what to charge for sewing--advice?

hello all,

i am a relatively new sewer and someone asked me to sew up a whole lot of napkins and placemats for her. she wondered what i charge. i have NO idea what to charge for this service. anyone out there have any advice about this?? i'd greatly appreciate it.

thanks!

Are you providing the labor, materials, how much time will this take, is this easy for you or will it be a chore?  For me those are all factors. At the very least I don't want to lose money when I do that kind of 'work'.

I would take into account how much the materials cost, and then the time taken to complete the project. I would determine an hourly "wage" that your time is worth and add that to materials cost. You don't want to lose money on this project or devalue your time -- that's what seems to be worth the most.

If you are buying the materials, I'd charge cost+10%, then add an hourly wage on top of that.  Whatever hourly wage you feel comfortable with.  You might do one or two and see how long it takes you, and give her an estimate about how much it will be at the end.  Then, of course, you'll need to keep close track of your time.

she is providing the materials, i just have to cut and sew.

This is a very tricky area and one that many of us do not address appropriately.  I do not sew for profit.  I sew because I love it and I love to make something.  Other people sew for profit and rightfully expect to earn money for the time and energy they invest in their projects. 
Kathy has a great post regarding the details of pricing which you might want to check out if you're interested in continuing to sew for profit:
http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/2008/10/02/the-business-of-craft-pricing-part-i/

There are times when I do charge for sewing something, but it's barely anything.  I cringe when I work it out in my head, but it's usually only $5-$6/hr.  It should be at least $15/hr.  On the other hand if I charge this higher amount, it would make my handmade item very expensive.  I don't think I would have as many people asking me to sew something so there must be a balance. 
My advice is to charge an all-inclusive project fee.  Determine this cost by estimating how long the project would take after making a couple napkins and placemats and also consider the hourly wage you would like to earn.  I go a little further and figure in how much I would pay for something similar in a retail store considering the custom detail and quality I put into the item.  After considering all these variables, I can usually come up with a price I'm happy to charge. 
Now, there are probably many people out there screaming that I'm doing this all wrong and that's fine.  (My husband is one of them!)  This is how I do it and I like it that way.  After all, I made it. 

I have the same problem, but I know how tight budgets are and since I am new to sewing, i don't want to over charge people right now for a less than perfectly sewn item. This is not to say that my stuff looks awful, but  there are others who do a far superior job IMO.

I love to sew for people though.

thank you so much for the help.....the thing about the hourly rate is i'm new, so i'm not fast. i don't want to charge $15/hr. when i'm not a speedy sewer you know? maybe a project fee is best. or an amount PER napkin/place mat would work....but then what should that be. i'm trying to balance being new at it, with also being pretty good at it at the same time. and also wanting it to be affordablef or her and worth it for me! tricky...

when i used to sew for out (years ago) the standard charge for clothes was $5 per pattern piece and the customer would provide the fabric. i think it depends on how complex the pattern is and if you provide the materials. to me, one of a kind, handmade items are worth more than store bought simply because of that fact. especially when you add details such as applique' or specialty buttons or other items. your time is worth a lot!!