Been asked to make simple knife sheaths. Please help..

[SUP]

It seems leatherwork is in demand, at least where I stay. Each and every time I mention that I work with leather, I am always asked whether I can make something or the other. Purses, moccasins, and now, knife sheaths. 

Someone wants me to make dozens of knife sheaths. He has 105 knives and some have sheaths, but most do not. I explained that I am just a hobbyist and  that I just make simple, protective knife sheaths for personal use but he insists I make some. and he is fine with simple ones, without any tooling. Now my question is, if I agree, how much do I charge for them? They will be hand-stitched as I do not have a machine and I size and wet mold each so it fits exactly. The knives are of different sizes, he says. 

I would really appreciate some guidance on this.

[Dwight]

Well . . . I do have two machines . . . so there would be none of that hand sewing I used to do.

As a rule . . . I use an old formula from back in construction electrician days.  I basically price out the material . . . including scrap . . . dye . . . thinner . . . and multiply that by 3.

One third of course is "parts" and two thirds is labor.

This does not always work out for me . . . and would probably do less for you having to hand stitch them all.  But it is a "starting point".

If you lived close enough to "drive over" . . .  I'd offer you the use of either machine I have . . . or I'd offer to sew them for you for say 5 bucks apiece.  My cowboy 4500 makes short work of knife sheaths.  More time messing with starting and stopping and trimming than actually sewing.

Best wishes on your endeavor my friend.

May God bless,

Dwight

[kgg]

2 hours ago, SUP said:

He has 105 knives and some have sheaths, but most do not.

I would figure out

i) an average cost for materials like leather, dye, thread, etc including wastage

ii) an average time to complete a knife sheath from cutting the leather to the finished sheath

iii) a fair hourly rate you want to charge

iv) a profit margin

Just as an example would be $10 for materials plus $15 hourly labor rate (say 1 hour to just to keep it simple for the math) plus say 40 percent for profit for a total: $25 for labor / materials plus $25 x0.40 = $35 per sheath. The only two areas you can really save on the cost per sheath is the labor cost which could be reduced using equipment and the profit margin.

kgg

[SUP]

Thank you for that kgg. That helps!

I agree machines will help but I am a hobbyist and have no plans to go into business and therefore have had no plans to buy machines as I enjoy hand stitching. However ,I seem to be getting pushed that way. In the last month or so, this man is the 2nd who asked me to make knife sheaths and another wants moccasins for him and his family. Another woman wants me to make bags for her. 

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something!

I am a little loathe to turn a hobby into a profession though - worried that leatherwork will lose its charm. But let me see. I will think over it for a few days.

[Handstitched]

18 minutes ago, SUP said:

I am a little loathe to turn a hobby into a profession though - worried that leatherwork will lose its charm. But let me see. I will think over it for a few days.

As someone that turned a hobby into a business, it hasn't lost  its charm, not for me.  . I still very much enjoy making something beautiful out of leather. I still get to make my little pet projects, but I do admit that they can take a little longer sometimes  due to filling orders. But I am good a delegating what comes first and still get to work on my own projects. I both  machine stitch and hand stitch. 

Buying a sewing machine doesn't necessarily   mean you're going into business , you can buy a machine simply  to help augment your hobby.  

HS

[SUP]

@Handstitched that is very true. I could buy a machine and start a business and still enjoy leatherwork - I think I will - but I am so new at leatherwork - just started earlier this year -  that I do not yet feel confident. I need to feel that I am getting good at at least some things first.

That is my concern.

 

 

[Klara]

The thing is, if you are starting a business, you will also need to think about nasty things like taxes, insurance, overhead, advertising... I strongly suggest to keep leatherwork as a hobby for as long as possible. 

 

 

[Handstitched]

@SUP  You can  sell stuff without becoming a business and still maintain your hobby   My Mother did it for years.  She used to spin wool, knitted home spun garments and sold some, she did ( and taught)  pottery   and sold some, and even decorated cakes for a while .  I sold heaps of stuff at markets etc. long before I became a business and long before I got a machine.

But the moment you have a business name &  registration, thats when those nasty things like taxes etc  come in , like @Klara  said.   ( and I hate paper work)  Thats  a discussion in another thread. 

 And ,  if  you decide to buy a machine, the next big questions is....which one ?? 

OMG,  what a dilemma !!!  how many times have we all  asked that on here ? Thats also a  discussion for another thread. 

HS

 

[jrdunn]

5 hours ago, Klara said:

The thing is, if you are starting a business, you will also need to think about nasty things like taxes, insurance, overhead, advertising... I strongly suggest to keep leatherwork as a hobby for as long as possible. 

 

 

These are definitely concerns.  For me, I also have a "mind set" problem.  It seems to change from "I get to do leather work" to "I have to do leather work".  Another might be deadlines.  As far as machines go, I'm no expert but I'm not sure you would gain much machine stitching knife sheaths over hand stitching.  I do have a couple machines and enjoy using them though.  As always, JM2C.  Jim

[kgg]

6 hours ago, SUP said:

Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something!

If you enjoy hand stitching you still can do that it for your own or special projects but when doing large quantity projects mechanizing the work process is the way to go. To me it's like hand sawing versus using a circular saw, one piece of 2x4 no big deal but a 100 I'll use the circular saw. Doing those sheaths all by hand will I bet quickly lose the enjoyment of doing that many similar items. How mechanized you want or can afford will be the question. Just adding a proper sewing machine will as @Dwight mentioned from however long it takes to hand stitch to about five minutes for sewing as will as reducing the hand and mental fatigue.

kgg