How much do freelance pattern makers charge? (2024)

How much should I charge for a pattern?

Typically, patterns and artwork sell for anywhere between $250 – $1500 (and beyond, depending on how big your brand is). The factors that should go into deciding what to charge include how detailed the piece is, how big your brand is and what the project is.

Pattern costs can range $75 - $350 and it is the most important aspect in the production of your design. Once the sample pattern block is approved, then the pattern maker will grade it according to your size range.

A Fabric or Apparel Patternmaker can earn average salaries in a range of $27,210 and $102,660 based on the level of education. can get a salary of fifty-seven thousand eight hundred and eigthy dollars on an annual basis.

While prices can vary quite a bit, the usual range is from $15 to $25 per size for a 1-6 piece pattern. Therefore, if you find a grading service that charges $125 to $250 for a 1-6 piece pattern per size (total cost of 4 sizes being $500-$1,000) you should probably keep looking.

The pattern maker will charge from $80 – $750 per pattern depending on design complexity. The more seams, separate pieces, pockets, collars, sleeves, design layers you have in a garment, the more it costs for the pattern.

While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $400,000 and as low as $24,500, the majority of Surface Pattern Designer salaries currently range between $47,500 (25th percentile) to $106,500 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $400,000 annually across the United States.

A tech pack can cost, depending on how complex they are, anything from US$ 50 to $400. Unfortunately, these skills aren't really taught in universities and are discovered by designers through experience. The quality varies greatly, depending on who taught them and how knowledgeable they were.

Startup costs can vary greatly across different clothing lines, but in general, a small-sized clothing line will need a minimum of $500 to get started, a medium-sized line should have between $1,000 to $5,000 for startup costs and a large line will need approximately $25,000 to $50,000 upfront.

Beginner: $30 per hour. Intermediate: $48 per hour. Advanced: $80 per hour.

Is Pattern Making Hard? In all honesty, for some people, it will feel really hard. It's quite a technical skill, but anyone can learn it.

What education do you need to be a pattern maker?

The education needed to be a pattern maker is normally a bachelor's degree. Pattern makers usually study graphic design, business or fine arts. 40% of pattern makers hold a bachelor's degree and 37% hold a associate degree.

Patternmakers create templates of fashion products such as clothes, shoes and swimwear so they can be reproduced in bulk. They sketch and create the patterns either manually or digitally, or a combination of both.

How To Grade a Fashion Pattern - YouTube

Cost of labor – Sample makers are not production sewers. Sample sewers are usually more skilled, more experienced and their focus is on quality and solutions as oppose to a production sewer who is part of an assembly line and most time requires to only do specific part of the garment (and focus on quantity/time).

As little as $201 that month. At $201+ in pattern sales in January 2019, you're in the top ~10% of earners on Ravelry. That's as little as $2,500 a year (again, assuming an average, rather than best, month). Is a “real” designer someone who sells, say, around $1,000/month?

It isn't easy to start your own creative business, trying to make a living as a surface pattern designer. It's much easier to have a full-time day job with a steady pay-check each month - that's for sure.

If you're working with a manufacturer in America, expect to pay around $200-$300 for a sample. If you're working with a manufacturer in Asia, expect to pay around $50-$150 for a sample. Remember that these prices are for only for one piece of clothing. You'll have to buy a sample for each design in your clothing line.

Role of a surface pattern designer

Essentially a surface pattern designer is someone who creates designs that are usually in a seamless and technical pattern repeat. Those repeat pattern designs can then be applied to products or fabric.

What does a pattern maker do?

Patternmakers create templates of fashion products such as clothes, shoes and swimwear so they can be reproduced in bulk. They sketch and create the patterns either manually or digitally, or a combination of both.