Repairing this old shirt took 7-1/2 hours. I replaced the collar, patched holes and mended tears.
On both sides of the front, the bottom of the shirt was in ribbons. It looked like a torn spider web. Using an embroidery hoop, I painstakingly pulled the threads together.
Then fused soft, fusible interfacing to the inside on the bottom, to hold the reweaving in place.
How much to charge?
7.5 hours @ $20/hour = $150.
7.5 hours @ $15/hour = $112.50
I think it looks good.
That is one expensive shirt! I wear stuff forever, but it would be in the rag bin before I spent any money to repair them. If it’s something simple I do it myself (not half as good as you, for sure). I have darned socks a few times, sewn a belt loop on or a pocket. This was major surgery!
7.5 hours!? You can replace lots of engines or transmissions in less time than that. Didn't you agree on a price beforehand?
My hairstylist told him how much I charge. Ninety-five percent of the work was painstaking hand-sewing with tiny, invisible stitches.
@LiterateHiker Then why are you asking how much to charge? Did you give him an estimate?
I had no idea how much work the shirt entailed until I got it home. It was a continual problem-solving process.
People let a snag turn into a tear, then into a hole.
Zipping up a jacket, my daughter caught her knit sweater in the zipper pull. After struggling to yank it out, she used scissors. Oops.
Machine-knit sweaters are made with one long piece of yarn. Immediately the sweater began unraveling in a rapidly-increasing hole.
"Mom can fix it," Claire said. I love a challenge.
Using a lighted, magnifying mirror and and embroidery hoop, I found and taped down the two yarn ends to stop the unraveling.
I don't knit or crochet. By following the pattern, I wove the yarn ends in-and-out with a crochet hook (a useful tool). Finally, I secured the cut ends inside the sweater.
"It looks perfect!" Claire exclaimed, She was thrilled.
Men say they are not sentimental but develop more attachment to trivial things.
It was a very SPECIAL FRISBEE!
$150. You are a miracle worker.
Thanks, dear. I feel proud of the job I did.
I dress make and really it becomes unbelievably expensive to make clothes and expect people to pay. I am currently making a prom dress and 4 bridesmaid dresses. I charge cost of materials, my electricity and minimum wage. I still get 'I'll get ya a bottle of wine Jayne'....grrr
I sewed my daughter's jr and sr prom dresses. The jr one was a 40's glam type with so many layers.
Sr one was a svelte, clingy black thing.
Get that a lot working on cars. I have an associates, and probably 100K in tools. I charge $45/hr. Lots of times I get "I'll buy you a 12 pack". No. Can't pay bills in beer...
@BufftonBeotch Erm you don't still have the pattern for the svelte one do you? (We need a group)
He will want to give you $20 and think he is doing you a favor.
Craft people need to get the price up front.
Kameon told him how much I charge to fix and alter clothes.
Even at minimum wage wage, wouldn't 7.5 hours pay cover a new shirt?
Of course. Yesterday I posted:
Wow!!! That is one impressive AF repair job. No lie!
I'd charge him the $150. That was A LOT of work.
Did you take "before" pics?
@ KKGator
I did not take a picture of the torn, worn-out collar. The first picture show how threadbare and thin the bottom of the front was before I re-wove it.
It had big holes.
@LiterateHiker I am sincerely impressed by how well you repaired the shirt.
I certainly hope you are very proud of yourself. You really should be.
Thank you, dear. I feel proud of the collar. It turned out great.
Damn woman,..and you don't love this man?
If she "loved" him, I doubt she'd be trying to figure out what to charge him.
My hairstylist gave me the shirt to fix. He is one of her customers.
"I was talking up how you fixed Travis's worn-out plaid shirt," Kameon said. Travis, 18, is her son.
Previously, I resurrected Travis's "lucky" nearly-destroyed hunting shirt.
Your repair work looks great. This shirt must have some sort of sentimental value. For the mid-point of your two numbers, I could buy a lifetime supply of flannel shirts with a lot left over.