List your materials and labor to see the cost of one garment and the cost of the whole order.
A cost sheet is how a brand or designer finds out what a garment really costs to make before asking a factory for a quote or setting a price. This Apparel Search tool adds up fabric, trims, packaging, labor and overhead, applies a waste allowance to each material, and shows where the money goes. When you are done, one button sends the totals to the Landed Cost Calculator for freight, duty and pricing. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you enter is saved.
Please read: this tool adds up the numbers you give it. The result is only as good as your consumption figures, prices and waste allowances, which should come from your patternmaker, mills, suppliers and factory quotes. It does not estimate how much fabric a garment needs. It does not include freight, duties, taxes, samples, development costs or exchange-rate changes, and actual factory quotes may be structured differently. Confirm costs with your suppliers before making pricing or purchasing decisions.
Style
Leave overhead & profit at 0 if your labor prices already include it, or if you are costing your own materials and labor only.
Materials per garment
Cost per garment = quantity x (1 + waste %) x price. Waste covers cutting loss and defects, so use the allowance your patternmaker or factory recommends.
Item
Type
Quantity
Unit
Price per unit
Waste %
Cost
Labor and processing per garment
Item
Cost per garment
Examples: cut, make and trim (CMT), washing, embroidery, printing, pressing, testing, quality control.
Cost per garment
Cost group
Per garment
Whole order
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Estimates only. This is a costing aid based on your inputs, not a factory quote.
The landed cost button fills in fabric, trims and labor for you: fabric goes to "Fabric / materials", trims, packaging and other materials go to "Trims & packaging", and labor and overhead go to "Labor / CMT". You can change any of them there.
Why a cost sheet matters
Know your real cost. Pricing from a guess is how brands end up with thin margins. A line-by-line sheet shows where the money goes.
Compare quotes fairly. When a factory quotes one number, your own sheet shows whether it makes sense for your fabric and trims.
Test changes quickly. Swap a trim or change a waste allowance and see the effect on the cost per garment and the order total.
Estimates only. This tool is provided for general planning and informational purposes. Results depend on the information you enter and on assumptions that may not match your factory, suppliers or product. Apparel Search does not guarantee accuracy or completeness of any result. Confirm costs with your suppliers, factory or other qualified professionals before making pricing or purchasing decisions. See our Legal page for terms of use.
How to make a garment cost sheet
Enter the style, currency and the number of garments in the order.
List every material with its consumption, unit, price and waste allowance.
Add labor and processing costs such as CMT, washing and finishing, and an overhead and profit percentage if needed.
Review the cost per garment and per order, then send the totals to the Landed Cost Calculator or download them.
How the cost is calculated, with an example
Formula. Material cost = quantity x (1 + waste %) x price. Cost per garment = materials + labor and processing + overhead and profit.
Example. The main fabric uses 1.4 yd at $3.20 per yard with 5% waste, which is 1.4 x 1.05 x $3.20 = about $4.70. With interfacing, buttons, thread, labels and packaging, materials total about $5.75. Adding $3.05 of labor and processing gives about $8.80 per garment, or $8,799.75 for 1,000. The figures are illustrative, so use your own quotes.
Key terms
Bill of materials (BOM): the list of every material and trim used in a garment.
Consumption: the amount of a material used per garment.
Waste or wastage: material lost in cutting and defects, added as a percentage.
CMT: cut, make and trim, the labor to turn fabric into a finished garment.
FOB cost: the price for goods delivered onto the vessel at the origin port.
Overhead: general costs of running a factory or business that are not tied to one style.
Getting the most from the Garment Cost Sheet
Get consumption from the patternmaker. Fabric quantity is the biggest number, so do not guess it.
Add waste on each material. Cutting loss and defects are real costs.
List the small items. Labels, thread, hangtags and polybags add up across thousands of garments.
Compare against quotes. Your own sheet shows whether a factory's price is reasonable for your materials.
Frequently asked questions
What is a garment cost sheet?
A cost sheet breaks down the cost of making one garment into materials, labor and overhead, so you can price the style and compare factory quotes.
What does FOB cost mean?
FOB stands for free on board. The price covers the goods and getting them onto the vessel at the origin port. It does not include international freight, insurance or import duty.
How do I include waste in a cost sheet?
Add a waste percentage to each material, so cost equals quantity times one plus waste times price. This cost sheet does that for every material row.