The cost of dressmaking

Last month I agreed to make a skirt for someone. I mean no disrespect to that person with this post, I'm just outlining my lessons learned.

I had said no to everyone up to this point, still not confident enough in my skills to make things for others (or cut up their fabric). But I figured it was time to give it a go, and settled on $50 to charge for the making of it. 
A local dress shop charges $290 for a similar skirt with this kind of fabric:

This person provided the fabric and chose a simple skirt from my existing patterns. We measured and decided on Size 18, as they wanted it to be a loose fit. 
No time limit was given.
First lesson: I still felt an obligation to have the skirt done within a couple of weeks. It ended up being longer because I got sick for almost two weeks. So when I did have time to sew, I felt like it was the priority.

When I took the fabric home I suddenly wondered: had it been washed? You should always wash before you sew, in case it runs or shrinks when it is eventually washed. 
It hadn't been.
Second lesson: I had to spend more time washing it, by hand, because it was expensive fabric.

It was an easy sew: there was more than enough fabric, that I cut conservatively because they wanted a shirt out of it as well in the future; the seams were easy; and the finishing hem and waistline were very simple. 
It took about 3 hours all up, including the fabric washing. 
At this point, 3 hours for $50 = $16.7/hour.

So I took it back to them to try on... and it was a full size too big.
Third lesson: If it was mine I would have just cut sections out, hem and waistband and all, and finished it somehow. But it wouldn't been the same, polished product that I had already produced. 
To make it look the same meant unpicking the hem and the waistband. I could have cut corners where at that point, while still making a solid garment, but it would take me at least another hour, probably more. 
Down to $12.50/hour. 

Luckily before I started unpicking, I decided to try some folds instead. It is a slightly different design, but still a nice skirt.
Conclusion
While it isn't all about the money, the average pay scale for sewing in Australia is $21/hour though, so perhaps I should think about what my time is worth for the next one.
But overall I think I was too hard on myself over the whole project- nothing went wrong with it and all the pressure over the timeline was self-induced. I do want to make beautiful things that other people will enjoy. 
I'll see how the next one goes!