hello everyone! as some of you may know, i take commissions from people in my town and sell my finished projects to them. recently, I’ve had tons of orders, which im grateful for, however i feel like i don’t have any time to make things for myself anymore. in fact, i haven’t made anything that isn’t an order in almost month even though i crochet every day. do any of yall have any tips on how to make time to make things for myself? hope you have a lovely day and thanks for your time <3
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maybe set a limit on how many commissions you can take per (some time?) like maybe five-ish orders per month? (i’m not sure how big they are lol)
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see most of them come from one person, she doesn’t really give me a due date, but she will ask me for around 5 ish things. once i deliver them to her, she has about 5 more things for me to make
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I’d ask her if you could get a break
What does she use your projects for?
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she gives them as gifts to people or it’s just things for her and her daughter
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Maybe tell them a few days before you deliver the stuff that you are going to take a break from taking commissions to focus on yourself.
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Ok. Well she should be able to understand that you need a break
Maybe you should have a limit on how many things she orders from you each month so you don’t get too overwhelmed
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I crochet an order than a free time project and repeat that
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I never make things to sell as I don’t want to turn something I love to do into a job that I hate
I think that you should take a break at least for the holidays
And then figure out how many commissions you can take per month before you get burned out
Plus budget your time during the day, x hours on your commissions and then at least an hour per day on your own projects
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I do deadlines for custom orders. I’ll open one wave between March-May and another wave between Jul-Oct (so all orders can be to the customer by Christmas), this also allows me to do restocks on yarn colors ive used.
Anything ordered outside of those waves are upcharged based on how soon the customer is wanting it by.
(However, if i find that i dont have enough orders during either wave i may open up for select orders that can be completed in a timely manner, i usually give myself 1 to 2 weeks per order, tho i usually finish sooner if i have all the materials at the time of the order being placed. But by giving myself up to 2 weeks to complete the order if something happens i dont have to dail on an order.)
Time management is also key. When i take orders, i write all the info of the customer on a card
*name, number, colors, animal, hook size(s) im going to use, and due date
Then i have bins or bags that i put all the materials and the card in. I also bounce around from order to order. I HATE sewing, so i usually do all of that at the end of having most of the orders finished.
I hope that helps.
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Since I stay up late I like to use the couple hours at night for personal projects and the daytime hours for commissions or other projects.
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I have done that also. And kinda still do. Just slow down and do one for you in between. There is no deadline, so no pressure. You don’t want to lose your regular orders, so just slow them down a bit. I am working on one now that I want to deliver by Christmas. She knows it may not work out and is good with it though. But me … I will have it done. Next year, is more me. Which basically means more presents for g-babies, but they have learned to celebrate daily, not just on Christmas. Keep it fun.
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Make a rule on ur etsy “only ____ commissions at a time please”?
Or you could close ur etsy shop for the holiday?
Also remember you can say no to some commisioms! Hope this helps
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i don’t have an etsy, these are in person requests. a lot from people i know. i feel like that makes it a lot harder to say no
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Oh okay, sorry i just assumed it was etsy. It can be a lot harder to say, but maybe before they “place “ the order, let them know you can only finish a few projects/you need personal time (:
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If she’s really your friend/person you know, she should understand that you’re not a machine. You’re a human being, that needs a break, and if you crochet too much, you could hurt your hands and wrists. If you’re working too much, just politely tell them “hey, I’ve been doing orders for you for about [how ever long], and I think I need a break before I take on anything else” ofc word it in your words, but just let them know you’re not a machine, and you want to work on personal projects as well.
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If it’s the same woman, I would just tell her that unfortunately I am not able to make her anymore orders and she will have to order from someone else.
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Maybe make a sign up sheet with a limited number of slots, and once filled, people have to wait for you to make another sheet to order more. This will allow you to still have orders, but you would limit how often you make people stuff. And if people still ask, just say you are at your ordering limit and have to wait for the next sheet to sign up. You can make it physical paper, or a google doc. Google docs are easy because you can close them whenever and put stuff like you aren’t accepting orders anymore.
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I try to to do “work” related crochet on weekdays and leave the weekends for personal projects.
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Personally, i would find a project you really wanna do, finish a commission (doesn’t have to be all of them) and then make your project. Then continue making orders :)
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