SEAMSTRESS Prices

[Thomas Koehle]

Gentlemen,

just for my own interest and because my seamstress is constantly raising her prices i'd be intrested in the money you have to invest for changes/repairs on your stuff.

I'm aware that a direct "comparison" would be difficult coz there is a lot of factors that possibly influence prices but anyway a rough guideline would maybe be interesting.

Location: Germany
Repair: Replacement of Knittings on a G1
Quality of work: 8 out of 10 ("10" stands for 100% satisfaction)
Charge: 85.- Euro

 

[Pa12]

Gentlemen,

just for my own interest and because my seamstress is constantly raising her prices i'd be intrested in the money you have to invest for changes/repairs on your stuff.

I'm aware that a direct "comparison" would be difficult coz there is a lot of factors that possibly influence prices but anyway a rough guideline would maybe be interesting.

Location: Germany
Repair: Replacement of Knittings on a G1
Quality of work: 8 out of 10 ("10" stands for 100% satisfaction)
Charge: 85.- Euro

In my experience, that’s very reasonable. Works out to 125 dollars Canadian. A tank of gas in the car.

 

[Pa12]

For a comparison, if I took my car into a shop they charge 140/hour.

 

[Dany McDonald]

Hello Thomas,

Fun and interesting thread!

That sounds like a good price for work on leather, especially goat, and if you are satisfied. Finding a skilled seamstress that ''gets it'' is an ongoing quest for me. But I just had work done on L-2B and its very well done. She found it more challenging than expected but was totally at ease with the restoration aspect of the overall project. I will go back with more modifications/restoration for sure.

Location: Canada
Model/Type: L-2B
Repair: Replacement of Knittings (Collar and wristlets), one side of the zipper and some fixes here and there (Old and botched repairs)
Quality of work: 9 out of 10 ("10" stands for 100% satisfaction)
Charge: 90. - Can

D

 

[Micawber]

That's a very reasonable rate for a skilled and experienced person.

Buying and piloting a decent sewing machine and gaining the experience and knowledge to be able to turn out decent work costs both time as well as money. Material and running costs aside that is what you are paying for.

Byson Leather have a table of prices for various jobs...

Byson Leather

Prices WEF Feb1 2023

IRVIN	A2
Mould treatment	fit		£13.10			Cuffs	Fit		£33.20
Front zip	fit		£57.50			Cuffs	Supply		£28.30
Sleeve zip	long		£57.50			Cuff & waistband set	Supply		£56.80
Riri zip			£30.60			Cuff & waistband set	Fit		£66.40
Byson DOT profile front zip			£65.80			Waistband	Supply		£28.30
DOT arm zip	short		£82.90			Waistband	Fit		£33.20
Riri zip			£15.30			Clean & condition	Light		£38.30
With Byson DOT profile puller			£32.90			Clean & condition	Heavy		£63.70
YKK zip			£15.30			Fit zips			£57.40
New banding	per inch		£2.40			Talon M39 (triple marked)			£114.90
Seams under banding	"	from	£3.70			Talon zip M-42			£71.30
"Fluff transplant"	for hole		£9.00			Conmar M-41			£63.70
Shorten cuffs with zips	<2"		£62.20			Collar	fit		£25.50
Shorten cuffs with zips	>2"		£112.00			Hook & eye			£6.30
Re-make collar			£65.80			Re-line in cotton			£178.40
Wartime Lightning zip (front)			£153.70			Re-line with customer provided fabric			£149.20
Wartime DOT zip dt			£153.70			Repair patch pocket			£25.50
Wartime DOT zip st			£133.20			Crown, M40 Chevron 1st Model, Brown Tape			£160.00
Neck strap			£13.10			G-1
D rings & strap			£15.30	min		Fit zips			£57.20
Area of stitching			£6.40	min		Cuffs	fit		£28.30
Mend & Patch			£13.10	(each side)		Cuffs	supply		£25.40
Repair half belt			£13.10	Complete - buckle		Waistband	fit		£28.30
Make half belt			£63.80			Waistband double	fit		£38.20
Belt loop (make & fit)			£15.30			Waistband single	supply		£49.30
Zip puller (make & fit)			£9.00			Collar	fit		£13.10
Hanging loop			£10.30			Collar			£54.80
Anti-fungal treatment			£38.40			Conmar zip, brass, "safety pin" puller			£81.50
Clean & condition	light		£51.00
Clean & condition	heavy from		£63.80			G3
Clean to work			£13.10			Make side strap	per half		£13.10
Condition only			£19.20	(each side)		Buckle			£13.10
Extend sleeve where cut down			£43.80
Restore cuffs (ea)			£27.30			D1
Shorten sleeves without moving zip			£62.40			Make collar			£54.80
Shorten sleeves moving zip			£120.60
Restore waist (per foot)			£109.60			M422a
Rivets			£6.50			Waistband	fit		£65.80
B3						MA1
Replace straps			£13.10	Each.		Knit collar			poa
Replace cuffs			£61.50
Replace collar			£82.00	(fit only)		Miscellany
						Storage bag in cotton / Tyvec			£68.20

