Hi everyone! It’s time for another Q&A Monday.
Q: Will you revamp/refashion my wardrobe for me if I pay you?
A:
Sorry to be such a grumpy cat, but dude…no.
And if you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh no! I asked her to sew something for me and now she’s calling me out on it!! :(“, don’t fret! You are NOT alone. I get this request all the time.
Let me explain why I’ll never do this for you or anyone else.
The whole point of this blog is to encourage you to embark upon your own refashioning adventures! Teach someone to fish, and they’ll never have to eat cheap cod from a nasty fast food fish chain…or something.
Also, I don’t want to deal with clients. I did fashion retail for faaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr too long for all that shiz. Even if you’re nice, no.
So, get to work, my friend. You’ve got a lot of fun creative stuff inside of you aching to get out! 🙂
I get that too. “Oh, you like to sew! I could pay YOU to hem my pants rather than a tailor!” NO. Pay the tailor. Or, learn how to hem you own pants.
sure! because patching holes, sewing buttons, hemming, replacing elastics and any other “just a little fix” thing is soooooooo MUCH FUN…HA!
I love the way you have expanded your blog. Subsequently, I’ve nominated you for a Liebster Blog Award. See my blog for more details.
You go girl! I am so happy that you said no, I sew and far toooooo often people find out and “assume” that I want to fix their stuff, hem their pants, sew on a button, shorten sleeves…etc. I love your blog, great ideas, I don’t often remake my thrift finds into clothes, but do enjoy making purses, pillows, deco. it’s fun to be creative and read about others ideas.
Forget grumpy cat. Type owl in a box into google and look at the images
That’s why I bought my 12 yr old a sewing machine. She can learn and revamp both of our wardrobes. We love thrift store shopping so she will have a blast!
Thanks for all the inspiration! Here’s one refashion I did this morning: http://www.32daysofaugust.blogspot.com/2013/01/navy-floral-dress.html
After fighting people off during $1.49 sticker sales every Tuesday for all of the cute things, I appreciate them leaving all of the ugly things for me.. then I can make something cute! 🙂
Perhaps to appease the masses while keeping your sanity you could do a monthly special where someone sends in a picture of an awful piece of clothing and you explain how you’d refashion it. Just a thought. Love what you do because it’s also saving the environment!
I agree! I want to learn and be inspired by people who know more than me, not have it all done for me!
I dont do things for people anymore either. If they want something I have already done great. But no way doing special orders, never works out, specially with friends.
love to read your blog – you are so funny, creative and inspiring! i’m taking the plunge and started to work on a refash of an old dress taking space in my crowded closet. woo hoo!
Brilliant! As far as I’m concerned you’re a great catalyst. Much of what you do is a good example. Some things wouldn’t suit me or don’t go with what I’ve got. Being an inspiration is far more valuable helping others to create their own change.
Have to love Grumpy Cat ..she is so cute!. its so fun to refashion but i guess some people either don’t want to have fun, they don’t have the skills or maybe are not creative enough… oh well!, Jillian i was wondering have you ever try using Rit colors on leather or suede shoes???? :/ i was wondering, i found some new suede boots for a dollar but not to happy about the color was thinking if Rit will work??
It might only if going to a darker color that then original, and suede probably would dye better than regular leather, for a buck plus the dye, I would be tempted to try it at least. You could email cust service at Rit for ideas.
I might be more likely to make things for others if they did actually want to pay me what my time is worth. People seem often to think that handmade things should actually be worth less than store merchandise. I always hear ‘oh man you couldn’t buy anything like this in a store this is lovely’ and then they want to pay bargain prices for me to make something just for them. Ummm…no. lol
Amen to that. I’ve learned more about bringing seemingly hopeless garments back to life from Your blog than from my own mother, whose sewing skills were exquisite and who didn’t mind making something for me every now and then. Give’em the fishing rod I say!
Kind regards,
Nina
I agree and I have also vowed never to sew clothing for other people. I make handbags, aprons, things that don’t have to fit the body, and occasionally, I will hem something or fix a zipper, but the first time that I tried to refashion a dress for someone else, I got burned pretty badly. She didn’t like it and she didn’t want to pay what I asked.
Oh Anita, you have said a great thruth. I even ventured into making infinity scarves at one point and some people complained that they were not “infinite” enough.. LOL!
Haha! You should tell them, “Infinity isn’t as long as one might think.” with a raised eyebrow. 😉
Love Grumpy Cat!
Thank you! And don’t blame you at all. I get asked this all the time – refashion, alter, make from scratch, embroider, etc. I do this for fun, not for a job – I have a few jobs – and it not fun when I have to do it, do it right, and by a deadline. Then it is not a hobby, but a job. Great boundaries, and encouragement for us all.
(That said, I do things for my wonderful stepdad and some dear elderly people. Then it’s giving love!)
LOL!! And the cat picture is perfect 🙂
I love that you share your refashions with us because I don’t have much imagination. Thank you!
I get asked to sew things for friends all the time..hate it! 🙂 like the cat!
I completely understand. A favor here or there doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But, when you try to please everyone you end up shorting yourself. It’s ok to say no. Plus, if you can do it, then they can get off their lazy butts to do it too! Keep up the wonderful inspirations! I appreciate them so much!
Heehee! My favorite is when people say, “Can you do this for me? It’ll be really easy!” Really? Then get off your duff and do it yourself! 😛
OMG Fashion Retail = death
You go girl!
Are you opposed to offering suggestions for the novice refashion wannabes?
Absolutely not opposed! 🙂
Amen, sister!
Huge respect for using Grumpy Cat 😀