Thank you for my gift! Would you make me another ??
 

Anyone ever get this request? You give a handmade gift to someone and they ask for another one for a friend??
It happened to me at Christmas but the second purse was for her daughter. But she insisted in buying it so I quoted a price and she agreed. Now she has friends who also want a purse like hers. I told her that I "might" have time to make some for her to show. the price will go up some. too much stress!

Another buddy makes those twirly crocheted scarves and she gave one to a mutual friend who asked for a second one in another color. Hmmm.

How do you handle this situation?
Sandy

PRICE IT TO HIGH [look three time to high]. If they still wont it. you can get something nice for your self for all the work, if it high and they so no thanks you will know that made the offer. by the way will you make me a purse????and maybe your buddy will make me a black and white a twirly scarve? HA HA sorry just had to light up the day.

It depends on how much $, time and effort have been involved in the gift, and how much you enjoy the process and the person!
If you're on the fence - yep, price it high (3 or 4 x your cost and more than you'd pay for it if you were buying) and if they bite - you've compensated yourself!
I've been approached and asked if I'd make one just like 'x' and I respond, yes I will but I'm not sure you'll go for the price!

What it sounds to me like is you could be making a few extra bucks by making purses. If you don't want to do it, I would tell her I do it for a hobby and do not want to turn it into a business. I see this all the time. People get themselves involved in situations they don't want to get involved in because they didn't speak up and explain what is involved, and then get stressed out and resentful. Say something.

Oh, I will keep it under control. The price will be higher than what I charged originally. She is a good friend who is so generous to others so I did not mind making her daughter a Purse and she did not mind paying for it...she insisted but for her buddies, they don't get the same deal.


I want to upgrade my sewing machine this year so maybe this is one way to fill the piggy .

Sandy

Most people don't have a clue about what goes into making a 'homemade' item. I just tell people that once I made an item, I don't want to make another just like it..... I have more things I want to make than I have a lifetime to do.... They've always accepted that answer.

I had a friend ask me to make her a sturdy tote bag. Others liked it and wanted one but I told her to tell them no. I'm not confident enough for that plus it will take time away from quilting.

And since I now own several machines, people think I can do alterations as well. I will not do that. I will only mend close family members clothing liking taking up a hem or sewing a pocket or buttons back on.

When people complain about the cost of alterations I always reply.....PAY IT!

Sandy

I was asked how much to make one just like it. I told her first that it was impossible. Every piece was a found item. Every personal touch was just that. Personal. Even if I wanted too, I couldn't. Of course I could do it similar, and my rate would be the same as what I get paid for my day job plus materials. Needless to say, she never asked again.

My brother wanted a different one and I told him to get the fabric and no problem. Never heard from him again either.

I learned my lesson making sock monkeys. Everyone wanted one. Now I just laugh when asked to make another anything and say you were lucky to get the first one.

I make bow tuck bags or some close variation and everyone wants one until I tell them my price. Some will say yes, some no.....but I always make enough to feed my addiction....I figure if I can make a bag in 4 hours and make $30, I am doing pretty good for me!

now that is funny! and a good answer. I wonder what they would say if, when they gave a storebought gift, they were asked for another one. But of course, "handmade" is DIFFERENT, because we have nothing else to do all day but sit around and make things, don't ya know....

As for me, the first one of something is fun, and if I jump in and do it again I burn out before its finished. So I guess I am a one banger????

Price it high enough that you wouldn't mind making them for that price - then if there are takers, it adds to the machine kitty.

How do you handle when people "hint" that they wished they could sew, but since they know you, they don't need to. Have a friend who is going to a wedding and that she wishes she could find the exact dress she envisions, but knows it will be impossible to find. She has hinted several times that she knows it would be so easy for an experienced seamstress to make. I ain't sayin'' nuttin'! I ain't offerin' !!!

For years my mom kept dropping not so subtle hints that she wanted me to make her a quilt. Finally I said 'If you pay for materials.' She did, and as the fabric rolled in, she added up her total cost. She was shocked. I told her we weren't done yet. Had to rent the long arm still and get material for the binding and backing. She's never asked me for another.

I had a friend hint at the same thing. Only she wanted one exactly like the first one I made; seafoam green double irish chain. Um, no. That's special for me. If you want one like it, you take the class, buy the material and make it. She didn't. Eventually she got back to hinting again about a quilt. Told her the same thing I told mom. She had the exact same experience. ~$400 total. She loves her quilt.

She's hinted in the past about quilts for her children. She did pay for one for her dd. I had the material. She said she'd pay for it. Apparently that meant for material only. She said she'd pay for my time too. She didn't. Only for material. After that she wanted one for her ds. Now, I love her like a sister, but everyone has their breaking point. This was mine. Told her the only way she was going to get another quilt out of me, was if she and I did it together. Made her take home all the fabric when we weren't working on it. Ha ha ha! That way she could tell that I was serious and wasn't going to work on it without her. I showed her how to cut the strips. She wasn't the most accurate with the rotary cutter. She learned though. "Oh my gosh, how much work that is...." she'd always say.

However, she's getting married in July and started hinting about the double irish chain again. I just smile at her. Not going to happen. Maybe I should sign her up for the class as part of her wedding gift!!!

You can also tell them you'll put them on the list - and the list is at 25 projects right now. LOL

There is a magic word that I use when someone wants me to do something I don't want to do. The word is NO, thank you. Try it! It works. You don't have to come up with an excuse,you really don't. Quilting is what you do for you, if you wanted to turn it into a second job, you probably wound have done it by now.

And the converse of that would be that since you know that she cooks, surely you don't have to! Wonder how that would sit? :rolleyes:

Jan in VA

Great answer!!!

