Sew What’s Up Presents
The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
quilting message board “Sew What’s New,” which was
retired in August 2007. It is being provided by
“Sew What’s Up,”
which serves as the new home for many members of “Sew What’s New.”
From: pamelalv
Date: 04-27-2003, 03:39 PM (1 of 18)
|
Hi everybody! An online friend referred me to this site when I shared some Ideas I had. I am looking for a way to supplement my husband's income without having to leave home to work. Lately I have been sewing for my daughters - simple projects like aprons and priarie skirts with elastic waistbands. I have received many compliments on them from those who have seen them and have been encouraged to sell these, and other simple projects. I am considering setting up a website with pictures of sample garments as well as fabric samples that could be used to make the items. I queried a large online group who I felt would be representative of those who might be interested in what I want to make. I have received some favorable responses, as well as one woman who outright told me she would be interested in ordering some skirts right away for herself and her daughter. I would like to respond to her, but haven't yet finished planning and haven't started figuring prices yet. If I can make a prairie skirt in an hour, more or less, what should I charge for the labor portion? Also, does anybody have general comments on the potential success of what I have described? I homeschool my children and would market my products mostly to like-minded homeschoolers (there is a sizeable number of families who wear dresses only and who like easy wear, easy care clothing.) In addition to the website, I would promote myself at homeschooling fairs and conventions, homeschool support groups, and on homeschool web groups. I want to make this affordable for my potential customers (many, many of whom have large families and only one income) while compensating myself adequately. I have considered the fact that if I were to take a part-time job, I would likely earn minimum wage, or slightly more, and spend nearly $3 for gasoline each time I was scheduled to work. That would eat quite a bit into my earnings, as would the time involved in travelling to and from work (at least 1/2 hour each way). So, with these thoughts in mind, what would be a reasonable rate to charge for a basic, no frills prairie skirt? And if someone opted to have the ruffle on the bottom edged with eyelet, how much more should I add to the cost to my customer? I know this is long. I appreciate you reading it and considering my questions. I have not replied to the woman who would like me to sew some skirts for her yet because I wanted to hear from those who are experienced in this. Thank you. Pamela Pamela
|
User: pamelalv
Member since: 04-27-2003 Total posts: 4 |
From: MaryW
Date: 04-27-2003, 07:19 PM (2 of 18)
Hi Pamela, welcome to Sew Whats New. You will receive some great answers from the "pros" here on the site. 
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
|
From: rose074
Date: 04-29-2003, 08:29 PM (3 of 18)
|
Hi Pamela - I've been selling my quilts and embroidered projects for about a year now. I've found that it is almost impossible to every be compensated for your time. You might have the right idea with your skirt though, easy and fast to sew. Personally I would charge at least $8 but preferably $10 for my time plus the cost of the fabric. Sometimes I will just figure the cost of my fabric and supplies and multiply it by 2.5 to figure my cost. I also made my own website. It's pretty easy to teach yourself and make sure you look for free webspace. I got mine from www.angelfire.com I havent figured out how to add a shopping cart but people usually e-mail me with their orders and I e-mail back their total. It seems more personal this way. I think your ideas sound great. I wish you the best of luck. Danelle in Tri-Cities Washington
|
User: rose074
Member since: 12-23-2000 Total posts: 73 
|
From: MaryW
Date: 04-30-2003, 09:13 AM (4 of 18)
|
What are the cost of these skirts in a retail store? If your primary customers are from large families and on a budget, there won't be a large markup for sure. http://www.sew-whats-new.com/clason/chargingforwork.shtml This is well written and gives you a couple of different ways to charge for your work. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
|
From: Llantrisant
Date: 07-04-2003, 01:35 PM (5 of 18)
|
Hello Pamela and welcome,I think your plan sounds great,I am not at all techy, so would'nt know how to go about building a web site,takes me all my time to do a sewing project for my self lol.Ive often thought about advertizing my self as a seamstress,but the confidence is lacking lol.I feel I do a good job on any sewing I persue,oft times been told I should do this for others,and make some money as well.I am retired so I do have time on my hands most days,thats usually when I get creative lol.Right now i am making an heirloom camisole for my self, and just planning how to go about what I want the end results to be. Good luck in your endevours . 
