Those Damn Fabric Stores....

As a child, my sisters and I were frequently dragged to fabric stores with our mother, who was always looking for the perfect material, pattern, or craft project.  (She mostly just loved the deals you can find at a fabric store).  She would spend hours looking through the store, investigating materials and comparing prices to see what she "needed" or "could use someday".  I HATED this as a kid.  There was nothing worse than going to these stores with her, because she would take FOREVER, and a kid can be entertained by looking through pattern books for only so long.  Because of these negative, traumatic experiences as a kid, I swore that I would never be interested in doing any sewing or crafting of any sort.  

Fast forward about twenty years - our house needs new kitchen curtains.  Buying curtains at the store is VERY expensive, especially when you are trying to find curtains to fit irregular bay windows.  So, I decided I could make the curtains.  In my youth, I (unwillingly) learned a variety of sewing skills, including working a sewing machine and sewing a hem.  Since I can do that, I figured I would be able to make these curtains.

Even though my sister Winnie laughed at me when I called her en route to JoAnn Fabrics (and called me "mom"), I bravely went into the store to find the perfect curtain materials.  I found a style I liked, bought the fabric (with a coupon from my mother-in-law - what a bargain!), and came home to work on them.  My mother-in-law also loaned me her sewing machine, and so once I figured out how to work it, I carefully measured my fabric, cut and hemmed, and finished two of the nine curtains to hang in our kitchen.

However, I found a flaw in my curtain design - from the outside, the curtains were ugly.  I needed to line them.  So, after calling my mom for advice (just to make sure I was going to do it correctly this time), I went to JoAnn Fabrics again this afternoon to purchase the liner material.

I should know better than to go to a craft superstore on a Saturday afternoon when the weather is cold, the fall decorations are on sale, and the newly-displayed holiday items were severely discounted already.  JoAnn Fabrics was a ZOO.  I waited five minutes for a parking spot.  Once I got in the store, maneuvered around the hundreds of patrons and found the right material (which took all of two minutes - sadly, I know this JoAnn Fabrics layout like I know the back of my hand), I got in line to have it cut.  Which took about 20 minutes.  There I stood, with other soccer-mom-types with the total mom jeans on, with babies and kids (I'm sure as equally enthused as I used to be as a kid) who were more than ready to get out of the store.  The moms' faces gave everything away - exhausted and HIGHLY annoyed that they were waiting in this long line.  The difference between today's wait in line and when I was a kid was that half the moms were on their cell phones bitching to their husband/sister/kid waiting to be picked up that the line at JoAnn's was going nowhere fast.  My favorite part was when a gentleman (with two young children) went right up to the cutting counter to get his material cut, not noticing that there was a long line of estrogen-filled women waiting not-so-patiently to have theirs cut as well.  The woman in front of me quickly snapped, "You have to wait to get that cut, you know.  And the line is long, and the end is over there (motioning to the end)".  He put the fabric back on the shelf and left. (I suppose I have Mom to thank for knowing correct fabric store etiquette.  I would not have wanted to be on the receiving end of that lashing.)

The ladies cutting the fabric were equally unhappy today, frazzled and tired and complaining of a lack of break time.  The woman who cut my fabric asked me seven times how many yards I needed.  I smiled and answered every time, hoping that I could help to make her job a little easier by not as a crabby as everyone else in the store was.  I got my five yards (that were 50% off - total score!) and headed for the check-out.

The check-out line was about twice as long as the fabric cutting line.  I kept entertained, however, by watching people walk up to check-out, notice the line, sigh loudly, and get in.  My favorite here was one guy who was there with his wife, who commented, "We had to wait in that long line to get the damn fabric cut, and now we have to wait in this one to check out?"  I'm sure that will be his last trip to JoAnn's.  Thankfully, all of the registers were open, and I got through the check-out fairly quickly.  I got back in the car, waited patiently to get out of the parking lot, and headed home.  The whole adventure took over an hour to get five yards of fabric.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I'm genuinely excited to make the rest of the curtains.  There's something fun about making something from scratch, without a pattern, to improve the look of your house.  And while I'm sure it will take me quite a while (and a little swearing) to get the curtains right, I'm confident they'll look great when I'm done.  So, thanks, Mom, for putting up with me when I just DID NOT want to be in the fabric store, and giving me the knowledge to make something on my own.  

But I'll never go back to JoAnn's on a Saturday.  The less I'm around crabby moms who are hungry for a discount, the better.