The only person I will do mending for is my husband, cause he understands my passion (obsession) for quilting.
Am also asked if I will teach people to knit or crochet and my easy way out is to say "sorry I'm left handed it won't work)
I own a midarm quilting frame and I am constantly asked if I will quilt someones quilt for them. They tend to get offended if I say no, SO I overprice myself, tell them it will take 6 months and they take it to the overpriced longarmer in our area.
I agree with others too that the moment you start taking orders it turns into work and that is not how I do things.

I have learnt to say the word NO...............it does offend some people who think that because you are retired
and sew you are a soft touch , for doing their mending .
I just say NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I will do those things for family cause my family pay me back with cutting the grass, changing the oil in the car, rotating the tires and generally anything else I need. I have a few friends that also return in kind. To everyone else, I'm retired.

I'm lucky as I have a friend who does mending and alterations for a side job. I keep a good supply of her cards on hand and in my purse and just hand them one of her cards and say she does beautiful work, that is who I take MY mending to. Just love the looks on their faces when they find out I send my mending out. grin

I tell everyone I don't "sew", I quilt. So noone asks me to "sew" things. Except for my grandson who is into medieval games and always wants me to make him costumes. I'll tell him "no" every day for two weeks and then he'll bat those huges brown eyes at me and the next thing I know is I'm making some crazy costume. Some day I'll learn how to resist those eyes...

My response is "I will teach you to do it, so if I am not available the next time , you will be able to do it your self" , but I don't "take in" mending projects.
Somehow they never seem to have the time to learn. Gee.... if they don't want to spend their time, but expect me to use my time, then the request was more to get something for nothing or next to nothing.
I have has a few say they wanted to learn .. guess what ...I turned them into quilters .

Mine is.....MOM grandson needs some new sleep pj's...or do you have any baby quilts made a guy in my office had a little boy yesterday. Grandson YES. NO to immediate request that are out of the question. People that don't sew don't get it. We put a lot of work and effort into what we make.

Yes, from every
friend and from every family member!

Yep! the favourite is people who think because you quilt you like to make curtains. I hate making curtains, so always pay someone else or buy ready made.

All the time! I'm the only one in my family who sews since my Gram hung up her measuring tape a few years back. She still does hemming but that's it. So, I get all of the ripped seams and torn buttonholes from my siblings and their spouses. And, for the first time, last fall I got "I want a going away quilt" from a woman I haven't seen since we were kids, lol. I love to help out with the mending and I did a quick D9P for the woman but sometimes, with near strangers, I get a little piled up. I have a hard time saying no.