It has gotten cold enough here in Tucson that, at least late at night, I
have to wear my quilted jacket
(
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian0...7660571976814). I
think I made a post about it, that is about the only reason I can think
of why I would have pictures of it on my flickr account.
Occasionally, when I wear it, someone will ask if it is made by hand,
but no one, at least as of now, has ever asked if I could make one for
them. I would say yes, but that I don't think they would not want to
pay the price I would charge. Unless it is my brother, sister, or
"significant other," I would most certainly expect to be compensated
more than just however much it would cost to make the jacket.
I would have to buy: 1. ~2-3 yards of material for what I would in
normal quilting call the backing (dont know if it has a name in garment
making) for the large peces such as the sleeves, front pieces, back
pieces, etc, 2. The same amount of batting, 3. The cool stuff I made the
yoke, the waistband, and the collar out of, though I doubt I could get
the neat fabric with multi-colored polka dots as I think that was part
of a sheet that I cut up, 4. a bunch of fat quarters for the patchwork
part, 5 any acessories such as the snaps, and 6. the pattern itself. My
best guess is that all that would come to probably $30 to $50,at least,
and unless I am making it as a present, I would fully expect to be paid
for the materials.
I also do not not think it would be worth my time unless I made at least
$50 to $100 over the cost of the supplies, and that makes the absolute
minimum I would charge $80 to $150 dollars, and I just can't imagine
anyone actually paying that. I don't know if that is a common labor
charge for this type of work, but that is how much I would have to get
to make it worth my time. Perhaps that is because I have the skills to
make one and would not have to pay someone else to do it.
I guess my question is, what is the normal price for such work. I did a
bit of a Google search, and found prices lower than what I would charge,
and prices higher than I would charge. However, I had no real way of
telling which are made in a sweatshop somewhere(and thus I suppose
technically hand made), and ones that are actually hand made.
--
My Yonkoma:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian0...57680223526176
The E-mail associated with the account is a "spamcatcher" account that I
got to every couple of months to empty out, and anything sent to it will
not be seen for probably several months, if it is seen at all.
Brian Christiansen