I have a friend that wants me to make a tshirt quilt for her daughter, she has enough to make a king size quilt. Being a fairly new quilter how do you know how much to charge to do this do you do by the hour or by the size of the quilt? Mahalo
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I have a friend that wants me to make a tshirt quilt for her daughter, she has enough to make a king size quilt. Being a fairly new quilter how do you know how much to charge to do this do you do by the hour or by the size of the quilt? Mahalo
Tee shirt fabric aaarrrggghhhh its usually knitted so it stretches........be very careful!! if you do decide to take it on. As an experienced quilter I am afraid I would turn it down.
As to charges, thread, backing and wadding if you have to supply them.....time......well we should charge around £15 - £20 per hour, but at that price it would be phenominally expensive.........
What she said. It is almost impossible to know the answer to this. The 'client' is providing some of the materials. Are you goin to have have her buy the thread, the batting, the fusible interfacing for the T-shirts and just charge labor?
Any time I have someone say they want me to make them a quilt, I immediately share that fabric is going for about $10 a yard, and they are looking at ..... and then the other materials, you are already up to..... before I even start working on it...and minimum wage is.... and it would take at LEAST .... hours and I don't even work my day job for minimum wage, so....
Good luck.
http://www.minimum-wage.us/
For minimum wage.. In Hawaii it is 7.25 an hr.
Ack! Your work and time is worth so much more than minimum wage! Quilts are crazy expensive and people who don't make them will just need to pay it or not have a quilt, simple as that. When I'm charging a client, I figure out what pattern I'll be using (with the client, so they know that complex = more time = more money), then I tally up fabric, thread, and batting cost...then I try to determine how much time it should take me. I don't generally charge an exact per hour rate (I always try to stay near $15 - 20), but here's my guide.
There's a price that I know if I say it...my heart aches a little because I know I'm not getting what I should for it. So I price where I know I'm not going to feel bad about giving away my time. Then it's the clients turn to say yes and get an awesome quilt, or say no and don't get an awesome quilt. And the most important part is that I'm okay either way. :)
Don't be afraid to really be honest about how much it will cost with your friend. If you're not, it can cause a lot of stress for you.
To decrease the stretch in the t-shirt cotton, you need to use interfacing on the back.
I googled a bit and found people who make t-shirt quilts. The first link doesn't include pricing on the site but gives good info on how to cut the t-shirts, etc...
The next 3 give pricing and as you see, they vary greatly. Some don't include machine quilting costs either. Read carefully. I think it has to do with demographics. I know in the instance of machine quilting, for the same service such as a simple allover pantogragh design, you can find a difference between $50 to $150 on a queen size quilt. I speak from personal experience. I charge about $3 sq/ft, while someone in a less affluent area can only charge $1.50 sq/ft and the client will still bawlk (sp?) at the price.
Basically, you should charge what you think you're worth; $5/hr-$10/hr-$15/hr, etc... Don't undersell yourself, because this first quilt could lead to a dozen more and you'll be swamped with orders and making less than minimum wage. This price can or doesn't include things like materials (thread, sashing/border fabric, interfacing,batting) and/or quilting.
http://www.tshirtquilt.com/index.htm
http://www.tshirtquiltscanada.com/
http://www.campusquilt.com/
http://www.toocooltshirtquilts.com/
Google some more and you'll get a better picture. Good luck!
First, let me just say that I have made several t-shirt quilts and they are NOT hard to make at all. As soon as you cut the blocks out of the front (or back) of the t-shirt and iron on the interfacing, they become super easy to use for a quit. When my best friend died of breast cancer a few years ago, I took all of her t-shirts and sweatshirts and made quilts for her kids. I'm not a real experienced quilter, so if I could do it, anyone can. I made all of the blocks the same size so that I didn't have to do any calculations.
Secondly, because you are using t-shirts, there will be very little fabric cost. I put sashing between the blocks and a border or two around the quilts. So your biggest cost will be for the backing and batting.
Lastly, I would only do a lap sized quilt. If your friend can't choose just 12-16 t-shirts for the front then you could always use some for the backing. That would save fabric cost. Can't comment on what to charge. I give all my quilts away as gifts.
Good luck! I think you would enjoy making this!
I normally charge $20.00 and hour for my time plus whatever the quilting cost is to have the quilt quilted. I usually have the customer by the fabric because they know what they are looking for and have them supply the backing and batting. That way they have a sense of what is involved in the quilt to that point, if they are insitant on me doing the quilt after I give them a rough estimate of what it is going to cost. I'm with Carolyn, I would have them pick enough to do a lap quilt and then if there is a couple they can't make there mind up on then use them in the back.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for the infor it really helpled. MahaloQuote:
Originally Posted by Denis
So much to think about when you are charging for a quilt, thread, etc. this will be a chalenge, lol
Tks that makes alot of sense regarding the fabric issues and I am hoping it is easy lol
... and if you press that stabilizer onto the back of the t'shirt pieces, make sure you cover the front of the t'shirt with some sort of fabric piece or the whole design could lift right off.
Hugs,
I'd start with $600 and see how much she really wants a King size quilt. Your time and frustration level, as well as backing, binding and batting will already be getting the price up there. Don't sell yourself short!
I am always afraid if I go high it will shy them away but I am going to try and see what happens I could use the money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jean Sewing Machine
I dd watch the tutorial of MSQ on the tshrit quilt tks for the tip. Much MahaloQuote:
Originally Posted by quiltingtrish
This is the exact reason I don't do custom orders. When you tell peeps how much it is going to cost, they look like you flashed them, or have a booger on your face something. They expect to pay for the fabric but don't consider how many hours it is going to take to make it. Charging by the hour is kind of touchy too. We all have varying amounts of time that it takes us to piece, and quilt. If it were me, I would chg a flat fee for actually putting it together base on the difficulty of the blocks. Take your friend with you, and let her purchase the sashing, backing and stabilizer. You won't have a lot of piecing, and she is furnishing the t-shirts, so that should drop the price some. Just a few suggestions.
That is a great idea and since I live in Hawaii she probablly can get everthing much cheaper and send it to me that way she will pick out the fabric and all I have to do is cut, iron and sew lol, Mahalo for the info.Quote:
Originally Posted by auntiemern