I was once told that you multiply the length by the width in inches (68 x68 =4624) then divide by 144 which is one square foot (4624 / 144 = 32.111 ) Then multiply that result by $10, = $320. That is a reasonable amount for a quilt. That is the formula I use. People don't realise how much we put into a quilt. If You do special quilting, or use specialty thread, add another dollar or two to the price per square foot. Like you I am quite willing to make a quilt for someone I care about for no charge. I also am willing to barter.I have gotten out of having to do one for someone by letting them know what it will cost. If they know the value of a quilt, the price is not an issue. Darlene
That's interesting, that's not how I read it. I got the impression she thought a quilt was a "cheap" (her own words) "homemade" gift. She's ready to put hers in a yard sale having owned it less than a year, but she thinks it'd be a good cheap way to give a gift to her bosses for around £20-£30 each (Debbi's estimate). She has no appreciation whatever of the cost, time, skill or love involved and I certainly would not give her a "hand-made" gift again if she were my MIL. I'm sure she'll be much happier with earrings or bubble bath, and Debbi will be happier too.
You have to have an idea of how the person asking will react, but I have had good results with talking about costs for materials and the time involved. I don't cost my time. This has put off a lot of people who want me to "run up" a quilt for them when they think it takes me an evening or two and costs maybe a few tens of pounds. This is a common belief, and I find it also applies to other crafts, such as knitting. Pick a sweater from a pattern book and chances are the yarn alone will cost upwards of £50 and the time involved could be almost anything as long as it's a looong looong time. Not that I ever pay that for yarn - I haunt the sales, I recycle old clothes, and I am able to adjust patterns to suit the yarn I have.
If I asked a favour of a neighbour and then found it was a much more complicated deal than I had thought - e.g. if I asked someone to trim my hedge and it turned out they had broken their leg, or if I asked to borrow someone's blender and it turned out it was a valuable antique, I would of course withdraw my request, apologise for not realising the implications, and the only bad feeling would be my own for asking for something I thought was small but it turned out I was asking for something very large indeed. There would be absolutely no need for the other person to feel bad, especially if they didn't refuse my request, but simply illuminated my ignorance.
I think we all need to practice saying "No". It's a little word, shouldn't be hard. Everyone, sitting in front of your computers right no, look straight forward and say in a clear voice "No". And don't say "sorry" after.
On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 15:05:06 -0500, Debbie wrote (in article ):
I had a friend like that, so I told her I didn't have time right at the moment, but I'd teach her to do it herself. After one lesson, there were no more requests from her.
Maureen
Of course, this is also the friend who fired me as a bridesmaid when I refused to sew favor bags for her wedding.
Wow this is a wonderful post. Of course I haven't made a quilt yet but I still have a hard time with the word NO. Funny my sister's do not. But I have a hard time with things like, Will you come work on my computer, which happens about weekly, will you do this or that at church, when I know I don't have the time, will you make me a meatloaf, mine just aren't as good as your's. I need to learn NO also.
At present $20/hour plus is exactly what I charge for garment sewing. Here is a repost (updated to reflect current charges) of a reply I made in a fashion group:
*************************************** My basic rules include never, ever, start pricing at cost of materials, unless it's a 100% donation to a charity auction. There are costs beyond materials that you don't usually stop and consider. You want to cover those or you find yourself loseing money and having a hard time figuring out where it went.
For clothing, I usually run about like this:
Alterations and repairs, round time to the nearest quarter hour and charge $20/hour plus the cost of any materials used (other than thread, that gets ridiculous unless it's a huge major remake of something monstrous). Same deal for plain sewing from a purchased pattern but multiply the cost of materials by 2.5. However, if the pattern company is on my list of incompetant pattern makers, I charge extra for PITA work (usually by throwing $25-$50 on the total estimate)
Total custom design, or working from a pattern that is more than 2 sizes off from the desired result is purely by negotiation, but no less than the estimated cost of materials times 2.5 plus [the estimated time it will take in hours, _including the design time_, times 5] Custom design does often come out cheaper, but it is actually easier for me than doing things someone else's way.
The times that something goes out on comission, or to auction, I always work the percentage for comission into the price as well as any
fees involved.
