Found fabric and a seamstress. How's the price?

Han Hunter

Active Hunter
I've found a good fabric for an RotJ jumpsuit and want to get my Jumpsuit custom made. Found a good local seamstress and want to find out if the price I'm being quoted is OK.

I provide the fabric and a standard decorators jumpsuit for the basic pattern/shape and size.

For a one off Jumpsuit, she'll charge £100 - £150 ($160 - $240 ish). If I get 5 people interested, the price goes down to £90 - £110 each ($146 - $176 ish). Seems a bit steep to me, but I've never used a seamstress before, so I was wondering if this is a reasonable price. She's fully into all the reference pics and seems keen to do a good job etc and even noticed lots of the details before I pointed them out. I've also heard good things about her and her resume/CV is pretty good (lots of costumes done for circuses/films/theatre etc.).

If the price is good and I can get more of the fabric, I may think about an interest thread (higher the numbers, cheaper the suits), but I need your input first.

Many thanks,

Si
 
I dont know how long it would take her, But when I was getting quotes from seemstress' it was in the $10-$20 per hour range, for me anyways. They didnt have a base price for an entire suit.
 
Other well-known Fett tailors charge around that, somewhere near $200, some as high as $300. I think the price she gave you sounds fair, I would try to find other interested guys/gals to drive the price down a bit though.

Phil
 
I know my sister sews for people sometimes and she got like 500 bucks for a dress once :) i think the 200 for a jumpsuit is fair.
 
Damn guys, y'all are paying out the butt for a jumpsuit. The lady who did my Jango and my friends Boba jumpsuit only charged $35 for mine (I supplied materials) and $50 for the Boba. The Boba is made of gaberdine (sp?) and Jango out of cotton canvass type material. Both are of excellent quality.
 
Yeah, I have pics. I'll have to post them tonite after work.
I'm suprised as it is that the Army hasn't locked this website cuz I'm on it so much during work.
 
Heres' the double sleeve
js2.JPG


full body with collar and both sleeves
js1.JPG


sleeve cuff with velcro closure. This shot gives a good look at the material.

js3.JPG


But, being the genius that I am, I had the suit made BEFORE I dyed it in the wash. So it shrunk and now, it doesn't fit.
 
Price is not determined by cost+markup. It's determined by what people will pay, and what many people will pay right now is considerable. If you want the best, you will have to either:

1. Make it yourself.
2. Make friends with someone who can make it.
3. Pay a lot of money.

How long does it take to sew a jumpsuit?

Shortest answer for non-detail oriented people:
3-12 hours.

If the shortest answer is not enough for you, here is some figuring on jumpsuits, which might help you with the cost:

It takes me about 3 hours to cut and sew a basic jumpsuit, like the one Jango_Wes posted. To add the special touches for Fett adds another 3-4 hours. Individual size adjustments, depending on the individual, could add another 1-2 hours. It depends on how much you (don't) fit the standard pattern sizes. If I were sewing several of these jumpsuits, I could get them out much faster, probably about 4 hours each at most. If it's someone who lives close by and you can have fittings, then add another 2 hours to be safe. If it was only one, and I had never sewn it before (but had good sewing experience), it could be 8-12 hours for the final jumpsuit.

So, to sum up, somebody churning out jumpsuits could get $20 an hour by charging you $80 for labor. However...good luck getting somebody to make you a good one at that price. I wouldn't be willing to go through the hassle of a special order on some new project for less than $200. You can take the fabric to someone nearby you who works cheaply, and probably spend less than $60, but they will not be very good at getting all the details right.

BTW, if you have to decide whether to spend money on fabric or tailor, spend it on the tailor. Good sewing skills can make the fabric look better, but bad sewing skills will ruin the most expensive fabric.
 
The most upseting thing about hiring a seamstress is [1] getting ripped off [2] not having the final product done right with the correct details. I had mines made from gabardine as well and the color is like a medium grey.I tought I had it all done right but with the lack of poor reference pics at the time made my project a dissapointment. I also got ripped off for 425.00 lousy dollars everyone told me it was ridiculous. Now the jumpsuit hangs in the closet taking up space [I do not want it ]. So be careful how much you pay a seamstress for a jumpsuit and by all means ''do not'' make the seamstress go her own way when sewing the fabric together.Lastly ''DON'T show your excitement of having a FETT suit put together just because its out of a movie it kind of makes the seamstress jack-up the price very easily.''GOOD LUCK''...
 
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