If at first you don't suceed, try-try again!
|
User: Llantrisant
Member since: 06-02-2002 Total posts: 144 
|
From: Paul
Date: 07-04-2003, 02:53 PM (6 of 18)
|
Hi Pamela, Always go for your ideas, Just go for it. You never know how it will pan out if you don't try. A web site is not all that hard to build, there are some decent tools you can use. If your staring as a hobby kind of thing the freebie sites are sufficient, but anyone looking for a business will not feel your professional with a site that has banners all over it. That is what you get for free web space. But a great way to get your feet wet. You can also pay for space. I have one site that only costs me $60.00 a year and it is full service. There are also places like yahoo shopping that are not cheap but make the whole thing very easy. Pricing I can't help much with but if you have web site questions feel free to ask. Paul
http://www.sassyzone.com http://www.shoppersfair.com http://www.embroiderzone.com Make it personal! |
User: Paul
Member since: 06-29-2003 Total posts: 17 |
From: allie-oops
Date: 07-06-2003, 01:57 AM (7 of 18)
|
Hi Pamela! Welcome to a fellow homeschooler! I'm working on getting an embroidery business going, and charging has to be the hardest thing. Barbara Brabec has some wonderful books out on this type of thing. Check out your local library for her books. I have a friend that sells her creations on ebay, at a very low price. She also has a website, but I can't remember the addy. Honestly, I don't know how she makes money on it, but she does! I do know that she's VERY fast. The faster you can sew the more money you'll make. I believe she sets it up like a production line. I would think labor would be at least $10 per hour. But you do have to charge what the market will bear. Figure out your supplies cost. You may want to do some market research - check online, do a search for the type of product you're wanting to sell. Be very careful with copyrights if you're using a pattern other than your own! I wish you success, Pamela! "onward through the fog"
|
User: allie-oops
Member since: 10-25-2002 Total posts: 282 
|
From: lovemyfabric
Date: 07-07-2003, 02:33 PM (8 of 18)
|
Paul, I'v been thinking about starting an online fabric store. Could you give me some information about setting up a website? I don't know anything about it so I'm not sure what all is involved. Thanks. |
User: lovemyfabric
Member since: 06-06-2003 Total posts: 126
|
From: wazoodle
Date: 07-13-2003, 11:34 PM (9 of 18)
|
Do a good business plan -- a really good business plan -- before you start. There are hundreds of fabric retailers on the internet -- only a handful make money. The Internet is great for extending your reach, but it's a very-very low margin business - averages $1-1.50/yd. There are about 1000 internet fabric retailers, but only a handful live off their internet sales alone -- most use the internet as a supplemental channel to their stores or jobber businesses. If you have 2 staff at $500/week and $1000 in monthly business expenses (web services, programming, marketing, supplies etc), you need to sell about 2000 yards a week to break even. Assuming you turn inventory well, you need about $75,000 in inventory to support this volume of business. I'm not trying to discourage you, but I can tell you it's not for the feint-of-heart! LeeAnne
|
User: wazoodle
Member since: 10-17-2002 Total posts: 29 |
From: Paul
Date: 07-14-2003, 12:06 AM (10 of 18)
|
Originally posted by lovemyfabric Paul, I'v been thinking about starting an online fabric store. Could you give me some information about setting up a website? I don't know anything about it so I'm not sure what all is involved. Thanks. Setting up a website is not all that hard and not very expensive. As stated by wazoodle the Internet is not a get rich quick type of business. But for what it costs it's a great way to get your feet wet. I'll try to explain some inexpensive ways to do it. 1. Get a program like MS Front Page, Dreamweaver, or even Netscape and play around building a site on your hard drive. If you have either DW or FP it will be much easier to send the files to the server you will "host" your site on. 2. You will need that server in order to host the site. I have a service for http://embroiderzone.com that costs me $60.00 a year for more than I will need in space and traffic. There are also places like Yahoo Shopping that charge a bit more but are very simple to setup and go. That costs $49.00 a month plus other fees. You would also need a Merchant account for Credit Cards on Yahoo Shopping. But to get started I would use the first choice. It's cheap, reliable and actually fun. Another option is to job all this out to a web site designer. Very costly but can set you up nicely. Especially with E-commerce enabled sites it can get complicated. If your serious about this write me offline and we can hash more out. Don't be afraid to try your ideas. Just don't break the bank while your trying.
