How to say NO when someone asks you to sew for them

When someone asks you, can you sew this for me? We sewist love to sew for our friends, our family, our loved ones, it's part of sharing skills because we can't all be good at everything.

It is about that balance in any society where someone knows something, and you all share and swap. But we all know that there are those times, those random work colleagues, those long-lost cousins, those people you first meet on the street; how about the mild acquaintance that asks you, "I have this garment that I would love to be copied."

Someone you barely know finds out you sew and then proceeds to ask. "I have this Cinderella ball gown that I've been dying to have made. It has a fitted corset and three 13 layers of chill. I'm so excited about it. Oh, my goodness! I'll buy the fabric, and you know what, I'll even pay you $50."

The $50 mark is a standard, like an amount that people throw out there.

There is an existing Instagram account called Can You Sew This for Me? And it is about all the random requests, like the most just ridiculous requests that people ask you. So, I recommend that you go check it out.

Some of these are funny, but it is like how you answer and respond to this question.

It will, of course, depend on your personality as well. And so, I decided to poll my Instagram followers on what they say when someone asks them. The answers were hilarious.

We're going through some of the best here. I've grouped these into different categories, topics, themes, and genres. So, there's a number in there.

I think you can find some to choose from now. I will preface that with anything. So obviously, you'll probably word these a little bit differently on your own.

I'm still learning.

I charge by the hour, and I am really slow. So, it would probably cost more than you'd want to pay.

I like this one; the answer was I can't sew knits, zippers, fleece denim, and insert whatever they asked you to do. Just pretend like you don't; you can't stitch that thing.

This answer is another great one. I don't feel comfortable taking orders as I'm not confident enough to do that for other people.

When you are either still learning or not confident in your skills, telling the truth along the same lines is that “I'm learning and amateur.”

You could say, I don't take custom orders, commissions, et cetera. I think when you insert the word order or commission, it instantly brings in the person who's asked it that they're asking you to do something that they should pay you for.

If they were thinking of it for free, they weren't anymore. And I liked this one because your answer would be, I'm flooded, but I'm not as good as you think.

A funny version of the same thing is not having enough skill. I don't feel confident yet. Any of these, mix it all up and put the words as you would. You use your own words there.

You can't afford me.

The next category is you can't afford me because we all know that if you don't sew, you do not appreciate how much time, effort, and fabric costs go into doing all this.

Fast fashion has ruined the job of seamstresses and dressmakers because of the value in clothing; we think it can be made for as much as you can buy it, which is not true.

So, when they ask, can you sew this for me? You say, sure, that will be

(Insert some crazy figure here). There were a lot of those answers. And I quite like this one, "Well, that sounds interesting. Let's see. We could get a pattern. That'll probably be $20 then if you only want to do one layer. Oh yeah, well, probably maybe $160 for fabric, you know? Ah, it depends just on one layer. Yes. Yes. It might be more if we need lining."

Flip through the design. Very thoughtful. "Well, it'd probably take me about 30 hours of work; how much do you charge per hour? Exactly, right. “

I mean, once you add out fabric, put in the pattern, put in your amount of like time and how much you would get paid, you wouldn't probably, of course, ask the other person how much they earn.

You could also respond with, "That sounds like a massive project. You know what, I bet you could find someone on Etsy to commission that for you.", or “I sew really slowly. I bet a professional dressmaker will be much cheaper. "

I don't have time.

I don't have time because who does have time? We have our projects too. You could respond, "I'm in the middle of a huge project right now. I couldn't even get to it until next year." It's February, or "I have so many projects on at the moment. I don't have time." pretty forward, straight to the point.

As I said, I think it depends on your personality and how you would tell any of these.

And my top three answers the first one's a bit funny, and this was the

answer. So, when someone asks, can you sew this for me?

Your response, "I'm allergic to sewing things that I don't want to. So, sorry." I wish I could say something like that.” Okay, the next two are more serious than something you could say. “So sewing is just my hobby. I sew just for me; it is my time away from the world. And I have to keep it that way by saying no to others. Sewing is my art, not my job."

And then my favorite answer to the inevitable question. Can you sew this for me? "No, but I will happily teach you how to do it yourself. I know a great YouTube channel." and then send them over here to the Evelyn Wood YouTube channel. And I'll take care of them from there. 

Until next time...
Bye

Evelyn  xx