Hivara for Sewing

The fabric stash, priced by the yard and the hour

Hivara is inventory and production software for sewists. Track fabric by the yard, notions by the piece and your time by the honest hour — so every pouch, quilt and garment you sell is priced from what it truly took to make.

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Track everything that goes into a sewing

From raw materials to finished stock, Hivara keeps sewists on top of:

  • yarn by the skein
  • fabric by the yard
  • batting and stuffing
  • thread
  • notions and zippers

A sewing in Hivara

Product

Quilted Zip Pouch

SKU POUCH-ZIP-01

Material

Cotton Fabric

tracked in yd · Fabric

Supplier

Fiber & Yarn Supply

Variations

Size, Fabric

A day in Hivara, for sewists

  1. 1

    Bolt the stash into stock

    Each fabric by the yard with its real price; zippers, elastic and interfacing by the piece.

  2. 2

    Recipe each make

    Cut yardage, lining, notions and minutes at the machine — the true cost of a pouch, quilted and counted.

  3. 3

    Sew a batch, log the makes

    Six pouches sewn: fabric and zippers draw down, six finished pieces join the sellable count.

  4. 4

    See which makes pay

    Earnings per piece and per hour across the catalog show what deserves table space at the next market.

Built around how sewists actually work

  1. 1

    A stash is money in fabric form

    Yards across bins and bolts add up to serious spend. Counting the stash by yardage and price shows what you're sitting on — and what that 'sale' cut actually cost per project.

  2. 2

    Pattern layout decides your real yardage

    A pouch that 'uses' 0.4 yards consumes more once pieces are cut around grain and print direction. Recipe the cut yardage, not the pattern's promise, and margins stop leaking at the cutting table.

  3. 3

    Notions nickel-and-dime the price

    Zippers, interfacing, elastic, snaps, labels — each small, together significant. A full bill of materials means the $4 of notions in a $30 pouch is priced in, not absorbed.

  4. 4

    Sewing time is skilled labor

    Forty-five minutes at the machine is the biggest line in most handmade sewing. Put your hours in the recipe and see per-piece earnings that respect the skill.

Worked example

What a quilted zip pouch really costs

This is the math Hivara does for every product you make — every line from a real bill of materials, updated whenever a supplier price changes.

Materials are under a third of this pouch's cost — pricing that skips the sewing time works for free.

Quilted Zip Pouch

Cotton fabric, outer (0.4 yd cut)
$2.40
Lining + batting
$1.15
Zipper + pull
$0.65
Interfacing + thread
$0.25
Brand label
$0.20
Your time (0.75 hr @ $15/hr)
$11.25
True cost$15.90
Suggested price$32.00
Margin50%

Questions sewists ask

How do I price handmade sewn items?

Cost the cut yardage, lining, notions and labels, add your sewing time at a rate you'd accept from an employer, then margin. Sewn goods priced on materials alone almost always underpay — the machine hours are the product.

How do I track my fabric stash as business inventory?

Each fabric is a material tracked in yards at what you paid. Projects draw cut yardage down, so the stash count is live — and the 'do I already own this print?' question has an answer from your phone at the fabric store.

How much fabric does a project really use?

More than the pattern's minimum once grain, direction and mistakes have their say. Weigh in a realistic cut allowance per project; your remaining yardage finally matching the shelf is how you'll know it's right.

Can Hivara handle custom and commissioned sewing?

Yes — a commission starts as a recipe (fabric, notions, hours), so the quote is grounded before you cut. Customer-supplied fabric jobs simply skip the fabric line and price the labor honestly.

Is it worth tracking small notions like thread and interfacing?

As a per-project allowance, yes. You don't need to count meters of thread — a realistic 25–50¢ notions line per make keeps a year of small costs from vanishing into the machine.

Hivara for other crafts

ApparelT-ShirtsEmbroideryCrochetSee all crafts →

Guides for sewists

All guides

Are You Paying Yourself? How to Cost Your Time as a Maker

The most expensive ingredient in anything handmade is your time — and it's the one most makers forget to count. Here's how to put a real number on it.

Run your sewing business like a business

Know your true cost and profit, track every material, and produce by scan. Start free — no credit card. Or try the free pricing calculator first.

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