Started work on a Doctor Who themed apron, only to find I didn't have enough. So, that's back burner til payday. I switched to Star Wars instead. Updated a facebook status about it, and of course someone asks me to make them one (without even seeing the pattern or anything). I give her a link to an Etsy store that makes beautiful pin-up dress style Star Wars (and other) aprons, and she asks if I made them. No, but I wish I did. She complains they are very expensive ($90-120, generally), and I'm just kind of...confused.
You're looking at a handmade, hand-painted, embroidered, incredibly detailed project, and complaining of the cost. Materials alone could be upwards of $50 or more, depending where the crafter shops, and then the time spent to make this project deserves pay, obviously.
She assumed that I would not charge her more than like $20, and I explained the materials would cost more than that, plus my time, so it would be $50 at least, which she felt was unfair.
I'm sorry, make it yourself then, bitch.
It took me about a month to get around to doing my mother-in-law's batman apron and I only did it because she paid for a ton of fabric and patterns and stuff for me and I owed it to her.
(Here, hubby models said batman apron.)
If I'm going to make something for someone by commission, it's going to take a while, first off, because I have kids to deal with and life, plus I have a lot of pain and numbness, mainly in my hands and back (a doctor said it could be RA but I have yet to investigate it further) and it makes it hard to function.
So I would charge them the materials (I can show receipts as proof, no biggie, but keep in mind I get about a half yard more than needed for a project to account for mistakes), plus I have to charge for my time, which I'd say is at least $10 an hour. Personally I'd rather say $15, but I'm too nice and I know I'm slow, the RA or whatever the pain is in my hands slows me down a lot, and it's hard to cut fabric when your hands are numb. I wouldn't charge you for the time I spend checking texts or doing stuff for the kids or running my potty training son to the toilet, or anything crazy that would inflate the cost, but it would basically be a minimum of $20 for my time (even if the time spent actually working is less than 2 full hours). If it's a really simple project (like a waitress apron or the batman one) I'd probably only charge $10-15 for my time spent, because it goes pretty quick after cutting.
The customer also needs to understand they are buying from an amateur sewer, not someone who is well- experienced (and would charge more for their time, btw). I have only been working for a year or so, and I still have a lot of goof-ups, uneven edges and seams, and it's nowhere near professional quality. If you want professional, the Etsy shops are fairly good, or go to Amazon or Walmart or where ever you like to shop, and buy a $10 apron there.
If you're buying from me, you're paying for a handmade product, hopefully made the way you'd like, in prints you'd enjoy. I don't want to sell you something you don't want, but I don't want to do through all the trouble to make something for you, on my own free time and then you not like it or be completely unsatisfied. If that were to happen, lemme just say, you aren't keeping the product and I'm not making another. You wouldn't pay me until you saw it (unless I'm shipping it to you, then you pay and then I ship, because I can't afford to ship it myself, and if you aren't happy ship it back on your dime and I'll refund you, minus the original shipping cost.) Maybe someone else will be happy with a hand made, imperfect product.
I'm not trying to run a business here, but if you want me to make you something I will treat it professionally, as if I did run a business. Maybe one day I'll get good and open an Etsy shop.
