Pricing/selling crafts - where do I start? (Knitted afghan blankets)

[Songofsixpence]

I've been approached by a mum to make an afghan blanket for her daughter.

I knitted one each for my own DDs. They're themed towards their favourite things, favourite colours, I made a couple of my own patterns for a few of the squares, they're backed with fleece and have pretty edging. All in all, a bit of a labour of love and took bloody months (probably because I have a low boredom threshold and have about 10 projects on the go rather than just getting on with one thing at a time)

Cost wise, they weren't too bad, I had a lot of wool scraps floating around and I tracked down a load of cheap wool on on offer from Amazon and got the backing fleece online for a bargain.

DD2 took hers to a cub campfire thing where it was seen by the other mum and she's asked me if I would take a commission. I said I'd look into it and have a think about costs and prices, etc.

DD's blanket is 80 squares, about 150cm x 120cm and even if I can get the cheap wool, we're still looking at about £60 on materials alone (she's quite specific on colours).

Do you look at how many hours it took and charge an hourly rate? Just charge materials plus a %? They were hours and hours of work.

Thanks!

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Yes you should calculate the number of hours of labour and apply an hourly rate. Even at the minimum wage you'll be talking about a 3-figure sum of money.

As you say, making your DDs' blankets was a labour of love. I'm still crocheting an Attic24 ripple blanket I started last August, so I know what it's like. Plus if you're committed to doing it for someone else, mightn't it become a slog and a chore?

Or is the other mum very wealthy and might be willing to pay £300+ for the blanket?

Maybe put together a price breakdown for her, ie cost of materials (that alone she might find eye-watering) plus an estimate of the number of hours at £x per hour. And don't underestimate the hours!

don't undervalue it - if you do that you undervalue not only your own time and work, but also that of others who sell handmade goods. if she isn't prepared to pay the true cost of materials, time and expertise, or you decide you don't want to do it, perhaps you could offer to teach her to make her own?

I suspect the mum hasn't really thought about the cost breakdown. Obviously there will be the materials us at least hourly min wage for your time... Won't it take ages too? I think I would probably say no/haven't got time...

Thanks!

In all honesty, no I don't want to do it.

I'm not very good at just sitting still, so for me, knitting is something I can fiddle with while flopped on the couch ogling Poldark. I've got visions of this turning into some long drawn out miserable chore that I end up hating and have to force myself to do.

I have no idea how to even estimate my hours. My DDs' blankets took about 8 months, with lots of picking them up and putting them down and flitting between projects. I couldn't even tell you how long a square took.

Working it out at an hour per square, on minimum wage - 80 squares/80 hours is £520

Plus wool @ £60

DD's has got lots of beads and buttons in it, so another £20 odd on bits and bobs

And the fleece was about £10 I think

£600+ for a blanket? Perhaps I should quote it and watch her run for the hills!

From a personal point of view, I worked quite hard on those blankets, they nearly ended up thrown out of the window several times, they're special and personal to my DDs, and I don't want someone else to have the same.

Without wanting to sound like a pretentious dick , I see things like this as quite personal, something you make with love for people who are special, and they become the sort of things that are kept and handed down

But, £520 isn't to be sniffed at

Sorry, x-posted. I was very non-committal and did say that it would be very expensive as they take months to make but she was very insistent.

She said had seen some on Etsy around £350 but they were too plain, so I think she understands it'll be £££, but I think £600 would be unexpected

It's so hard, I make blankets for gifts but they do cost around £30-40 in cheap wool plus around 60hours each. Which is hard slog, it's not like you can just sit there for a week and start and finish! I can do about hour or so a day max.
You could quoto her a realistic high price and see how you go, depends how much you want earn the money

If it is somebody you could spend time with, perhaps offer to teach her to make squares and then charge her to make it all into a blanket at the end.

Don't underprice your labour too - do you really want to do all that work for minimum wage?