Oh dear - it's harder to say no when it's your child. I made a retro-style apron for one daughter for christmas. As it was opened, the other daughter squealed "Oh, I want one too!". Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I presented her with her apron. Now she says her husband would be so thrilled to have one for his birthday too. Apparently I'm out of the quilt-making business and into making aprons now.

I have a standard speech...you fill in the blanks..." Thank you for asking me to----.However I'm not able to do it at this time. Please ask me later when....." (Under my breathe I say when H.....L freezes over). This works for invitations to join committees, make another quilt etc.

My husband says no for me. His sister walked into a family meal and told me, "Jane (her daughter) wants a queen size quilt for a wedding present. I'll get you some paint chips for color."

My husband said, "NO!" She kept talking. He said, "I already told you no. Mary just made her a quilt for graduation and she has a lot of other projects. NO."

Don't know that it is working but he said it!

I agree with BelleBoo. One is a labor of love. A second is labor. Period.

I've been asked if I sell my quilts, and I just say "If you will pay me up front, I will make one for you AND I get to pick the pattern." Then I explain the costs (fabric, minimum of $125, batting ($40), and the time it takes to piece, quilt, and bind a quilt (20 hours at $25 an hour). Then I ask them when they want to meet at the LQS so that they can purchase the fabric and batting. So far, no one has taken me up on it.

A friend of mine just asked me to put patches on his bike leathers. I told him that DH took all of his uniforms to the alteration shop since I tended to screw up his patches. He answered that his weren't as strict for placement as a uniform. So I told him "sure I'll put the patches on but I don't want to hear ANY complaints if you have a swatch on your butt. .....he stopped asking. lol

When people ask me I tell them to get in line (and that the line is very long). Eventually they realize that their turn won't come.

I wouldn't get it started,I would be completely honest and say "no, I don't have time to do any extra" . Least that is what I say.it becomes work and then I don't enjoy it as much.

love it!
funny, my son is a chef and I have had people ask if he can do a catered dinner party. I always answer saying I cannot afford him and I paid for his education...but I will forward your request. He is a fabulous cook. He has done private catering for executives, paid very well to do so.

Decide if you want to do it. If not, you could ask if anyone on the board makes them for sale and pass along the contact info. It is okay to say no.

I was asking 45$. Your price is pretty low..IMHO.

SANDY

If it is something I don't want to do, I just smile, say thanks, and then say no. We are allowed to say no in this life and the world doesn't end.

I don't begin to understand people who think it's perfectly acceptable to hint that they want you to make them a wedding dress. Holy Moly! That's a ton of work and, frequently, drama. I paid $300 for all my silk taffeta back in 1983. I then paid a seamstress who did nothing but high end sewing another $300 for her to make my skirt and blouse from the pattern, using some hand made lace I'd carried around for YEARS to decorate color and cuffs and yoke of blouse.

That fabric isn't easy to sew, (I've never seen wedding dresses made out of easy stuff, unless they went rustic and made it from cotton!) and making that kind of thing is a really hard job to do nicely. That's an awful lot of nerve to ask somebody to do that for you as a friend, especially when they aren't falling all over themselves to offer you lots of money for your labor! :shock:

LOL I just had to laugh out loud at "Apparently I'm out of the quilt-making business and into making aprons now" I just made 2 sun matching dresses (turned out cute), one adult and one child size 5 for a gift...now I was asked to make 2 more for twins. Guess we must be good at other things besides making quilts!!!

I make things for my sister + family as she keeps sending me fabric, Marimekko mostly , all the time, and even she insists on paying me for my work.Her collegues also place orders after my sister has shown her newly acquired items. Therefore I have made a price list on items I have made or plan to make,they can take it or leave it. I keep it reasonable for them and profitable for myself .This way I can make a few extra Euros yet not get too stressed about it. My sis of course gets special "family prices".

I sew and crochet lots of stuff that I wear and what irks me more than having someone ask me to make one for them is when they say "You can just show me how to do it so I can have a fun hobby too!" Sorry, but not my idea of quality time with a friend. That's usually a lot worse than just making it for them since most people have no idea how much work these things take and how many years of experience it has taken me to be able to whip stuff out. So, no thanks. I like you and I want to continue to like you. And vice versa.

That's a great reply, BellaBoo. I must remember that one.

I find that all I have to do is say I have many projects on my plate, but if you would like to learn I can teach you. Here are the supplies you need, once you get them pick a date...and there solves my problem...very rarely will someone take me up on that...

If you have no desire to "make another one". just say NO. Quote a ridiculously high amount, they may fool you and say OK. Then you are stuck. If you need to, there are all kinds of excuses you could make. Someone wanted me to make her a purse like the one I made for my daughter, I quoted $300. Conversation stopped.

I was talking to a professional pattern designer who will happily make samples for shops. She quoted an example of $15.00 /hour labor up front. I really was impressed with how easily she quoted her hourly rate without needing to justifying her price. We all have a price in mind and we need to put a value on it. I admired her professionalism in handling requests.



Sandy

I had to chuckle when I read your post. This made me think of my brother- He ask for a buffalo quilt, so I searched everywhere for fab. with a buffalo. I thought I would have to attempt to create my own, but I found just the right fab. from "Best Kept Secrets", panels with buffalos. Well I made him a king size reversible quilt. After he had the quilt for several months I mentioned that I was making a particular quilt, then silly brother he is, he asked when I was going to make him a quilt he could use! I informed him I had already made him a quilt, and what did he think it was for if not to use, his reply"Yes, but I want one to use, that one is for display only". My reply"just be glad you got one, you are now on the bottom of the list". He still asks for another quilt, and I just keep telling him when everyone else gets one, he may get another. lol.