I'm sure you've heard it before; take something you thoroughly enjoy doing; most likely a hobby of some sort and turn it into a money making venture.
Well my hobby is cross stitching, so several years ago I had the notion to cross stitch a beautiful picture, have it professionally framed and to put it up for sale on e-bay.
Cross stitching being a passion of mine I truly enjoyed stitching every stitch. I kept a record of every minute that I spent stitching and in the end it took 141 hours to complete the picture over a course of a four month period. This did not include the time that I spent picking out and buying the pattern; buying and organizing the floss along with having the project cleaned, ironed, stretched and framed. At that time I was working in a framing shop so I took the project to the shop to have the mat, fillet, frame and glass ordered. I did the stretching, mounting and framing on my own time.
I had to set a price for my framed picture. The price would have to pay for all the materials plus I wanted to be paid for the hours that I spent getting the picture to its finished state. The materials; the pattern leaflet, the floss, the cloth, acid free foam core, stainless steel pins and tape all all added up to approximately $47.00. The frame, mat, fillet, glass and hardware added up to approximately $197.00. I spent 141 hours stitching the picture; I tacked on another ten hours to cover the time I spent preparing for the project and framing the picture. My total hours added up to 151. I decided to set my hourly rate at $10.00 a hour. The rate was lower than what I was getting at the frame shop but equivalent to what most experienced manufacture and service employees receive. I knew that I would have additional costs such as the e-bay fees and I would need packing material so I added on another $50.00. My calculations were: $47.00 + $197.00 + $1510.00 (151 x $10.00) + $50.00 which added up to $1804.00. I rounded off the price and set it at $1800.00. The shipping fee was listed separately.
After several weeks on e-bay I was not successful in selling the picture. I had some very nice compliments but most people said they were not willing to pay my asking price. Selling one of my cross stitched pictures for just the cost of the materials and perhaps a couple hundred dollars more for my time is something that I would never consider. I feel that I should be compensated for my talent, creativity and skills just as in any other occupation.
I continue cross stitching beautiful pictures for the great pleasure that I get in seeing the pictures come to life with every stitch of the needle. Today "The Daisy Girl" is proudly displayed over an accent chair in my home.
