-Do any of you sew for others?

Audrey,

My first solution is probably not one that would be beneficial for you - a dear friend of mine and i have a deal that we have hammered out - and it more than meets the approval of our beloved husbands as well. She is wonderful with my 2 children (she has 3, 1 older than both of mine, and one each to play with mine...roughly the same ages). They need minor work done in their house as well as basic mending. So.....in exchange for her watching my children periodically, I do her mending (so far just replacing zippers and hemming 1 pair of pants) and I will be helping them with the installation of a new toilet and finishing off a new room/running heating ducts for them.

Now, for some of the other people in the church, and former friends from where we used to live, I charged $6 to hem pants....and I based it on a pair that they provided which were the proper length. I have done prom and wedding dresses as well as last minute costumes.....prices varied. The last minute costumes were more expensive than I normally would have charged because, well, you just don't ask for a leprachuan costume 2 days before your child needs it, then can;t even bring the child for one measurement, but estimate the pant length!!

if you want to email me, I'm at: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com

Larisa

Hoooo-eeee, that's a scary question. I really don't have on my Cranky Pants attitude on tonight. Mostly, people are inclined to think that any alteration or mending won't take you more than ten minutes and you ought to be ashamed to charge them anything. I'll bet you could make more money and be much more appreciated if you took an easier route. One of our daughters-in-law runs the vacuum cleaner and a dust cloth in her church's sanctuary and is very well paid. If all you're needing is a little 'mad' money, there are lots of small jobs available. With your special skills, you should be able to find something just right and without the trauma of alterations. Meanwhile, back to 'what to charge', that's going to depend on what others in your area charge. Look in the ads in your newspaper and ask at your dry cleaners. Now and then, I do an alteration for an hysterical bride or prom queen, but trust me, it's only for love, not money. Nobody has enough money to pay me to go through that kind of trauma. Of course, this is my humble opinion. Warm best wishes for a glorious retirement. I should have started mine at about the 4th grade. Polly

"Audrey"

Call 2 or 3 local dry cleaners (most do mending/alterations) and see what they are charging. That should give you a pretty good idea of what is customary in your part of the world.

Good luck!

Kate in MI

No idea, I only do it for love. And they know they owe me big time afterwards! But I should have looked to Shakespeare before ever consenting the first time: Love Alters Not. DD1 lived in Bangkok for a while, where tailor-made clothing is inexpensive and also the only way a very tall young woman will find clothes to fit. She had a pair of trousers made from a linen blend that was matte on one side and shiny on the other. The tailor put the shiny side out. So instead of taking them back, she brought them to Mom, and I got the job of reversing.

Whatever you end up charging, don't sell yourself short. Figure out how long it really takes to do zippers, hems and such. How many could you complete in a day's work? Would you make enough income with that in mind? Roberta in D

"Audrey" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:S8idnferto-MnnfYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@rapidnet.com...

The other day I was in a department store dressing room, and they had a whole list of alteration prices...hems - in pants, skirts, lined, unlined, etc. Possibly another source of info.

You've gotten some good suggestions for places to check, but first ask yourself if you really want to do it? If not, but you find you can't say no, just set your price so high they won't ask you again :) One of my neighbors has asked me a couple times if I know of anyone who does mending & simple alterations; I'm sure he'd like me to offer to do them, but I give him a couple other suggestions because I don't want to start doing that. I will do fairly simple stuff for my kids, but a few years ago, my son wanted a zipper replaced in his good winter jacket. The wife of a co-worker at the time was doing that kind of work, so I had her do it as a birthday gift for DS; I thought the $25 she charged was reasonable and DS was thrilled. Now DH's jacket has a bad zipper; it's not worth paying that much to have the zipper replaced, so we'll replace the jacket because I am not going to replace the zipper.

Julia > I am considering early retirement from 33 year of teaching Family and

When I've been asked how much I'd charge for mending or "simple alterations" (oxymoron) I just tell them I'll give them a quote after next Tuesday's séance when I channel through to Claude Monet and ask what he'd now charge to paint a garage. *smerk*

One suggestion for a little cash; I know two ladies have been quite successful doing......home cooked meals. They advertised on Craig's List to make meals for families or individuals that can be frozen for those busy on the go people. Apparently they get around the health inspected kitchens by going to cook for the day (usually when the people are working) in the client's kitchen, wrap up casseroles and dinners in divided freezer containers, pop them in the freezers with little instruction cards, grab the cash and go home. I suppose it would depend on how large your town/city is and the demographics but in Seattle it's works well for them.

Val

Best idea would be to find out what various places around town are charging for basic repairs. Check dry cleaners and such. Call and ask for prices to do things like hem a pair of slacks or skirt or to replace a zipper in slacks/skirt/jeans. You will probably be very surprised at the going prices. You might also check out the group Professional Association of Custom Clothiers, which is an off shoot of the American Sewing Guild. There is also a set of books available by Mary Rorher (Sp????) that has some of this type of info in it. I know that when I was making a living doing this very thing, at department stores and dry cleaners , some of the rates were: pant hems- $6- $10 skirt hems - $12-25 Jean hems -- $10 and up zipper replacements started at about $10 and went up to about $15 for jeans. Usually there was a formula for other repairs/alterations that was based on number of seams and exactly what had to be done. (And this was many, many years ago.)

