The Eras Scarf - Taylor Swift Inspired

As crafters, we are always questioned about the "why?" or "how?" much something costs.

It's, quite frankly, an irritating question. Things take time to make, expertise takes years to learn, and good materials are getting more and more expensive.

You wouldn't question paying for your car to be serviced or your boiler to be fixed, or a barista to be paid for making your coffee - why would you question a crafter being paid for their time too? As it is, here is a breakdown of my pricing for you:

High quality yarn: a cashmere/merino blend - costs £6.50 per 50g ball, each square takes around 12g of yarn. Each square, in material, costs £1.56. I have not added in the cost of the border yarn to the price.

Time Taken: Each square takes 15-20 minutes to make. At an hourly rate of £13/hr that's 4 squares for £13.

Plus time for sewing in ends and adding a border (I've learned my lesson about referring to this as edging...)

Packaging: Making sure your blanket gets to you safely is key. Boxes cost 50p each. Tissue paper, printed care instructions, tape and shipping labels are another 50p.

Shipping: Tracked and signed can range from £5 to £40 depending on where in the world you are. This is covered in the cost at no extra cost to you on top of the squares and materials.

Transaction fees: Per item there is a 20p charge, plus 2% transaction fee on Shopify, so this can vary from £2.60 to £37.80 depending on the blanket. This is covered in the price, not added as an additional fee.

There is also the monthly fee of £25 paid to Shopify for hosting.

Not to mention costs in food, electricity, internet provider, council tax, insurance, chiropractic appointments, the list goes on and on.