My Last Tartan Kilt???

[Erisianmonkey]

Then Oh what a kilt night shall be had with the entire rabble of X marks the Scot!

Why do I get flashes of the burning of Atlanta from Gone With the Wind when I read that statement?

Seriously, Alan, I've not yet made as many kilts as you have, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop. I've had a couple of weeks where I haven't been able to work on a kilt and I've really missed it. I've actually seriously given thought to starting to do this as a business --IF-- I get good enough at it. But if you're done, you're done.

[Alan H]

Why do I get flashes of the burning of Atlanta from Gone With the Wind when I read that statement?

Seriously, Alan, I've not yet made as many kilts as you have, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop. I've had a couple of weeks where I haven't been able to work on a kilt and I've really missed it. I've actually seriously given thought to starting to do this as a business --IF-- I get good enough at it. But if you're done, you're done.

Every time I crunch the numbers I shake my head. I can see how I can make about $25,000 a year if I'm REALLY good and REALLY fast and I never take vacation and I work my tail off. But here in the San Francisco Bay Area you can't live on $25,000 a year. Double that number and I can think about it. I've got a mortgage to pay down. ....Triple it and we're getting really serious, here... but that'll never happen.

I don't know how our kiltmakers on the board do it. I have no clue.

I've thought about taking half a dozen X-Kilts to El Salvador to a socially-important sewing factory co-op. I'd have them crank out 100 of them in various sizes.. My best estimate is that including the cost of the material and duty,etc. I could have them back in the USA, ready to sell for about $28-$32 a kilt. I could then sell them for about $80 a pop. That would make me, not counting any of the advertising budget, etc. etc. etc. about $50 a kilt. Sell 100 kilts, and that's $5,000. Sell 1,000 kilts and that's $50,000, which is an actual working, living wage around here. Can I sell $1,000 kilts in a year? I don't think so, and I wouldn't want to impact my friends like Steve and Rocky by doing it anyway,whenI can make more money for less grief doing IT work..

Besides,ifI did that, then I'm not a kiltmaker...I'm an import-export guru....No Wanna Do That.

Nope, for me, here in the SF Bay Area, kiltmaking has to remain a fun hobby.