I only make what I want to, for who I want to now.

I used to make things on commission and charged minimum wage on all the hours I worked on that specific item (including a small % of the time I spent designing and shopping) a set amount for packaging, plus the actual cost of all the materials used for the items, and a small % towards additional equipment.

What you could offer to do, is put together a kit with all she needs to make it herself for her own daughter, and charge for the cost of doing that, + materials, p&p etc

I don't work for minimum wage anymore, and would rather be making things for my own family.

Personally I wouldn't do it, I knit/crochet and only do projects I want to, it takes so long that to do it as a commission would take the enjoyment out of it for me, no matter how much I was being paid

Could you teach the mum to knit instead??

"I'm not very good at just sitting still, so for me, knitting is something I can fiddle with while flopped on the couch"

this is exactly why i do it too. i would offer to teach her to knit and design her own and see what she says

Thanks all!

I didn't even think of the time spent blocking, putting it together, backing and edging.

Charging for making up the blanket is a good idea

The original idea for the blanket came from a book on afghan blankets I have. I used a couple of the patterns from that and added my own.

Pointing her in the direction of the book, I don't even mind lending her mine (keeping back my own patterns), the 1000s of knitting tutorials of YouTube and wool suppliers and then putting it together sounds like a more manageable plan for me. Also, I'm not sure of the implications of making money from the book patterns, will have to investigate that anyway

I think minimum wage is too low for it, I just used that as a starting point and still ended up with a fairly eye watering sum. Having a look online, lots of people suggest £10 an hour is fair

Song - I really wouldn't even lend her the book. From what you have said she is an acquaintance rather than a friend - I'd point her in the direction of Ravelry and the knitting group in your local library. Your DD's blanket sounds lovely.

Thanks.

No, she's not a friend. Her DD is at cubs with my DD. I know her vaguely.

I've emailed to say that I can't do it, and included some good teach yourself to knit tutorials from YouTube and links for Ravelry and the wool on Amazon

I've got lots of other stuff on the go and just not feeling the love for knitting at the moment.

Good on you ! People never ever pay what crafting is worth. I did knit a few pairs of socks to raise some choir funds but stopped when the last ones were taking the p at£20 for size 10!

Craft is for appreciative special people or possibly to raffle for charity.

People never ever pay what crafting is worth

Definitely!

I'd love a little craft business, but I just don't see how you can earn a proper living from it.

I'm a member of a craft group on Facebook and am always seeing things for sale on there for silly money.

I made a couple of appliqué cushions as a gift for a friend a while ago, they cost about £20 in cushion pads, fabric, etc. I've seen appliqué cushions for sale on FB for a tenner. It's just not their true value, but people don't seem to want to pay any more.

I sound very similar to you OP, and many years ago went down the same road with someone who had spotted a wee sweater I'd made for my baby DD and wanted me to make her an adult-sized one. I wasn't keen but she was very persistent and even paid me a deposit.
It did not end well and I ended up with only the deposit despite the hours and hours of effort I put into it (I had to design the thing from scratch and if I say so myself, it was gorgeous and a perfect fit). It wasn't until a fair while later that I found out the lady in question was notoriously tight as a nun's chuff and a psycho, and her modus operandi was to routinely complain to everyone from the supermarket to the dry cleaners to restaurants in an effort to get everything for a knock-down price. I wish I'd known that at the time.
It was a very bad experience and put me off making anything for anyone ever again. So now I only make for my closest family and friends or charity, to my own schedule, when I feel like it. My son (11) and daughter (now 14) received a handmade crocheted blanket each as their main gift for Xmas just past, took me months and months and they couldn't have been more appreciative. My son comes in from school each day and the first thing he does is strip off his school clothes and wrap himself in his "blinkie" while playing on his xbox . That makes me very, very happy. Making for unappreciative acquaintances who think you just knock up a blanket in a few hours and for a couple of quid...not so much.