Random Monday-July 29, 2013

I got behind on my cleaning.  Way, way behind.  I hate it when that happens because I can't work efficiently because of the mess plus I feel guilty for not cleaning, but I can't clean because I know I need to work.  It's a vicious cycle that ends with me sitting on the couch watching reruns on Netflix and devouring chocolate.

I wrote about an awesome way to keep my house clean almost 2 years ago and I still believe that it's the only method to keep me sane.  However, I didn't feel like I could pick it up again because my house was so messy.  However, I forgot some of the most important Flylady rules...

“Your home did not get dirty in one day, and it will not get clean in a day either.”

"Don't try to catch up.  Jump in where you are!" 

Oh, yeah.  Those rules.

So today, I jumped in with the daily routine.  Instead of a quick clean of each room, I set the timer for 10 minutes and spent just that much time in each room.  They aren't done, but they're better and I'll do the same tomorrow and the day after and the day after until they're ready for the quick clean again.


I did manage to get a little work done last week though.  I had a custom order for this fun back-to-school outfit for a sweet little girl who's starting kindergarten this year.  I loved it so much that I decided to offer it in my Etsy shop as well.  The skirt has a fun buses and stop signs print on the main portion and a handwriting fabric on the border.  The shirt has a heart shaped applique that can be personalized with your child's name or left blank so your child can write their own name on instead (which I think would make it an awesome keepsake first-day-of-school outfit!)  

I'm thinking Princess needs one of these for her first day of kindergarten as well.

 

Why Is It So Expensive?

I've heard some complaints and comments lately about how expensive handmade children's clothing is. 

Honestly, before I started sewing, I thought the same thing.  Now, I realize that most seamstresses are actually underselling their creations.

Let's figure out why handmade clothing is priced as high as it is.

Here's a dress I made last summer: 

 The materials that went into it are: 2 buttons, heat n' bond for the applique, thread, and approximately 2 yards of fabric.  The fabric I buy for my products averages out at $10-$11 a yard.  Yes, I could just go to Walmart and buy $6 a yard fabric, but I take pride in the quality of my product.  From my experience, you get what you pay for with fabric.  So, the cost of materials for the dress are $1.50 (buttons), $0.25 (heat n' bond), $0.15 (thread), and $20 (fabric) making the total cost for materials add up to $21.90.

Okay, now add in the time it took to make the dress...I spent approximately 2 1/2 hours from start to finish.  My time is valuable, and I deserve to be paid for it just like anyone else who has a job.  Let's say that I pay myself $10 an hour.  (Note: Can you live on $10 an hour?  Not very comfortably!)  That makes the total for labor costs $25.

$21.90 + $25 = $46.90

But we're not done yet!  This figure doesn't include all the hidden costs of business such as buying patterns and business cards, internet costs, time spent promoting the business and updating listings online, sewing machine maintenance, packaging supplies, Etsy and Paypal fees, time to take and edit pictures of the product, camera batteries, electricity to run the computer and sewing machine, etc.  To figure all that in, add at least $5 to the total above.

$46.90 + $5 = $51.90 

Want to know how much I'm selling this dress for?

$35

Still think it's overpriced?  When you take away the cost of materials, I'm not even making minimum wage.

Many of my friends and family assume that, because I'm a seamstress, I save money by sewing all of my kids' clothes instead of buying them at a store.  They're always surprised when I tell them that it's much cheaper and faster for me to buy clothes at Target or Old Navy than to make them myself.   

So, if I make so little money sewing and selling children's clothing, why do I do it?

Because I love it.  There's no way I could put this much time and energy into something that pays so little if I didn't love it.

So the next time you're browsing a craft show or Etsy and find yourself thinking that a designer is charging too much, please remember what goes into each handmade craft and piece of clothing.  



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