How to Cost a Garment for Production and Sale

The cost of a garment is the sum of the fabric (consumption plus waste), trims, cutting, sewing (contract sewing), finishing, printing, packaging and a proportional share of the pattern, samples, logistics and overhead. The margin is applied on that total: as a rough reference, the wholesale price usually sits between 1.6 and 2.2 times the cost and the retail price between 2 and 2.5 times the wholesale, guideline values that each channel adjusts. Costing well means costing the full size range at replacement prices.

Modeltex production guide. Updated on Sep 6, 2026.

What goes into the cost of a garment

It helps to separate the cost into three blocks: direct materials, direct processes and allocated overhead. The first two are calculated per garment with concrete data; the third is spread across the garments you produce in the period. If you skip a block, the margin you think you have does not exist.

The label with fiber content, size, origin and care instructions is a trim that you buy by the thousand and charge to cost just like the brand label. Labeling is mandatory on apparel in many markets, so check the requirements of each market where you sell.

Direct materials: main fabric, secondary fabrics (rib, lining, interfacing), thread, labels, zippers, buttons, elastics, drawcords, eyelets, hang tags and packaging.
Direct processes: cutting, sewing (contract sewing if it is an outside workshop), finishing (thread trimming, buttonholes and buttons, pressing, folding, bagging), printing, embroidery or sublimation, industrial washing for denim and quality control.
Allocated overhead: amortized pattern, samples and development, freight, rent, utilities, overhead salaries, sales and payment commissions, and taxes depending on your tax status.

Fabric: consumption, replacement price and waste

The fabric line is consumption per garment times unit price times (1 plus waste). Consumption comes from the marker (length divided by garments) or from an estimate by area; the waste allowance covers roll defects, splices, lay ends and samples, and is generally taken between 3 and 8%. If the fabric is bought by the kilo (jersey, fleece, piqué, modal, stretch knits), convert consumption using the actual fabric weight of the dye lot.

Cost with the average consumption of the whole size range, not that of size M: a 4XL takes quite a bit more fabric than an XS and, if you sell the whole range at the same price, the average is the only number that works. And use the replacement price, what it would cost you to buy the fabric today: costing with the old invoice is selling below cost without realizing it.

Cutting, sewing and finishing

If you outsource, cutting is charged per garment or per marker and contract sewing per garment, depending on the number of operations and the volume. Always ask what is included: many workshops quote the stitching alone, and finishing (thread trimming, buttonholes and buttons, pressing, bagging) is separate. Add round-trip freight to the workshop, incoming quality control and seconds: if out of every 100 garments 2 come out with defects that can only be sold as seconds, that 2% is charged to the 98 good ones.

If you have your own workshop, the sewing cost comes from the cost per minute: salaries with payroll charges plus the workshop expenses of the month, divided by the real productive minutes of the month (not the theoretical ones), multiplied by the minutes the garment takes. As a rough reference for an average workshop, a basic t-shirt takes 8 to 12 minutes of sewing, a polo shirt 15 to 20, a hooded sweatshirt 20 to 30, a shirt 25 to 35 and a pair of pants with pockets and a zipper 25 to 40; a fine-tuned industrial line lowers those numbers.

Printing, packaging, amortized pattern and logistics

Printing, embroidery and sublimation are quoted per garment and by number of colors or stitches, almost always with a minimum per design and a screen or film that is spread across the run: the same screen weighs ten times more per garment on 100 garments than on 1,000. Packaging (bag, hanger, box, hang tag) looks minor, but on inexpensive garments it can be several points of cost. Freight (bringing in fabric, taking it to and from cutting, sewing and printing) is also spread: on small runs it weighs a lot, which is why the first run of a style always costs more than the third.

The pattern is amortized: pattern cost divided by the garments you plan to produce with it. A digital pattern with the full size range (at Modeltex, PDF A4 at US$23 and plotter PDF at US$47) spread over 300 garments comes to between US$0.08 and US$0.16 per garment, and drops to almost nothing with every run you repeat. Samples and custom patternmaking are treated the same way: an investment that is spread out, not the expense of a single garment.

Rough numerical example: a fleece hoodie

The values are invented to show the mechanics, not market prices; replace them with your quotes of the day. Adult hooded sweatshirt, run of 300 units, fabric bought by the kilo.

Two things to look at. Fabric and contract sewing are about three quarters of the direct cost: that is where a better marker or a negotiation with the workshop moves the result. And the difference between wholesale and retail is not pure profit: payment and platform commissions, shipping, photos, advertising, exchanges and returns come out of it.

