Short answer. The embroidered sweatshirt cost breakdown on a ₹2,500 hand-stitched piece: ₹1,050 artisan wages and studio floor, ₹550 the 350 GSM fleece blank, ₹200 payment and platform fees, ₹200 wash, rinse, re-nap, QC and packaging, ₹175 shipping, ₹175 design and redraw for pile, and ₹150 thread, needles, topping and stabiliser.
Most brands will not publish this because it invites arguments about margin. We publish it because “handmade with love” is not an explanation of a price, and because the sweatshirt number differs from the tee number in ways that are actually interesting.
The piece below is a chest-motif design of roughly eight artisan hours on 350 GSM fleece, at ₹2,500. That is the median of our sweatshirt range.
Line by line
| Line | Amount | Share | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artisan wage and studio floor | ₹1,050 | 42% | Eight hours of skilled work, plus rent, light, frames, thread storage |
| Blank sweatshirt | ₹550 | 22% | 350 GSM brushed cotton fleece, pre-shrunk, ribbed cuffs and hem |
| Payment and platform fees | ₹200 | 8% | Gateway charges, marketplace commission, cost of serving COD |
| Wash, rinse, re-nap, QC, packaging | ₹200 | 8% | Topping dissolved, pile brushed back, inspection, recycled box |
| Shipping across India | ₹175 | 7% | Sweatshirt-weight courier, included over ₹999 |
| Design, redraw for pile, sampling | ₹175 | 7% | Motif thickened for fleece, thread shade trials on the actual colour |
| Thread, needles, topping, stabiliser | ₹150 | 6% | Colourfast floss, heavier needles, water-soluble film, cut-away |
Where ₹2,500 goes, in 100 squares
Each square is ₹25. Tap a cost line to light up its share.
Artisan wage and studio floor, ₹1,050. Eight hours of skilled work plus rent, light, frames and thread storage. The largest line, because a person's time is the point of the product.
Blank sweatshirt, ₹550. 350 GSM brushed cotton fleece, pre-shrunk, with ribbed cuffs and hem. That is 22 per cent here, against 17 per cent of a tee's price.
Payment and platform fees, ₹200. Gateway charges, marketplace commission where applicable, and the real cost of serving cash on delivery. A refused COD sweatshirt with a name on it cannot be resold.
Wash, rinse, re-nap, QC, packaging, ₹200. The topping is dissolved, the pile brushed back up, the piece inspected and packed in a recycled box.
Design, redraw for pile, sampling, ₹175. Every motif is redrawn thicker for fleece and trialled in thread on the actual colour. Designs that do not translate are scrapped, and paid for by the ones that ship.
Shipping ₹175, thread and consumables ₹150. Sweatshirt-weight courier across India, then colourfast floss, heavier needles, water-soluble film and cut-away stabiliser.
How this differs from the tee breakdown
Two lines move meaningfully, and it is worth seeing why.
The blank goes from 17 per cent to 22 per cent. Fleece is simply a bigger share of a sweatshirt's cost than jersey is of a tee's, even though the sweatshirt sells for more.
Labour drops from 44 per cent to 42. Which looks wrong, because the stitching takes longer. It is arithmetic: labour rises in rupees from ₹667 to ₹1,050, but the blank rises faster in proportion, so labour's share of the total falls slightly. The side-by-side is here.
The two lines people question
Payment and platform fees at 8 per cent. Gateway charges, marketplace commission where applicable, and the real cost of serving cash on delivery, which carries higher refusal rates and return shipping. A refused COD sweatshirt with a name on it cannot be resold at all.
Design and redraw at 7 per cent. Every motif that goes onto fleece is redrawn from the tee version, thicker and denser, then trialled in thread against the actual fleece colour. Designs that do not translate get scrapped, and the scrapped ones are paid for by the ones that ship.
The two lines people question
Tap to see what the fees and design lines actually pay for.
Payment and platform fees, ₹200. About 8 per cent: gateway charges, marketplace commission where applicable, and the real cost of serving cash on delivery.