Paul
http://www.sassyzone.com http://www.shoppersfair.com http://www.embroiderzone.com Make it personal! |
User: Paul
Member since: 06-29-2003 Total posts: 17 |
From: lovemyfabric
Date: 07-14-2003, 07:41 AM (11 of 18)
|
I think it sounds a little too scary for me. I can't imagine having $75 000 worth of inventory. Thanks for the info though. 
|
User: lovemyfabric
Member since: 06-06-2003 Total posts: 126
|
From: MaryW
Date: 07-14-2003, 08:29 AM (12 of 18)
|
You won't need that kind of inventory to start off with. True, it is like Lee Ann said, not for the faint of heart but start off small and take baby steps. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
|
From: mxwife
Date: 07-15-2003, 06:03 PM (13 of 18)
|
How do you market your online business once you've cleared the website hurdles? Outside of submitting your website info to the search engines, how do you generate traffic to your site? I'm currently researching packaging (and still working on product design) but I've had a hard time researching the marketing end of it. I'd like to stay away from ebay but it would certainly be one way to get the word out there. Any opinions or suggestions? I'd love to hear what works for those of you selling exclusively online. Thanks! Laura |
User: mxwife
Member since: 03-29-2003 Total posts: 13 |
From: Paul
Date: 07-15-2003, 07:48 PM (14 of 18)
|
Hello Laura, There are Pay Per Click advertisements. Where you bid on keywords and when someone searches for that keyword the list of bidders comes up. Highest bidder gets higher ranking. Web sites take a long time to become seen by search engines. Weeks, and months before it will show up on it's own. Paul
http://www.sassyzone.com http://www.shoppersfair.com http://www.embroiderzone.com Make it personal! |
User: Paul
Member since: 06-29-2003 Total posts: 17 |
From: MaryW
Date: 07-16-2003, 05:22 AM (15 of 18)
|
To market your online business takes a lot of work. Relentless linking and networking with other larger sites. When I had mine, it was constantly being improved and upgraded. Getting the word out and giving excellent service is what it's all about. It won't happen over night, but if you want it bad enough, it will happen. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
|
From: mxwife
Date: 07-16-2003, 07:45 AM (16 of 18)
|
I didn't know about the Pay Per Click advertisements. I'll have to research that. I know the search engine route takes awhile that's why I'm trying to come up with a better strategy. Thanks again - I appreciate your feedback. Laura |
User: mxwife
Member since: 03-29-2003 Total posts: 13 |
From: mxwife
Date: 07-16-2003, 07:48 AM (17 of 18)
|
To market your online business takes a lot of work. Relentless linking and networking with other larger sites. Yes, thank you. And that's what I'm working towards so that I can cover my bases in that respect. I'm trying to research available sites that I can link to, to generate traffic. I expect it to be slow moving at first which is okay but definately want to make sure I do what's necessary to get the exposure I need. I was hoping to see how others have gone about it to learn more so that I don't miss anything important. Thanks again for your input! Laura |
User: mxwife
Member since: 03-29-2003 Total posts: 13 |
From: lou-dezynz
Date: 09-14-2003, 12:25 AM (18 of 18)
|
Hi Pamela, I'm not certain, but it occurs to me that if trying to market to others who home school, the internet may NOT be the best venue for you. I would probably p[t for local linkages with like- people in your case. And I agree that pricing is a topucky subject for ALL sewing for profit. As mary said, look at like markets, retail wise and see how far you can discount to those who have income limits, without cutting into your costs. I also agree that Barbara Brabec's books are good references, but also pick up a cc of Barbara Wright Sykes "Pricing Without Fear: A Sewing Entrepreneurs Guide". THIS is an excellent source [try http://www.Clotildes.com] . you want to be competitive, without giving your services away. My best and SEW Forth! Lou- Take life as it comes; there's always someone in a worse situation!
**I have A GREAT DEAL OF sew-quilt-craft FABRIC, PATTERNS, BOOKS, TOOLS for sale, along w/ vintage machines. Must sell off much of the contents of my sewing room due to lost home in divorce, need to downsize re relocating..** CHECK MY PHOTOS OF ITEMS FOR SALE at <http://photos.yahoo.com/<email address removed for privacy>> PAYPAL PREFERRED <<email address removed for privacy>> |
User: lou-dezynz
Member since: 02-02-2002 Total posts: 61 |
Visit Sew What’s Up for the latest sewing and quilting tips and discussions.
This page was originally located on Sew What’s New (www.sew-whats-new.com) at http://www.sew-whats-new.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-9749.html
Sew What’s Up is hosted by ZenSoft