time and cost to sew boxer shorts?

You can't compare commercially made ready-to-wear to custom made. RTW boxer shorts are made in China or the pacific-rim on automated machinery, and any humans involved in the manufacturing are paid next-to-nothing. You should be comparing them to high-quality European boxers, which sell for $35 and up here in NYC...

I couldn't sew a pair in 15 minutes, and the 15 minutes of sewing doesn't include the time spent in laying out the fabric, cutting it and finishing the garment.

I think $12 each is a bargain. YMMV

Having never made a pair of men's boxers, I am unable to say with any precision, but I suspect it takes 3/4 to 1 hour, depending on complexity of the pattern, details such as fly, elastic, flat-felled seams, etc., and how much one has to fight the fabric.

It's NOT JUST HER RENT. Her rent, insurance, utilities, supplies, depreciation on machines, repairs & maintenecace, thread, tool sharpening, needles, pins, wages of the other employee, taxes, FICA, ALL HAVE to be covered by her profits.

You say that, but then you say:

I would charge $20.00/hour mabe more. Your sewist is not charging nearly enough. By the time the sewist pays all her expenses, she could not possibley be making much more than minimum wage. What is the minimum wage in Iowa, $7./25/hour? Do you think a skilled worker should work for LESS than that?

Your IP address tells me that you are in Iowa, U.S.A. You do realize, I hope, that the Wal-Mart boxers are (probably) made by semi-skilled underpaid workers in the third world, right? So, do you really expect an American worker to work for third-word pay?

Would you so at YOUR profession?

I think your "tailor friend" is blowing smoke. I very much doubt I could make a pair of boxers in under an hour, counting cutting out and sewing time. JMHO.

Again, the fabric is probably loomed in the third world, and the labor is likely third world, too. Remember, the "commercial organic" boxers have to make some profit for the manufacturer, shippers, middlemen and retailer. By the time they take their cut, the actual cost of materials and labor is likely MUCH lower than $8 and $7. But why should a sewist from Iowa work for those wages?

Once again, custom work is devalued by those who seek it. If muni wants Wal-Mart boxers, why not just purchase them there? If the "tailor friend" could really whip out a pair of boxers in 15 minutes, but charges $100/hour for his time, the cost for labor alone would be $25.00, so the little old lady, trying to make ends meet is a BARGAIN at $12.00/hour/pair.

Beverly, maybe I *am* a little cranky tonight....

No, I don't think so. I have made boxers for my younger son. I wouldn't do it for $12 each. At $25 each, we can start to talk. I made his from cotton. Not silk. I don't think I'd care to fight with silk. Take a look at a pair of y-fronts. There's a lot of fiddly fitting there, and seams to be finished securely, because boxers go in the wash weekly. Bias tape is better on some edges, and that's a PITA.

Thank you all very much for your comments--very helpful! And Beverly, you are not cranky!! You kindly took the time to give your honest opinion. I needed a reality check on the amount of work actually involved, and you all gave that.

It sounds a little on the low side for me... You cannot compare them to Walmart, which are made from shoddy fabric somewhere where minimum wages do not apply, and for which there is practically nothing by way of quality control... Commercial enterprises are paying a LOT less than £8 per yard for their fabric: they buy it by the dozens of rolls, stack it 20 layers thick, and cut it out with a lazer-guided band saw! Probably 80% of the price of the garment is overheads rather than fabric costs. This is normal for industry.

Your lady, if she's wise, will layer the fabrics up 3-4 deep, cut with a rotary cutter, and save time that way. The things will also be batch sewn. 15 minutes for a complete pair is probably about right. But think: she needs to MAKE $12 dollars an hour. That is HER cut: before she gets that, she has the wages of her worker, the rent, insurance, etc.

I START charging for straight line sewing at £12 an hour. Hand work goes up to £25 per hour. What would the tailor charge for making the shorts? I bet it would be more than your lady in her little shop. :)

Sometimes people who don't sew much don't realize just how much work is involved, or that acquiring the skills to make something in that sort of time take years of skill, at handling scissors/cutters, fabrics, patterns, machinery, etc. 15 minutes sewing time might come at the end of an hour or three of preparation.

I once spent a week making 25 waistcoats, with two working welted pockets each, and five buttons and buttonholes. The first one took all morning. The last, a couple of hours. AVERAGE of 5 per day. But I batch sewed, by colour, and did all the buttonholes together at the end. The last evening was spent sewing on 125 buttons.

