Today I spent the day with one of my dearest and best friends. She said girls day and I jumped at the chance to spend some quality one-on-one time with her before she and her family picks up and moves to Hawaii. We decided to spend the day perusing a favorite quilt shop of mine, doing lunch, going to JoAnn Fabrics and we even took a stroll around one of our local malls. I hadn't been to the mall in forever, well I do go there to get my rings cleaned but it's a 5 minute trip, we actually went in and walked around, talked and had a marvelous time.
During our time together we had a conversation after seeing an item for sale that we both initially thought was slightly over priced. I've been asked before if I really thought I'd sell an item if I priced it at what I wanted for it, and I've had this conversation many times before with other people. The reason I decided to blog about it this particular time is it occurred to me that in this day and age we're so used to mass produced items that we can get at Wal-Mart for dirt cheap that we may have lost sight of what it really costs to make something that you can't get in mass quantities.
So let's break this down shall we :)
Let's say you are making a bag and this bag requires 2 yards of fabric for the lining and the outside, then you need a yard of interfacing and a yard heavy duty Pelltex lining to give said bag stability. Let's say that's all the bag calls for, no special zippers or snaps, we'll make this one really plain.
If you purchase your fabric at a quilt shop, you're probably paying between $9-$11 per yard. If you're paying $9 a yard, your bag will automatically cost $18, the interfacing runs about $5/yard and the heavy duty Pelltex runs about $9/yard. Adding that all up, your bag now costs roughly $32 in materials alone. Now what would you like to be paid per hour of work on said bag?? When you see something for sale that's made by someone not in the business of mass producing items, a lot of blood, sweat and tears may have gone into that. I say blood because we've all been pricked by that damn needle while we're trying to bury threads or whipstitch something closed, at least I hope that's not just me :) So let's say I spend 4 hours putting this bag together, minimum wage for my state is $9.19/hour, at this rate my bag that I made should be able to be sold for $68.76. In reality, I don't know many people who would sell a bag they made for that price, let alone anyone who would buy it. A lot of us who craft items sell our selves short on the price we sell things for, we just know that if our prices aren't competitive with big chain stores the chances of our items selling are slim. I however think that the quality of an item made by a home crafter is much higher than something that came off an assembly line in China.
I am in no way trying to slam the big chains, we all have to make a living some how and I have been known to frequent my local Wal-mart for groceries or things I need around the house. I feel like we as a society do those who craft a disservice by assuming that their work isn't deserving of a price tag, that someone who is unknown shouldn't be able to sell a bag for $68.76, only a brand name can do that. Honestly, if you took all the purses or bags from all the top designers and ripped them apart you'd probably find they're made of some of the same stuff and what you're really paying for is a name.
I know that in the past I used to look at home made quilts and think, dang it's so expensive. It wasn't until I started quilting myself that I learned what it took to put one together and how many hours of cutting, sewing, ironing and how much all the fabric really cost. The quilts I make cannot be purchased at your local chain store because I made it, no matter how many I make, none will ever look the same or use all the same fabrics, they are unique and I love that about quilting. I own things no one else does and that is special to me.
What are your thoughts?
Rachel
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