Why do people expect you to make them things?

[bookstorebabe]

*jaw drops*
So, they expected you to say, "Sure! I'll use my own money to buy yarn, and work feverishly in my small bit of free time, sacrificing anything else I want or need to do (aside from work, eat and sleep), and never mind the pain from the arthritis-the rheumatoid arthritis? You remember?-all so you can have a shawl, I mean, so all ELEVEN of you can have shawls. No problem!"
I love your solution to this. Hee, the looks on their faces when they open their packages....
Good for you!

[Demi_Kitten]

My ex (whilst we were still dating) once asked me to make him a scarf for Christmas, I asked him what colour and he said "any colour, I'm an artist I love all colours" so I dug out all my balls of yarn and set to work making him a multi-coloured scarf of awesome. It took me a good month (or more) to knit because I'm quite slow but I got it done and wrapped it up.
The B**tard refused to wear it because a small section of it was pink.  I'm talking 4 inches at the most in a scarf that was easily 6 foot in length!

When I look back at it I'm surprised it took another year before I broke up with him.

I asked my fiancé if he'd like a hand knitted scarf for Christmas and he politely refused because he doesn't wear scarves so felt my hard work would go to waste. I can totally appreciate that, he was honest and I love him for it.

[BelovedGoddess]

I always get the "oh, you can sew.  I have a pair of pants you can hem for me."  This bothers me because:
a) they didn't ask me to hem the pants, they told me to.
b) I can't sew clothes to save my life (unless they're doll clothes)
c) it costs about $5 to get your pants hemmed at the local taylor's

When I tell them that I don't hem pants because I don't know how they say, "you can sew stuffed animals, you can hem pants."  Sewing stuffed animals is a lot different then hemming pants.

So I usually just say, "I can teach you how to sew, then you can hem your pants" and that shuts them up.

And my dad always wants me to sew these stupid patches on random things.  Sometimes it's mad of fabric my machine can't handle and he doesn't understand.

My sister runs an ironing business and decided she would include hemming as a service - using me without even asking.  The first pair of pants she bought over I did for $5.  When she picked them up she opened her wallet showing a wad of $50's and told me she had no change so couldn't pay me.  And no she never paid me, when she rang months later saying she had more work for me I told her she never paid me for the last one so no I wouldn't do it.  I told her that I would never be available to work for her again because it's not the first time she ripped me off - I worked a week for her while she holidayed and she refused to pay me because I didn't do paperwork the way she wanted (she never showed me how to). 
 

[lovesclutter]

BelovedGoddess, you need to inform your sister of your title, Beloved Goddess and yes, she may bow down to you.

[BelovedGoddess]

BelovedGoddess, you need to inform your sister of your title, Beloved Goddess and yes, she may bow down to you.

Ha Ha, so very true!  My given names actually translate as Beloved Goddess. 

[Crying Goddess]

I recently made a very pretty necalace that looks like a bird nest with eggs in it using wires and beads. I was proud that I managed to figure out how to make it (I worked really hard on getting it right!) and wear it everywhere.
Rewind back to Christmas I made my grandmother a necklace using fake rose petals. I thought it was a perfect gift (she loves roses). I never thought that this would happen.
I went over to vist her while wearing the bird nest necklace. Upon seeing it she asked me where I got it. I replied "I made it! Isn't it cool?" She then demaned to know why I didn't make her that for Christmas. I felt very angry and sad too. I worked hard on that.

[Jatoha]

I recently made a very pretty necalace that looks like a bird nest with eggs in it using wires and beads. I was proud that I managed to figure out how to make it (I worked really hard on getting it right!) and wear it everywhere.
Rewind back to Christmas I made my grandmother a necklace using fake rose petals. I thought it was a perfect gift (she loves roses). I never thought that this would happen.
I went over to vist her while wearing the bird nest necklace. Upon seeing it she asked me where I got it. I replied "I made it! Isn't it cool?" She then demaned to know why I didn't make her that for Christmas. I felt very angry and sad too. I worked hard on that.