I don't think you were "cranky", Beverly, in your answer. Having just finished a pair of slacks for a size 12 DGD, with no zipper, no fly front, etc. it took much more than 30-minutes to pin the pattern, cut the fabric(after making sure it was laying straight), then sewing, hemming and adding the elastic. I can not imagine anyone thinking a pair of boxers could be finished in 15 minutes; I could usually do 3-4 pair per Day when I made some for the DGS, and they were only cotton with elastic waist for sleeping. $12.00 is more than a bargain; it's a give-away IMHO. Emily

I'm happy you have taken it well, you managed to rile one of my pet peeves. ;-)

At the moment, I am making a hand-sewn kilt for a loved one. The commercially made kilts cost anywhere from $400 up, not including the $80/yard fabric. My first kilt took 44 hours, I hope this one will come in at something under that. But at $12.50 per hour (and I would NOT work for that), my time alone is $550. Which is why I'm pretty sure none of my granddaughter's friends will be asking me to make their kilts.

Good luck with your silk boxers. Perhaps you could learn to sew??? ;->

Beverly

I watched a demo at Viking Club last month for making boxer shorts. It took a little over an hour, from cutting out to hemming and that was with the teacher just laying the pattern on the fabric and cutting without pinning. The teacher made them out of a king size pillowcase. The demo was basically about recycling and repurposing fabrics. Karen

I'll give a differing reality check.

Who is going to wear these boxer shorts?

No male yet born looks good in boxer shorts.

Boxer shorts could be worn by a bear and then all that loose fabric would look right given the size of a bear's arse but on human's they just look dreary and are as appealing and sexy as a week old dead whale on a tropical beach.

I know that they are the underwear of choice in the geriatric set aged 80 and up, but anyone below that can't possibly ever look in a mirror and still chose to wear them.

Silk for either a bear's arse or a geriatric really is a waste.

Men wearing boxer shorts are almost as bad as men wearing lycra.

So what should the well dressed man be wearing? ;-)

Lizzy

I agree with you, Emily. I have refrained from replying till I could be polite about it. lol Since I would charge $25 per hour to make silk boxers (with all flat felled seams tyvm) they would be significantly more expensive from me. It really makes me crazy to see "professionals" charging rates like $12 per hour. That's not a living wage in any kind of big city. And when you figure 2/3 of what she's charging won't go in her pocket....well that means she's actually making $4 per hour. Less than minimum wage....heck less than most teenagers charge per hour to babysit on a "date night."

I won't even touch the walmart price comparison.

Sharon

A "well dressed man" would be under 30 years of age, fit and would be wearing nothing.

A man who has a mirror and chooses to wear underpants would wear jocks. :-))

What exactly are you implying??? ;-}

And thereby dragging down the fee scale for all other sewist in the community. Or making them seem outrageously high by comparison, when in reality they are just about right for the skill involved, and she is undercharging substantially.

Yeah, that is what really yanked my chain. Like, cost of goods produced by workers in Indonesia/China/name-one (where the cost of living is MUCH lower) should in any way influence the cost of goods produced in America/England/France/etc. C'mon! OP, no matter what his field of employment, would not likely look favorably on being asked to work for the pay-scale of similar workers in China.

Beverly

When men start wearing their undies on the outside (as some female celebrities seem to do now), or wear nothing but their undies, I may start concerning myself with these finer points.

However, from the vantage of my advanced years, I conclude that sex and sexual attractiveness is highly overrated in our culture. There are other characteristics that weather the passing of time much better, and unless one takes a premature out, one can expect to eventually take the long view.

I used to make boxer shorts and it took me about an hour/pair once I got used to the pattern. I sometimes did assembly line cutting/sewing if I could use the same color thread, but even then I would estimate still estimate about an hour/pair. Note that the OP said that the lady he contacted said she needed to MAKE $12/hr, so she would have to charge a lot more than $12/hr in order to figure in overhead, taxes etc.

Nancy

I'll take your "long view" when my vision finally gives out. Till then, I will continue to use my eyes to make assessments of all things sensory.

You seem to have a terribly old-fashioned idea of boxer shorts. You obviously equate them with the thick, clumsy, floppy poly/cotton ones sold in the cheapest discount stores.

Those worn by the men in my family are a good quality fine cotton, fairly close fitting, and cut more like running shorts. They assure me that they are much more comfortable and cooler than either your idea of boxer shorts, or of "tighty-whities".

Incidentally, silk undies are definitely a luxury item, and are normally priced as such.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Son, 14, on boxers: they are comfy, and no-one but me is gouing to see them.

Me: What about me?

Him: You're mum: you don't count!