Sewing Profit Calculator
Materials
Labor & Overhead
Profit Margin
Your Prices
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Retail Price (50% margin)
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How to price your sewing projects
Sewing pricing fails at fabric estimation and finishing detail. A garment uses more fabric than the pattern envelope claims (account for matching stripes, fixing layout errors, and waste at 15–20%). Lining, interfacing, zippers, and topstitching consume both materials and hours.
Use this formula: (fabric × 1.2 waste factor) + notions (zippers, interfacing, thread, buttons) + (hours × hourly wage) + machine overhead (10%), then multiply by markup. Machine overhead is needles, bobbin thread, scissor sharpening, and the fact that your sewing machine eats $80 in service every 2–3 years.
Custom alterations (hemming, taking in, replacing zippers) tend to be your highest hourly rate because the materials are minimal and the customer is locked in. Garment construction from scratch competes with fast fashion — sell to people who want fit, not low prices.
Common pricing mistakes for sewing makers
Buying fabric on sale and then pricing as if it cost retail — or vice versa
Track your actual cost per yard, not what the bolt was originally tagged at. Sale fabric isn't free; full-price fabric isn't a markup opportunity.
Forgetting interfacing, lining, and thread
Interfacing alone can run $4–8 per garment. Add it as a line item, not as 'I'll round up the fabric cost.'
Quoting alterations by gut
A 'simple hem' can be 30 minutes (machine-stitched bedsheet) or 2 hours (lined wool trousers). Standard tailor pricing has tiers for a reason — use them.
Worked example: a custom-fit cotton dress
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fabric (3.5 yd cotton lawn × $12/yd × 1.2 waste) | $50 |
| Notions (zipper, interfacing, thread, buttons) | $10 |
| Hours (8 hrs × $25/hr) | $200 |
| Machine overhead (10%) | $26 |
| Total cost | $286 |
| Retail (50% margin) | $572 |
| Wholesale (1.5× cost) | $429 |
Custom-fit means muslin fitting, pattern adjustments, and at least one wear-test — add 2–4 hours over an off-the-rack make. Off-the-rack pricing for the same garment in standard sizes would land at $350–$450 retail.
Frequently asked questions about sewing pricing
How much should I charge for a custom wedding dress?
Custom wedding gowns range from $1,200 (simple silhouette, mid-range fabric) to $8,000+ (heavily beaded, structured corsetry, multiple fittings). The biggest cost drivers are fabric ($30–$200/yd for silk/lace) and the number of fittings (3–5 typical).
Should I charge per inch or per garment for alterations?
Use flat-rate tiers, not per-inch. Customers want a quote before they hand over the garment. Standard tiers: hem ($15–40 by garment type), take-in ($25–60), zipper replacement ($30–80), full re-fit ($75–$200).
How do I price quilts when the labor is so much higher than the materials?
Use hourly internally and a project rate externally. A queen-sized hand-quilted quilt is 80–150 hours; at $25/hr with materials, that's $2,500–$5,000+ retail. Most quilts sell below cost — market to collectors and gift-givers, not bedding shoppers.
Pricing guides for sewing makers
How Much to Charge for a Handmade Quilt (Real Numbers by Size)
Most quilters lose money on every quilt they sell. Here are the real numbers for fabric, batting, and quilting time across baby, throw, queen, and king sizes.
9 min readHow Much to Charge for Alterations (Tailor Pricing for 2026)
Alterations are the highest-margin work in sewing. Here are real per-job pricing tiers for hems, take-ins, zippers, and full garment rebuilds.
7 min readHow to Price Custom Garments (Dresses, Shirts, Pants)
Custom-sewn garments compete with fast fashion in the customer's mind, but with bespoke tailoring in actual labor. Here's pricing that reflects real cost.
8 min read