No sequins.

[mrissa]

Sometimes people act like sewing is the solution to all clothing woes: just make it yourself! Then everything will be fine! Well, Mom and I went fabric shopping this morning, and I can tell you, everything is not fine. I'm happy with the fabric we got -- enough for a skirt and two pairs of wrap pants -- but it was all the good fabric in the store. Well -- there was a lovely shaded blue silk, but I have no idea what it would be good for except cloak lining, because I can't think what else would use enough of the range of fabric for the dramatic change in color to be displayed. And I already have a cloak.

Something like half of the fabric in the store that was theoretically suitable for adult clothing -- not upholstery, not SpongeBob pajamas -- had sequins on it. In case no one had noticed, part of the reason I am short on clothing is that I hate sequins. I don't like how they feel on clothes, and I am perpetually convinced that they will fall off and make the garment look grungy and tacky, and that I don't have the energy to re-sew a sequin or two every time I go to get dressed.

If I didn't like clothing, none of this would be an issue, because I could just wear any old thing, but I do like clothing, and so I am sad when the situation is so sequined and dire.

But my birthday is coming, so even if that doesn't involve clothes as presents, it has to be a good thing, right? Of course right. Because books make better presents anyway. And chocolate. And books.

I am not the sort of person who will mope around wondering if anyone will remember her birthday. No! I will tell you! July 26 is my birthday! This will not be the last you hear of it! My family is very good at birthdays. We're even good at other people's birthdays, when they let us be.

Comments

[callunav.livejournal.com]

I am a natural-fibers person (and also a non-wool person - ITCH) and sometimes when I dispair of ever finding an X in the stores that is made of natural fibers, I think, "Hell with it. I have a sewing machine I'm not doing anything with. I should just *make* myself an X." And then I go to fabric stores, and I ask basic questions like, "Do you have any cotton knits," and the answer is that they have scuzzy thin nasty 100% cotton in white and black, and a nice thick soft cotton in a pale cream color, and everything else is 50/50.

Feh. I like sequins on other people, but I'd be pretty cranky about finding them in fabric stores. Fabric is what you do or do not put sequins on.

Hmph. I feel your pain.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

..at least, I think I do. I wouldn't want to assume. I feel something which I think bears a strong resemblance to your pain on this particular topic, anyhow.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Fabric is what you do or do not put sequins on.

Yes! Exactly! If you want to have a skirt with sequins embroidered on it, go to town!

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

My friends who sew tend to buy a lot of fabric online. I know one place they both recommend is http://www.fabric.com There's another one but I have spaced on the address and I seem to have not stuck it in my del.icio.us. I'll have to poke through my LJ archives and see if I can find it there, since it's not in my email.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

http://www.wazoodle.com

I love my friends list.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks!

[wilfulcait.livejournal.com]

I'll second the vote for fabric.com with the proviso that the colors of the linen are often brighter than you expect, and that you need to check and see if the hand is marked "soft" because if not, you are buying some stiff stiff linen (I have a dress made with pale yellow linen from there that I have been wearing and washing for years that can still stand practically on its own.) On the other hand if it's marked "soft" and you wash it, it get nice and drapey and is splendid.

[wilfulcait.livejournal.com]

Oh, and they have good wools, too.

Fabricses

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

If you visit SoCal and have some free time, I'd happily take you to the LA Garment district. You can get a mind-bending array of fabrics there typically for about half to a third the price of dedicated fabric stores.

It would be difficult to fully describe the ... enormity of the selection. And yes, I mean it feels like being chased around by a hungry monster.

Re: Fabricses

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

One of my friends who went to grad school in Santa Barbara has made her "chased by a hungry monster, but in a good way" face at me on the subject of the LA Garment district. It sounds like it's quite something.

I am not entirely ruling out a trip to SoCal, but it's also not on the agenda firmly.

Re: Fabricses

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

Imagine if the concept of the 'city block' had evolved with the sole evolutionary pressure of 'sell things to make clothes with' and you'll be in the ballpark.

I'm really sorry you won't be able to make it to WorldCon. :(

If you do decide to make a trip out here, Sharon and I would happily providing lodging!

Re: Fabricses

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That's a probably won't be able to make it to WorldCon. So much depends on stupid chickens and wheelbarrows July.

Re: Fabricses

[voidmonster.livejournal.com]

-fingers crossed-

Re: Fabricses

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Mine are too.

I have a hotel room booked at the Anaheim Marriott. If the universe decides that I don't make it to WorldCon this year, which is still theoretically possible though I think unlikely, do you want me to let you know before I just go cancel the room?

(You meaning mrissa but could apply to other "you"s reading this as well in possible need of a WorldCon hotel room.)

Re: Fabricses

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Please. Just in case.

Re: Fabricses

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Will do. I'm getting tired of having to plan my life in short-term installments.

Re: Fabricses

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Not only can I name that tune, I am singing along on the chorus and only mumbling the words to a few of the verses.

Re: Fabricses

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, and thanks for the offer of lodging! I have a godfather in the city, and money is not the main issue on whether or not I travel these days, but it's still very nice of you to say (and I don't mean that in the "but I'm sure you don't mean it" sense of that phrase, either).

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

The fabric store chains have gone more and more to crafts, and are stocking fewer fabrics than ever--probably because few people sew their own clothing in this age of cheap chinese sweatshop labor. It's pretty hard to find what you want in a fabric store if you go in with a firm idea of what that thing is. If you go in looking for nothing in particular, you will find the perfect fabric and pattern, which will sit in your project box for decades and never get made up.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, if I was open to asking my mom to make, say, a jumper for my niece's seventh birthday, I would have found the perfect fabric and pattern. But alas, I was merely looking for fabric that might be suitable for some kind of dress, skirt, or pants for myself this year. Far too narrow a search field.

