Do what you want, not what is expected of you. Otherwise you will hate your life.
-------------------------------------------------
Whatever was wrong yesterday seems to have righted itself. I was already feeling better by late afternoon.
I had been trying to find a local fabric store, with little success. The closest one, a JoAnn, is a good 25 minutes south, so I went there yesterday. I want to buy some fabric for some things for the Nugget, and maybe for some some curtains. (I have always made all drapery and curtains for every house I've lived in. I bought sheers and cafes for this house because --- I couldn't find a fabric store!)
I went to the JoAnn's yesterday evening, and I think I've found out why fabric stores are dying. It's likely that no one is sewing much these days. Not because nobody has the skills, but because the fabric prices are completely ridiculous!
Think about a plain old simple lightweight woven cotton. One yard. Maybe with a print on it. Woven by machine, yards and yards of it shooting out of the loom and into the print rollers, then out to a machine that rolls it around a slab of cardboard. What is it about that fabric that makes it worth $12 to $16 a yard?
That's utterly ridiculous.
That's almost $24 for enough to make an outfit for the Nugget (allowing for pattern matching and including waste). $48 because the outfit I have in mind is reversible. An outfit that we could buy anywhere for less than $15.
At one time in my life I made almost all my clothes. There's no way I could do it now. I couldn't afford to.
Greed has killed the market.
I guess these days sewing and fabric stores are just for unique things, like costumes, or special outfits that may as well be costumes. Something that cannot be found in a department store, and that you are willing to take out a loan to pay for.
---------------------------------
I still don't understand English. Singular is "wife". Plural is "wives". So why, if we changed the "f" to a "v", do we still add an "s"? Same with "life", and "knife".
Is it because "wive" is a verb (as in to go a-wiving in Padua)? But, but, but, why not "wifes" and "lifes" and "knifes" as the plural? (Well, "knifes is different". That is itself a verb, but "knive" is not. Which is also confusing.)
Compare to "fife", and "strife". There's NO RULE!
Why is English so arbitrary?
.
4 comments:
I hear ya on the fabric. The one day a year I go into JoAnn's is the day after Thanksgiving, when they price a lot of stuff at a buck a yard. And you have to stand in line for two hours to get it cut.
And don't even get me started on grammar. I still can't figure out the difference between lay and lie. D'oh!
Have you tried Wal-Mart? Yes, I hate them, too, but they used to have fabric. I think this may have been taken over by "crafts" (which I what I think killed the fabric store).
I've always thought that Joanne's was expensive. There used to be a Rag Shop near me and it went out of business. I really miss it.
Have you thought about Indian saree stores for fabric? They do have white cottons and some very pretty, thin embroidered white cottons. Just a thought.
The problem with "fabric departments" in like Wal-Mart is that the choice is very limited, and much of it smells of formaldehide (sp?), which is a bad thing. There IS a Rag Shop near me, in Amboy. I'd never heard of them and didn't know what they stocked, and couldn't find it when I went looking for it (GPS insisted there was no such address) so I gave up. On your recommendation, I'll call them and get directions.
Funny you should mention saris. I own a few hundred of them, purchased for robe, skirt, and crazy quilt fabric. But they're all silk, and not suitable for a toddler.
Ah, fabric prices. Yes, something I'm VERY familiar with. Here's the deal with cotton. The hot dry weather we've been having is wreaking havoc on cotton prices. Crop yields are down, EVERYTHING is imported from CHINA and the prices of cotton are going up, up, up. It IS more expensive to make something yourself than it is to buy it nowadays.
I am trying to re-create the drawstring pants that SS sells on her website - http://www.suhailastore.com/product_details.php?category_id=94&item_id=64
I can't sell them for less than $80. For real! While her pants are made in the US, I don't have a factory of immigrants working for minimum wage sewing for me. So, I can't make them for a competitive price.
I'm of the opinion that China is intentionally jacking up it's prices on "craft" items so that making them yourself is less attractive than just buying some piece of crap made in their factories. DIY is certainly becoming way more expensive than buying imported garbage products these days.
Post a Comment