Sewing Commission Pricing Guide

Most sewists undercharge by 40-60% on their first commissions

I charged $60 for a lined wool cape my second year of taking commissions. Materials were $35. That left $25 for my labor. I tracked the hours afterward: 8 hours of cutting, sewing, pressing, and hemming. That worked out to $3.12 an hour.

I'm not sharing that number to be dramatic. I'm sharing it because it's not unusual. Undercharging is the default for sewists new to commission work, and it's not because they're bad at math. It's because the true cost of a commission has more components than most people account for when they set their first prices.

This guide gives you a real pricing framework, actual hourly rates across skill levels, and the components of commission cost that most sewists forget to include. Use the commission pricing calculator alongside this post to run the numbers for your specific work.

The formula

Every sewing commission cost has three components:

Materials + Labor + Overhead = Minimum price

Minimum price x 1.2-1.5 = Actual quote (the markup above minimum accounts for profit, pricing power, and the fact that time estimates are usually optimistic)

Let's go through each component.

Materials (with markup)

Materials cost includes everything that goes into the garment: fabric, lining, interfacing, thread, zippers, buttons, snaps, boning, hooks and eyes, and any specialty trims. Calculate actual cost from receipts, not from memory.

Apply a markup of 1.25-1.5x on materials. This covers:

• Time spent sourcing and purchasing materials
• Fabric store trips or shipping costs
• Waste from cutting (typically 5-15% of yardage)
• Materials you had to order extra of because of defects

If you paid $40 for fabric for a commission, charge the client $50-60 for materials. This isn't padding your margins dishonestly. It's accounting for real costs that aren't captured in the per-yard price.

Labor

Labor is where most sewists undercharge most dramatically.

Be honest about where you fall. If you're a hobby sewist charging $50/hr, you'll either overprice yourself out of commissions or underdeliver on quality. If you're a professional charging $20/hr, you're subsidizing your clients.

For any commission you haven't made before, add 25-30% to your labor estimate. Unfamiliar construction always takes longer than expected. The first time you draft a pattern from scratch for a client, you'll spend 2 hours figuring out what an experienced sewist does in 45 minutes.

Overhead

Overhead is the cost of doing business that isn't captured in per-project materials or direct labor hours. Most sewists skip this entirely, which is why commission pricing so often falls short of actual sustainable income.

Overhead includes:

Add $15-35 per commission to cover overhead at typical hobby-to-small-business volume. This seems small, but at 20 commissions a year it's $300-700 of real costs you're either recovering or absorbing.

Common project pricing

Here are realistic price ranges for common sewing commission types, using the formula above at different experience levels.

These ranges are wide because construction quality, complexity, and client expectations vary significantly. A cosplay bodysuit with minimal detail costs less than one with boning, a lace-up back, and four separate fabric panels. Always quote after seeing reference images, not from a description alone.

What most sewists forget to charge for

These are the hours that disappear from pricing because they don't feel like "sewing time."

Fitting appointments. If you're fitting garments, each in-person appointment costs 30-90 minutes. Travel time if you go to the client, or overhead costs if they come to you. At two fittings for a dress (toile fit + final), that's 1-3 hours of unpaid labor if you don't charge for them. Charge $25-50/fitting or roll fitting hours into your labor estimate.

Client communication. Emails, DMs, revision discussions, clarification questions. A client who asks 12 questions before signing off on construction adds 2-4 hours to a commission. For long-term clients this amortizes over many commissions. For one-time commissions, it's pure time cost. Include 1-3 hours of communication time in any labor estimate.

Pattern drafting. Drafting a custom pattern from scratch is skilled work that takes 2-10 hours depending on complexity. If you're drafting, charge for it. A drafted pattern for a client's measurements at $30-50/hr for 4 hours adds $120-200 to the commission total. This is appropriate and not excessive.

Muslin mockups. Any client requesting custom fit should expect a muslin charge. A muslin uses 1-2 hours of labor and $5-15 in cheap muslin fabric. Charge $35-65 for a muslin mockup and make it clear upfront that it's part of your custom fit process, not a flaw in your process.

Rush fees. Timelines shorter than your standard lead time should cost more. A commission that compresses your schedule by three weeks or forces overtime adds real costs. A standard rush fee is 20-50% above the base quote, applied when the client's requested deadline requires faster turnaround than your standard schedule.

The "materials only" trap

The most common pricing failure I see from new commission sewists: quoting based on materials cost plus a small margin, without calculating actual hours.

The logic usually goes: "The fabric cost me $40, so I'll charge $100 and keep $60 for myself." That sounds reasonable until you work out that the commission took eight hours, putting your effective hourly rate at $7.50.

The fix is to estimate hours first, before you set a price. Write down the construction steps: pattern prep, cutting, interfacing, construction sequence, finishing, pressing. Assign realistic time to each. Add 20-25% for the unfamiliar parts. Multiply by your hourly rate. Add materials with markup. That number is your floor.

If that number feels too high to quote to the client, the right response is to evaluate whether you're the right maker for this commission, not to lower your rate below sustainable levels.

For clients asking why sewing commissions cost what they cost, commission pricing without losing money has a framework for that conversation. And cosplay commission cost breakdown shows what a full costume commission costs when everything is included.

Flat rate vs hourly: when to use each

Charge flat rate for: projects you've made multiple times, standard alterations (hemming, taking in a seam), items where you know the hours within 10-15%.

Charge hourly for: custom-drafted garments, anything unfamiliar, projects where the client's revision process is unknown, complex multi-piece costumes.

Flat rate is easier to sell to clients. Hourly protects you when a project scope grows. The practical approach: quote a flat rate with a written scope, and include a clause that scope changes (design revisions, size changes after cutting, added components) bill at your hourly rate.

Deposit structure

Never start a commission without a deposit. Period.

The standard structure: 50% deposit before work begins, 50% balance due on completion before shipping or handoff. The deposit should cover your materials plus some labor. The balance covers remaining labor.

Make deposits non-refundable after a specified window (typically 48-72 hours after payment). Once you've purchased materials for a commission, those costs are real and can't be un-spent if a client cancels.

For tracking what's been paid, what's outstanding, and which commissions are complete, the commission tracker at Costumary handles deposit and balance status in a pipeline view.

Building toward higher rates

Hourly rates aren't static. They go up as your skills, reputation, and portfolio develop.

Year 1-2: $15-25/hr is appropriate while you're building a portfolio and learning commission-specific workflows. Take some commissions at lower rates in exchange for photos, reviews, and learning opportunities on construction types you haven't tried before.

Year 3-5: $30-45/hr as you develop consistent quality, clean finishing, and a client base that trusts your work. Raise rates by 20-25% when your commissions are booking 4-6 weeks out. When clients book that far in advance, demand exceeds your capacity and your price should reflect that.

Year 5+: $50+/hr for established reputation, specialty skills (bridal, theatrical, tailoring), or niche expertise. Clients paying $50+/hr expect high-end communication, detailed contracts, and portfolio-quality output. Match your professional infrastructure to your rate.

The sewing project cost breakdown covers how costs accumulate across a full project for your own builds, which is useful context for understanding what you're offering when you price a commission.