Cash on delivery costs more than it looks. COD carries higher refusal rates and return shipping, and a refused COD sweatshirt with a name on it cannot be resold at all.
Design and redraw, ₹175. About 7 per cent. Every motif that goes onto fleece is redrawn from the tee version, thicker and denser for the fleece pile.
Trialled on the actual colour. Each redraw is trialled in thread against the actual fleece colour. Designs that do not translate get scrapped, and the scrapped ones are paid for by the ones that ship.
How it shifts across the range
On a ₹4,463 panel piece, artisan wages climb past 55 per cent because eighteen hours is eighteen hours, while the blank, courier and packaging stay flat in rupee terms. At ₹1,785 the blank is nearly a third of the price and labour is closer to 35 per cent.
Which is also why cheap hand-embroidered fleece is arithmetically impossible. Roughly ₹800 of any sweatshirt order is blank, courier and fees before a needle moves.
How the split shifts across the range
Bars drawn to price. Tap a price to see what labour and fabric take.
Tee, ₹1,517. Labour is 44 per cent and the blank 17. Jersey is a small share of a tee's cost.
Entry sweatshirt, ₹1,785. The blank is nearly a third of the price and labour is closer to 35 per cent, because the fleece costs the same whatever goes on it.
Median sweatshirt, ₹2,500. Labour 42 per cent, blank 22. Labour rose from ₹667 to ₹1,050 against the tee, but the blank rose faster in proportion, so labour's share dipped.
Panel piece, ₹4,463. Artisan wages climb past 55 per cent because eighteen hours is eighteen hours, while the blank, courier and packaging stay flat in rupee terms.
Shares at ₹1,785 and ₹4,463 are drawn from the approximate figures above.
What we are not showing
Net margin, because it is not one number. It varies by design, by whether the order came direct or through Etsy, and by prepaid against COD. Direct prepaid orders are meaningfully better for us than marketplace COD, which is why we would rather you bought here. That is a preference, not a hidden fee.
The wider case for what hand work costs sits alongside this, including who actually gets paid.
Frequently asked questions
What does an embroidered sweatshirt cost to make?
On a ₹2,500 piece: ₹1,050 artisan wages and studio floor, ₹550 blank fleece, ₹200 payment fees, ₹200 finishing and packaging, ₹175 shipping, ₹175 design and redraw, ₹150 thread, topping and consumables.
What is the biggest cost in an embroidered sweatshirt?
Artisan wages and the studio floor at about 42 per cent, rising past 55 per cent on an eighteen-hour panel piece. The 350 GSM blank is second at about 22 per cent.
Why is labour a smaller share than on a T-shirt?
Because the blank rises faster in proportion. Labour goes from ₹667 to ₹1,050 in rupees, but fleece costs about twice what jersey does, so labour's percentage share dips from 44 to 42.
Why do payment fees cost 8 per cent?
Gateway charges, marketplace commission where applicable, and the cost of serving cash on delivery. A refused COD sweatshirt carrying a custom name cannot be resold at all.
Why can nobody sell hand embroidered fleece at ₹900?
Roughly ₹800 of every sweatshirt order is blank fleece, courier and payment fees before a single stitch. That leaves nothing for four or more hours of skilled work.
See the stitching up close. New designs and studio detail shots go up on our Pinterest first. Shipping outside India is easiest through our Etsy shop, which handles the customs paperwork.
Who wrote this
Vee Threads is a hand-embroidery label run by Vikash Tomar and Mansi from a studio in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Every piece is stitched by hand by women artisans on the studio floor, on 350 GSM cotton fleece for sweatshirts, 400 GSM for hoodies, and 220 GSM combed cotton for tees. We have shipped more than 5,000 orders. Mansi runs the studio and quality control, Vikash handles the digital side. Prices, timings and hours quoted here come from our own production records, not industry averages.
Browse hand embroidered sweatshirts and embroidered hoodies, start a custom order, or find us on Etsy and Pinterest.
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