet local people involved with reenactments are willing to
> travel that distance for fittings which tells me they are very serious about
> well made period clothing. I found online costume classes at
> farthingales.on.ca/costume.html. I already have catalogs from Past Patterns
> in my little library. All in all, not a bad start, but the pricing issue
> remains a mystery to me. Can anyone help?
>
> Thanks for listening,
> Liz W.
>
>
Come and join us on the Sewbiz list: sewbiz@lyris.quiltropolis.com
Lots of folk there to help you.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
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