The multiplier on materials is to cover the odd bits I forget when toting up the materials, and things that I buy in quantity and am too lazy to tally individually. Backing buttons, more thread than I counted on or thread bought on cones and used for several projects, marking materials, needles and pins, paper, etc. This way I can just tote up the fabric and any specialty items and not fret that I am boggleing the math and hurting my finances. Things like handmade lace go on a completely different pricing basis and then are added in.
****************************
I don't see why this kind of pricing should not work for quilts as well as garments. You may want to alter the materials multiplier as quilts take more fabric and fewer notions, depending on your process of course.
While I do discount to reletives, if they want me to make something for them to give as a gift to a friend of theirs the discount is not so much.
You MIL is asking you to _work_. If you owned a TV store and had given her a TV as a gift, would she then expect you to just hand over a pair for her to give to strangers? Obviously with quilts the cost would be just as much or more. Either she needs to understand the expense, or your DH needs to have a chat with her about trying to take undo advantage of his family. My own mom is still utterly clueless about the time and expense of handmade. She equates it with cheap and substandard. It may just be that generation, or one of it's subcultures.
Just say "I'm honored you asked, but no thank you." Then if she tries arm-twisting, explain exactly how much a quilt costs to make (use LQS fabric prices!) and how many hours of your time. Have this information prepared and typed on a piece of paper. Be firm. Alternative idea: find a pro quiltmaker online and print out a price list. Give MIL the address and kindly suggest that she could purchase her gifts there. Another alternative: agree to make a couple of simple tops and give them to her along with the address of a pro machine quilter. Then MIL can organize the rest. Roberta in D
"Debbie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:SrJGg.27251$uV.15838@trnddc08...
Good grief, you are selling yourself cheap! How much does your electrician or plumber charge per hour? Aren't you worth even half that? (I'm worth lots more than a plumber! :-)
800 euros is close to $1000. (Most fabric for patchwork is imported from the USA, plus sales tax ranging 15-25% depending on country.) You need to tell MIL exactly what you told us: family comes first! She can't argue with that! Roberta in D
"Debbie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:S9KGg.21317$u1.15027@trnddc05...
Darlin', you need to practice! Every morning before you brush your teeth, look yourself in the eye, smile sweetly, and say No, I don't have the time or the inclination, but thanks for thinking of me. Repeat several times. After a few days, it will become automatic. Roberta in D
"Debbie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:SbKGg.21319$u1.10906@trnddc05...
Just thinking of it from another angle. Is it usual to give one's bosses a gift worth that much money? Would they be embarrassed/suspicious?
Do they give her a very expensive gift I wonder? I've never heard of anyone getting much more than a box of chocolates from an employer, in which case they would be put in a very awkward position!
If it was me, no way could I make even one quilt between now and Christmas anyway, even if I wanted to (and she'd want it by the beginning of December really). So there's a good excuse - just not enough time. Smile sweetly and give her the name of a ready made supplier!
Nightmist, I think you've hit the nail on the head here. That generation isn't far removed from the days when making everything (or having it made) was necessary, so buying something was superior to doing it yourself -- it showed you were *able* to buy it.
My mother has always been much the same as yours about gifts given her; she just didn't value them if they were hand-made, though she always told us as children that hand-made gifts were the best. What's odd is that she's always made her own clothes -- though that may not be so odd, after all, since her clothes look awful. But she refuses to buy them, so it's her own choice.
I know that when I first became interested in quilting, I made her a pair of cushions and then never saw them again. Needless to say, I never made her a quilt. ;)
I don't know what age your parents are but my mother was 77 when she died and she did handiwork and she KNEW what type and labor went into it. I remember when I was really young about 5 or 6 years old, they were trying to raise money for a new furnace for the local hospital, don't have one now, btw, but anyway she donated one of her afghans that she had woven and she told them, now mind you this was early 60's that if they could not get at least $200 for it that she would donate the $200 and wanted the afghan back. They made over $400 on that afghan. So don't discredit the older generations, because my mother and my grandmother knew the worth of something hand made. As far as clothing went, my mother made almost everything we wore, I loved it because I didn't have to worry about meeting myself coming at school.
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