Aw, that must have hurt your feelings! 

Is there a chance that she didn't know you made the rose necklace?

[rottenlittleboys]

I recently made a very pretty necalace that looks like a bird nest with eggs in it using wires and beads. I was proud that I managed to figure out how to make it (I worked really hard on getting it right!) and wear it everywhere.
Rewind back to Christmas I made my grandmother a necklace using fake rose petals. I thought it was a perfect gift (she loves roses). I never thought that this would happen.
I went over to vist her while wearing the bird nest necklace. Upon seeing it she asked me where I got it. I replied "I made it! Isn't it cool?" She then demaned to know why I didn't make her that for Christmas. I felt very angry and sad too. I worked hard on that.

I know that once my grandmother became older, she would say mean, hurtful things too. But I don't think she meant them to be. I know a lot of people can become that way when they become older. 

[Blacksmith]

I've got a set price tag I put on people who ask me to make them stuff and my range of prices decreases depending on how much I like the person, most of the stuff I build starts at about $50 when I care to sell it, the most I've charged someone is about $150 I think. Snobby tourists, heh.
I just usually blurt out a price that I think is far more than what I'm being asked to do is worth to me. If I don't like the person I multiply that by two or three. On occasion they pay that, weeds out most of the people that want freebies.
For family and friends, I get all enthusiastic and offer to teach them how to do whatever it is themselves rather than me doing it FOR them. On occasion they take me up on it, and never ask me to make them something again (except my parents, artists and crafty persons as well) got me started being handy.

[ivoryh1632]

Good for you ashgraykitsune!

I never make new years resolutions but this year I've made one to not make one damn thing for free. Anything I make that's not a b-day or x-mas present will either be paid for (at least half in advance) or done as part of a trade. And I'm seriously contemplating only doing transactions via etsy, at least that way I know I'll get paid and I can just use the excuse that I'm trying to build my buisness up and I need to keep track of all sales for tax purposes.

This comes after the huge ordeal last year of me offering to help a friend THINK OF IDEAS for her wedding (a friend I'd only known for a few months btw) and somehow that meant that she had to tell all her friends that I was planning her whole wedding and making everything. She said she'd pay me so I let it slide and after paying $300 in supplies out of my own pocket and doing over 500 hrs in work doing every little detail because "I've never been married before so how can I know how to do this stuff?" mind you I've never even had a serious boyfriend let alone been married. This also included me altering her wedding dress becasue I can sew so that means she didn't need to get fitted for her dress and I can alter it without having her there or even measureing her, and her buying my bridesmaid dress 2 sized too small cuz apearantly the ability to sew means you can pull extra fabric out of your ass and make a dress bigger. And to make it worse, during my time at her house working on wedding stuff, I found every toy/blanket/dress/etc that I made for her daughter torn up and thrown in the box of dog toys.
So cut to after the wedding, I give her the bill, itemized and professional and everythign for supplies and tell her "here's my hours, but you're a friend so i'll let you pay what you think is fair for time," she offers to pay me $200 for the whole thing then says that's more than generous becasue she was just kidding about paying me and was only LETTING me do her wedding cuz she felt sorry for me. All this then led to all her friends (grown women in their 30's and 40's) cyber-bullying me on facebook.
Then for whatever reason a couple weeks ago (6 months after the wedding) she dropps off a thank you card at my house with a $500 check. Not great but its better than nothing, although there's no way in hell I'm gonna thank her for the money or try to be friends with her again or any of that crap I'm sure she's expecting.

The funny thing is, this chick I used to work with knows all about the wedding crap, was sympathetic the whole time, agrees with my new policy of not doing anything for free......and still calls me every couple weeks telling me (not asking me) I need to make something new for her baby, she at least offers to pay for supplies, but its more the fact that she just expects me to do it no questions asked.
 
................... .oh and thanks for letting me vent to some fellow crafters that understand