I don't blame them for doing what they need to do to stay in business -- if they didn't carry scrapbooking supplies and quilting books and so on, there just wouldn't be any fabric store there at all. But it's frustrating to have it be so hit-and-miss on the fabric.

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

That might explain why a lady on Freecycle regularly gives away bags full of seemingly brand new fabric. She's given me several kitchen garbage bags full of solid knits and blends and velvets already, as well as a very large plastic bin of cotton prints for baby clothes, and smaller craft-type patterns. I couldn't help but wonder, seeing all these perfectly good, clean, unused fabrics, why she would buy all these if she posts to Freecycle giving them away all the time in "cleaning out the sewing closet again" posts. They're not cut up scraps and they're not ugly. Either she's a compulsive fabric shopper or it's as you say - she's the type to buy the perfect fabric and let it sit in her project box. Maybe she's just got a shorter tolerance for allowing herself to look at it sitting there unused before she has to get rid of it so she feels it's okay to buy new stuff.

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

Yeah, fabric hoarding is a normal side effect of having sewing as a hobby. The kind of people who have a sewing room and a sewing machine set up all the time and a sewing table also usually have tons and tons of fabric picked up on impulse, because it was on sale, or with a project in mind but never finished.

[cadithial.livejournal.com]

Good thing you said when your bday is :) Mine's the 6th and C's is the 27th :P

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Yes, I must agree - of the many things that may come to my mind when thinking of mrissas, "sequins" is not one of them.

[greykev.livejournal.com]

Nor fringe. though perhaps she's mellowed on that.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Rhinestones. Definitely.

[greykev.livejournal.com]

I suspect we shall never see the M'ris dressed up as a rhinestone cowgirl.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

I bet she does, however, get cards and letters from people she don't even know.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

There is enough money in the world to pay me to do that. I don't think you're anywhere having it, but there is enough in the world.

[greykev.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I doubt I'll ever become that rich at a government job. I suppose it's also out of 'dying last wish' territory? Not that I plan on dying any time soon, but if I get in a car wreck the information might be worth having. :D

[songwind.livejournal.com]

Nor Screamnig Yellow Zonkers.

[greykev.livejournal.com]

People wear those things? I'm surprized they even found people to eat them!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

No mellowing.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I think the sequins happen because most people buy their clothes, and those that make their own things do so mostly because they can't find them in stores. Dance outfits, costumes, anything like that. I want to learn proper sewing skills, but I don't like the prints and the nicely textured fabric looks tough to learn on.
You have my sympathy and admiration. Must learn proper sewing.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

They had entire racks of "swim and dancewear fabrics" specifically for the costume market. It's just that the sequins had spilled out into the rest of the fabric because they've been trendy the last few years.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

Oh, ew. I hadn't realized that-- my local fabric store has mostly sequins and gauzey stuff. Some satin, lots of fleece and gaudy prints.

I wonder ...

[aet.livejournal.com]

Does your interest in all things Finnish also embrace the corny popular music (so that you are aware that Finns won Eurovision this year)?

The gift I want to share, is actually sneakish - I love the cover Tallinn Technical University Academic Male Choir has recorded to the "Lordi" Eurovision-winning song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".

Here you can listen to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2roPaSJdk0

Re: I wonder ...

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That's pretty amusing -- thanks!

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

May I ask which fabric store you went to?

I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of fabric between local fabric stores.

I have to ask st_writes about which ones were better; I am drawing a blank right now.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

We went to a JoAnn Fabric in the south suburbs (I think in Apple Valley but maybe Burnsville). If you know of good ones in the Cities, please do tell!

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

This is the one st_writes and I thought had the best selection:

Hancock Fabrics
1135 Larpenteur Ave W
Roseville, MN 55113-6335 View Map
(651) 488-6758

Although it claims to be in Roseville, if you come from Minneapolis/St. Paul, you pass a sign that says: "Falcon Heights." I warn you only because the sign made me panic and turn around, just as I was within spitting distance of the place.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thank you much!

[ellameena.livejournal.com]

JoAnn's is one of the worst offenders with respect to craftsie stuff vs. serious sewing stuff. Do you have a Minnesota Fabrics out there in, uh, Minnesota?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I believe Hancock Fabrics bought out the MinnFab stores, mostly. At least that's what I think the folks said.

(My dad worked for MinnFab when he was in college.)

[intrepida.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind fabric shopping as a treasure hunt try S.R. Harris up in Brooklyn Park. There are directions and a map on their website(http://www.srharrisfabric.com). It has its share of Sponge Bob flannel and things with adorable duckies on them, but no craft supplies. And since it is a fabric clearance warehouse, everything is 50% off all the time, and there are coupons on their website for more specials (June was 60% off all silks).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My folks grew up in Brooklyn Park, so I think it would be less of an adventure to find for Mom and me than it would be for most people. Thanks!

[intrepida.livejournal.com]

Oh, I meant the shopping itself is the treasure hunt. The building is huge, and stuffed to ceiling with fabric. Taking a compass isn't a bad idea, since the organization is pretty loose -- i.e. this area over here is mostly upholstery (fiber contents marked if you're lucky), these three rows are rayons and cotton prints, this row is silk and the kevlar is in the far northwest corner. (I kid you not about the kevlar!)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

(The gmail that notified me of this comment had an ad link for "Kevlar for Your Projects." I am amused.)