Many times it is difficult to determine the actual costs involved in making craft or sewing items. For example, if you’re using your scraps to make aprons, beach bags, purses or toys, how would you figure the cost of the item, and therefore how much to charge for the completed item.
An easy way to “estimate” the cost of fabric used would be to determine how much total fabric is used for the project. If you’re using left over print fabric, scraps of solid colors of fabric, and add larger pieces of muslin or interfacing material, a general rule would be to perhaps figure you’ve used a total of 1/2 a yard or 1 yard combined of all the pieces – whatever you figure you have used. Then for a cost of the fabrics I’d use an average of what most of the fabrics would have cost me at the fabric store — perhaps $4.75 per yard, give or take, depending on what types of fabric you’re using. You can get a good estimate of costs per project, but don’t forget your time that’s been spent because that is also part of the total cost.
Some good hints that I’ve seen on insuring that your sewing items or craft projects will be the type that people will want to buy are as follows:
** Use good materials. Never use those “end pieces” that perhaps have little snags or holes in them and try to hide the imperfections in the seams.
** Wash your hands frequently to keep your products fresh and clean.
** Learn to make your products easily, quickly AND skillfully. If you can get skillful enough to make an item in half an hour instead of taking an hour that it previously took, you can readily see that you can double your production and therefore double up on the profits.
** Your products must be practical as well as attractive.
** Your product must bear the stamp of your personality to be distinctive. Don’t depend on someone else’s ideas – use your own initiative.
** Be professional — on the phone, at the craft shows and in your own home if customers come into your home for service and purchases.
If you have additional ways that you use to figure your cost of sewing or craft items, please pass them along to us and we’ll get them posted for our readers. How to price sewing and craft items is always one of the biggest questions we hear, so anything you can pass along to help our readers would be appreciated.
If you’re wanting to find additional craft items to make, check out the many craft patterns at SewWithSarah.com.
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