A word of caution: make sure that everyone knows this will be done as a business. Or people will expect you to drop everything and "run up this little seam" every time you turn around. You may want to check locally about a business service license, depending on your local this may involve sales tax and all the assorted paperwork. Even if you only want to do a little to keep in "pin" money, do research the legalities for your own safety, and that of your household. I have done this type of thing out of my house in the past. Don't now, and don't really want to. Many people have a very skewed idea of what doing these "little" things takes, and don't want to pay what your time is worth. Do think of that too. As well as what you are putting out for supplies, electricity, wear and tear on your equipment and so on. And set up "business" hours too. Or every time you see or talk with someone you will end up with some of their stuff to do "when you get a chance". Which usually translates into "I need it now but will wait until tomorrow morning, regardless of what else you have scheduled."

Pati, > I am considering early retirement from 33 year of teaching Family and

Julia, even though I *can* replace zippers in jeans, I refuse to do it. One of the few sewing jobs I truly hate. When DH needed a zipper replaced in a pair of jeans, I told him to go buy new ones. On the other hand, replacing a separating zipper in a jacket is usually a piece of cake. Not at all difficult since it is all topstitching.

Pati, gently snipped Now DH's jacket has a bad zipper; it's

There are so many ifs, ands, and buts, in answer to that.

Probably the most useful thing I can tell you is that the local tailor charges $15 to hem a single pair of uniform slacks (or skirt), or $13 per pair for more than one. Prices go up from there. Outside the bridal shop, there are two independent seamstresses. I send people who inquire after mending to her, and she generally returns the favor. People who inquire after mending are generally trying to get off cheap and 9 times out of 10 are not worth doing buisness with. Except maybe during prom season, especially when spike heels are in fashion. (G) Of course there are exceptions, but most often mending customers are hard to please and don't want to part with their gelt. If you are going to do alterations you have to set rules and be very firm about them. It seems like a simple thing, but there are people who will ask for the most outrageous things. There will be a woman who brings in a suit jacket for you to tailor to her that is at least three sizes too small for her. There will be a fellow who comes in with an Armani jacket who wants you to turn it into a steeplechase cut. Both of them will want you to do it for what it would cost to hem a pair of trousers or put a dart in a bodice, and they will want it yesterday.

I mostly do work where I start from scratch. I am easier about doing alterations or mending when dealing with people I have sewn for from scratch.

NightMist

I used to do dressmaking/alterations from my home. I ran it strictly as a business. I charged sales tax etc. and declared the income. I also had a room set aside just for my business, so I was able to deduct a portion of the mortgage, heat, lights etc. from my income. People were always amazed at the price of alterations, and if they didn't want to pay what I charged, they didn't get the job done by me. I also learned to say no to impossible jobs, and also to when DH and I had plans. I wasn't dependent on the income, although it helped to pay for my DS2's university expenses. Now when someone asks me if I do any alterations, I just tell them that I am just a quilter! On occasion, when I feel like helping someone, I refuse to take any money for the job. It makes them feel guilty about asking again.

same here, most times if the zipper goes then the trousers go in the bin, but once I couldn't bear to part with them, so I shelled out for it to be done, I think the job was far better that I'd have managed!

Anne

interesting....

do you know how much they charge compared to say, DinnersReady?

Anne

I honestly don't know how much they charge. I can find out for you if you'd like. I know they buy in bulk with a business membership at Costco and they have an initial consultation with their clients, figure out preferred menus, size of portions, how many people etc.......the prices they haven't discussed with me. The one difference with their operation is that people don't have to go and pick up anything, lower overhead because they don't need to maintain their own kitchens and it's only the two of them working together. Other than that I can't tell you much other than they must be making money because they are going into year two and are very busy.

Val

I know my SIL pays on average $12 to hem a pair of pants. No matter if they are dress pants or jeans. I did phone around once and just to hem I got prices from $8-$15. Zippers in jeans were $10, in a coat was about $15. Hope this helps. Take Care Joanna

I saw a wall sign the other day: It said "Asking a quilter to mend is like asking the chef to wash dishes." 'Nuff said! (not that I don't do it occasionally, but I really would rather start from scratch than mend something).

Hi Audrey,

When I first started doing mending and simple alterations for people other than my family I asked a neighbor who was a professional costumer how much I should charge. At the time, 1998, I'd been sewing clothing for 26 years. She told me that I should charge $10 an hour. As I did some alterations I was able to get a feel for how long it would take me to do certain alterations and then I could just charge a flat rate.

Just this week I hemmed a semi-formal long dress with an under slip. Though it didn't take long, 45 minutes, I would have charged a flat fee of at least $15, maybe $20. It was for a friend, so her thank you was enough. To hem pants, I charge $10 dollars.

Some of the alterations I did, I was learning as I went along so I would take that into consideration. If it took me longer I didn't charge them for the whole time.

Hope this helps. Cheers, Mary Sewer first, quilter second.