 

[flyincowboy]

ZIPPER CHANGE 65EUROS just the price of a good repro/ original zipper done by myself at the shop.

 

[mulceber]

Seems like a really useful post - even if the prices change, it's good to have a thread where we an compare notes. I've stickied it here in the care/preservation section.

Last I checked with Steve Sellers, a knit change-out was $130. More or less in keeping with the prices above, and top-notch work to boot.

 

[B-Man2]

Restoring a vintage jacket is only done cheaply if YOU have the ability to do the work. Otherwise you can expect to spend almost as much, or more than you paid for the jacket . Now you’ve all heard me use this analogy before . Restoring a vintage jacket is like stepping into the center of a large dark puddle of water. You never know how deep that puddle is going to be .. until you’re standing in the middle of it. Same with a jacket: For example I purchased a vintage Pritzker G-1 that I thought would just require new knits . By the time the restoration was completed it required period NOS knits, which were sewn in using the same original stitch holes, a NOS period blackened Talon zipper, new pre aged mouton collar, new elastic retraction straps for the back vents, which required the lining to be taken apart and restitched and some top notch leather restoration . Now the jacket looks like it was issued yesterday, but it almost broke the bank to bring it back into that condition. So my advice is if you want to restore a vintage jacket, have plan for what you want to do and a budget, because it can get expensive.

 

[Spitfireace]

Or get a repro. Even the best repros are just not the same. Restoring things is a labour of love. Definitely not a cost saving measure. I still have this idea that I can save money by restoring a jacket that just needs a little work. In the end though, if it's done right, you probably won't regret it.

 

[Griffon_301]

Location: Vienna, Austria, 1st district
work: change of knits on G-1, knits provided by me
cost: 200 Euro

a very expensive way to get the work done, but the seamstress is based in the most expensive part of the Viennese economic food chain.

other seamstresses I had asked quoted a price of between 85 and 150 Euros, as did the above one.
but when finished, she told me that she had underestimated the work required and I think she hasn't seen such a jacket before as there are not many jacket nerds here

next project is a possible replacement of the Dynel collar on my Star G-1 with a really beautiful mouton version, the raw material of which comes from Brice.
I have heard a price quote of around 300(!) Euros from the guy who is doing the jackets for Fardin, but I will ask other seamstresses of course as well.
my two regular seamstresses are both on holidays over Christmas and the new year, so I will have some cost forecasts at the beginning of the year only...

 

[Thomas Koehle]

Location: Vienna, Austria, 1st district
work: change of knits on G-1, knits provided by me
cost: 200 Euro

a very expensive way to get the work done, but the seamstress is based in the most expensive part of the Viennese economic food chain.

other seamstresses I had asked quoted a price of between 85 and 150 Euros, as did the above one.
but when finished, she told me that she had underestimated the work required and I think she hasn't seen such a jacket before as there are not many jacket nerds here

next project is a possible replacement of the Dynel collar on my Star G-1 with a really beautiful mouton version, the raw material of which comes from Brice.
I have heard a price quote of around 300(!) Euros from the guy who is doing the jackets for Fardin, but I will ask other seamstresses of course as well.
my two regular seamstresses are both on holidays over Christmas and the new year, so I will have some cost forecasts at the beginning of the year only...

WOW!

Seems like serious money to me …

So bottom line for me: shut up and stop whining and be happy with the 85.- Euro I pay per jacket …

Thomas

 

[Griffon_301]

to be honest, 85 Euros sounds like a very good price to me!
in Vienna, prices depend on the location of the shop as said, with shops on high price streets or in high price districts usually being way more expensive than shops located in the periphery...
and it seems I chose one of the most expensive ones