It really bothers me when I see people selling entire doll outfits for $8.99 or $10. You're probably saying, "8.99? For the whole thing? That's cheap; I'd totally buy that." Well, it is cheap. In most cases, too cheap. I'm left wondering what is the seller's motivation. Assume the seller is using Jo-Ann or Wal-Mart-type fabrics. Add in the cheapest thread, some Velcro, elastic, maybe some ribbon, ric-rac, or other embellishment. Factor in electricity, listing and selling fees, and Paypal fees. By the time the person has sold her $8.99 item, she is probably only clearing a few dollars at best. Now compare that with the time she spent making the item(s).
I guess if the point is just to clear a few bucks, then fine. However, I value my time and prefer not to work for less than $10/hour. I also tend to favor designer fabrics and nicer thread, so I spend more on my materials up front in order to make a quality, lasting piece. I try to find fabrics and embellishments that are in scale with the size of the doll whenever possible. That takes time and can cost more. These are, of course, my personal preferences.
That being said, I just wish people would respect themselves and their artistry and not brag about how cheap their prices are compared to others. If you are sewing or crafting to make money, then please stop undercutting yourself and others. Have some respect, do the math, and pay yourself at least a living wage.
My sewing rooms through time.....
Friday, September 10, 2010
I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of my various sewing rooms. I have been married for 13 years and we have lived in 10 different places--a rental house on a farm (no sewing area there--just the kitchen table or the floor--hey, I was young!), a house, an apartment for 3 months, a house, corporate rental for 3 months, a house, an apartment, a little bigger apartment, a big house, and now a rental house again. I can't find the pictures of our first house, but since we didn't have kids yet, I had an entire bedroom to devote to sewing and the computer. When we moved I had my sewing machine table set up in the living room. Once our new house was complete, I used the spare bedroom for my sewing area. This was great because that room had a pretty big closet to store my fabric and supplies in.


Next up was an old, tiny apartment. Since I was pregnant, I wasn't really doing a lot of sewing, but the machine was set up on a folding plastic table in our bedroom. Yuck. A bigger apartment became available right about the time my son was due. So I went to the hospital to have him and my family moved our things from the small apartment to the bigger apartment. Still set up on the plastic table, but at least back to the living room. Not that I accomplished a whole lot with a new baby. At least I could look at the machine.
During the time of living in the bigger apartment, we began construction on a new home. Yay! Dedicated sewing space with a lot of storage was definitely in the plans. We moved into the new house when my son was a little more than a year old. Here is a picture:
We only got to live in this house for nine months before moving yet another time.
We are now renting a house that doesn't really have space for a dedicated sewing area. I am sharing sewing and office space. Definitely not ideal, but not totally horrible either. In my perfect world the office would not share real estate with the sewing area. There would be lots of overhead lighting (instead of NONE), and there would be a nice, large closet for stash storage, rather than having to trek to the unfinished bonus area to get my things. Here is my last set of pictures:
I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my sewing rooms!
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