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mandie_rwSo, remember that resolution of mine not to buy more fabric?
I think we all know where this is going.
Well, TECHNICALLY I didn't buy it, so it's okay, right? I just...acquired it. I went out with my aunt for the day in Philly; she's into crafts and things and knows how I have this thing for fabric, so she took me to some fun places she thought I'd like. Which I did -- in reverse order, an amazing jewelry store in Old City, a cool vintage/costume shop in Germantown, and a fabric store, also in Germantown, Gaffney Fabrics.
Really, really impressive selection of Stuff at Gaffney's! If I were predominantly a theatrical costumer, I'd have thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Not to say I didn't have an excellent time there, but the historical costumer in me (which squelches the theatrical, if you couldn't tell) was like, "There's an incredible amount of fabric here...but why is it all polyester?" The bargain basement was full of fabric (and it smelled like the cellar of the built-in-the-1890s house I used to live in. That cellar creeped me the hell out when I was very small, by the way...there were all these weird sections with no lightbulbs in them...anyway!), and besides the cotton quilt fabrics, there was not one single natural fiber down there!
Oh, that's right, except for the one remnant I dug out. I'm good. (Usually the fabric-finding mojo works; occasionally it doesn't, but I'll never stop being proud of myself for digging out that $2/yd dupioni silk at Jo-ann's that one time...) It's 3/4 yd of beige-ish dupioni. Beige sounds like such a terrible color, but it's pretty fabric! No really, I'm not just in fabric-hoarding withdrawal.Maybe. $3. Not bad.
And then we went upstairs to the store proper, and there was even morepolyester fabric! There were a few bolts of silk fabric, but it was all that limp stuff, nothing I was interested in; plus there was definitely some abuse of the word "silk." "Linen" was also shamelessly abused; really, quotation marks would have helped those signs out! However, among the eight or ten bolts of "linen," I did find two bolts of actual linen. One in a medium weight natural/oatmeal color, and one in white with brown and black thin woven stripes.
...Got three yards of the oatmeal, and one of the striped. It was $3.99/yd OKAY... If I ever need plainer, working-class stuff for 18thc (which I am thinking of needing, so there), I'll use the plain for an under-petticoat and the striped for an apron or some such. Partly because it's got a couple marks anyway. I was going to pay for it myself, but my aunt's an enabler, so she insisted on paying for it. And, well, I haven't got all that much money, so I wasn't going to argue too much.
So...you know, it's all okay because I didn't buy it. Me, personally. We'll disregard the unfortunate fact that it will NOT fit in my fabric bin, which is crammed as full as it will go. Nor will it fit in the other bin, which is half Crap, half Fabric. Or in the bag of fabric sitting next to my drawers of sewing/crafty supplies. Or under my sewing desk, because that's been taken over by bags of half-finished projects.
PLZ SEND HALP NAO. Ahem. So...I'll have to break my resolution not to sew any more costume pieces at the moment, because I don't have room for them either? If only I wasn't ashamed to sell off some of my old costumes...but they're too crappy.
Hmm, I want dinner. Panzarottis! A strange, apparently local thing that nobody else knows what it is. Well, my friend from the other side of the state thinks it's hilarious that we call water ice, water ice..."It's ITALIAN ICE!" "Whatever, man, it's water ice here." And...now I'm babbling.
I think we all know where this is going.
Well, TECHNICALLY I didn't buy it, so it's okay, right? I just...acquired it. I went out with my aunt for the day in Philly; she's into crafts and things and knows how I have this thing for fabric, so she took me to some fun places she thought I'd like. Which I did -- in reverse order, an amazing jewelry store in Old City, a cool vintage/costume shop in Germantown, and a fabric store, also in Germantown, Gaffney Fabrics.
Really, really impressive selection of Stuff at Gaffney's! If I were predominantly a theatrical costumer, I'd have thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Not to say I didn't have an excellent time there, but the historical costumer in me (which squelches the theatrical, if you couldn't tell) was like, "There's an incredible amount of fabric here...but why is it all polyester?" The bargain basement was full of fabric (and it smelled like the cellar of the built-in-the-1890s house I used to live in. That cellar creeped me the hell out when I was very small, by the way...there were all these weird sections with no lightbulbs in them...anyway!), and besides the cotton quilt fabrics, there was not one single natural fiber down there!
Oh, that's right, except for the one remnant I dug out. I'm good. (Usually the fabric-finding mojo works; occasionally it doesn't, but I'll never stop being proud of myself for digging out that $2/yd dupioni silk at Jo-ann's that one time...) It's 3/4 yd of beige-ish dupioni. Beige sounds like such a terrible color, but it's pretty fabric! No really, I'm not just in fabric-hoarding withdrawal.
And then we went upstairs to the store proper, and there was even more
...Got three yards of the oatmeal, and one of the striped. It was $3.99/yd OKAY... If I ever need plainer, working-class stuff for 18thc (which I am thinking of needing, so there), I'll use the plain for an under-petticoat and the striped for an apron or some such. Partly because it's got a couple marks anyway. I was going to pay for it myself, but my aunt's an enabler, so she insisted on paying for it. And, well, I haven't got all that much money, so I wasn't going to argue too much.
So...you know, it's all okay because I didn't buy it. Me, personally. We'll disregard the unfortunate fact that it will NOT fit in my fabric bin, which is crammed as full as it will go. Nor will it fit in the other bin, which is half Crap, half Fabric. Or in the bag of fabric sitting next to my drawers of sewing/crafty supplies. Or under my sewing desk, because that's been taken over by bags of half-finished projects.
PLZ SEND HALP NAO. Ahem. So...I'll have to break my resolution not to sew any more costume pieces at the moment, because I don't have room for them either? If only I wasn't ashamed to sell off some of my old costumes...but they're too crappy.
Hmm, I want dinner. Panzarottis! A strange, apparently local thing that nobody else knows what it is. Well, my friend from the other side of the state thinks it's hilarious that we call water ice, water ice..."It's ITALIAN ICE!" "Whatever, man, it's water ice here." And...now I'm babbling.