Fleece: 0.65 kg per garment at US$7.00 per kilo times 1.05 for waste: US$4.78.
Rib for cuffs and waistband: 0.08 kg at US$7.50: US$0.60.
Trims (drawcord, eyelets, thread, brand and content labels): US$0.70.
Cutting: US$0.40. Contract sewing: US$2.80. Finishing and bagging: US$0.30.
One-color screen print, with the screen spread across the run: US$0.90.
Packaging (bag): US$0.12. Amortized pattern (US$23 over 300 garments): US$0.08. Spread freight: US$0.32.
Direct cost: US$11.00. Plus 2% for seconds: US$11.22. Plus 15% allocated overhead: total cost US$12.90.
Wholesale price at 1.8 times total cost: US$23.22. Retail price at 2 times wholesale: US$46.44.

Margin, wholesale price and retail price

Do not confuse markup with margin. Markup is how much you add to the cost (cost times 1.8 is an 80% markup); margin is what share of the price is profit (that same price leaves a 44% margin). If a wholesale customer asks for a 10% discount, that 10% comes out of the margin, and at volume it can eat the entire profit.

As a rough reference, wholesale sits between 1.6 and 2.2 times total cost and retail between 2 and 2.5 times wholesale. Wholesale by size range pays less per garment but moves volume and collects in a few transactions; retail through Instagram, an online store or a shop pays more per garment but carries commissions, shipping, exchanges and one-by-one customer service. If your cost times 1.8 comes out above what the channel pays for that garment, the problem is not the margin but the cost: go back to the fabric, the consumption, the number of operations or the run volume. In uniforms, where you quote a school or a company by batch, this calculation is done before signing.

Common costing mistakes

Most costings that fail do not fail because of the math but because of what they leave out:

Digital patternmaking removes two unknowns from costing: consumption, because the pattern with the full size range is marked at the real width before you buy fabric, and the pattern itself, which is bought once and amortized across all runs. Modeltex publishes more than 2,000 patterns approved with a sewn sample, with the full size range included, and builds MRK markers at your fabric width so that the fabric line is a measured number and not a guess.

Costing size M and selling XS to 4XL: use the average consumption of the range.
Forgetting waste, seconds and freight: between 5 and 15% of cost that disappears.
Not charging for your own work when you cut or sew yourself: charge it at the cost per minute, like an employee.
Costing with the price of fabric you already bought instead of the replacement price.
Not reviewing the costing with every lot: the fabric changes, the contract sewing changes, the costing changes.

Frequently asked questions

What does the cost of a garment include?

Direct materials (fabric with waste, rib or lining, thread, labels, zippers, buttons, elastics, packaging), direct processes (cutting, sewing or contract sewing, finishing, printing or embroidery, quality control) and a share of overhead: amortized pattern, samples, freight, rent, overhead salaries, commissions and taxes. The margin is applied on that total.

How do you calculate the wholesale price of a garment?

You start from the total cost per garment (direct costs plus allocated overhead) and multiply by a factor that usually runs from 1.6 to 2.2, as a rough reference that depends on the garment, the volume and the competition. It is offered by size range or by minimum quantity and must leave room for volume discounts without falling below cost.

What is the difference between wholesale and retail price?

Retail usually sits between 2 and 2.5 times wholesale, as a guideline. That difference covers payment and platform commissions, shipping, exchanges and returns, photos, advertising and the time it takes to sell one garment at a time. Wholesale earns less per unit but sells in volume and collects in a few transactions.

What is contract sewing in garment production?

It is the price an outside workshop charges to sew each garment, generally per unit and depending on the number of operations and the volume. Many contract sewing quotes cover only the stitching: finishing (thread trimming, buttonholes and buttons, pressing, bagging) and cutting are quoted separately. Freight to the workshop and quality control are added on top of the contract sewing price.

How is the pattern amortized in the cost of a garment?

You divide the pattern cost by the number of garments you plan to produce with it. A digital pattern with the full size range that costs US$23, on a run of 300 garments, adds US$0.08 per garment; on the second run of the same style it hardly weighs at all. Samples and custom patternmaking are spread the same way.

What waste should be included when costing a garment?

Two kinds: fabric waste, generally taken between 3 and 8% for defects, splices, lay ends and samples, and seconds, the finished garments with defects that are sold at a discount, generally between 1 and 3%, which is charged to the good garments. Both are added to the cost before applying the margin.

More guides

Sewing patterns ready for production, with the full size range, in the Modeltex catalog.