Fabric Store Fun! *long*

[notalwaysright]

Main Story

You’re in a craft store, in the paint aisle. For some reason you have to put down your purse and possibly your coat. The shelves in the paint aisle have been heavily spilled on and have graffiti. What do you do?

A) Decide to find a counter of some sort to set your things down on.
B) Find a space on a shelf that looks reasonably clean.
C) Throw your stuff down on the shelf closest to you.

Let’s say you chose C. Now you pick your things back up. After a few moments (minutes?) you realize that there was wet paint on that shelf! Oh noes! Now what?

A) You take a second to figure out where most of the paint is, maybe find a bathroom and/or tissues to keep from making things worse.
B) You find an employee and explain the situation calmly.
C) Wait in line for the registers, then throw all your paint stained items on the counter.
D) Become progressively more agitated and demand the store pay for your dry cleaning, while saying that you’re from Province in Country to the North. (Far Away)

C and D, obviously! Yeah, lady got paint on her purse and coat. She then got to the register and got paint on the counter, her coupon, and everything she touched. Because, you know, asking for paper towels would make too much sense. I mean, I get it. The store had wet paint and it sucks that it got on her. That’s assuming she’s being honest about it. A CW was saying that (in food service) it was one of the oldest cons to claim that food got on a person’s clothes to force the restaurant to pay for dry cleaning. So let’s assume that didn’t happen. Why flop around like a fish on land, splashing everything in the immediate vicinity? Oh, right. No brain.

Constant Complaint

Sorry people, if you “need to see” your fabric all laid out, I’m going to secretly be irritated. Yes I know, people are “visual” and just can’t picture how it will look. Here’s the thing. YOU HAVE TO. Okay, if you’re getting a yard or something small like that, you’re fine. I feel like I’m just asking for a lot of comments defending customers who do this so I'm trying to explain. I’m talking about the people who want me to stretch out 5,6,7 yards across the entire cutting table. I’m talking about the people who want me to unfold the entire length of a bolt. (fabric is generally folded in half on the bolt) I’m talking about the people who “need to see” different sizes of 15 different bolts. So instead of actually knowing how much fabric they want, this is the exchange.

SC: Can you show me 3/4 yard? Hmm, what about 7/8? Ummmm, okay just make it a yard.
Me: *cuts fabric, scans* Okay, and how much for this one? *indicating the next bolt*
SC: *ignores me and unfolds the yard to examine the size* Oh, it’s folded. Wow that’s a lot! Hmm. Okay, well I guess I don’t need as much for the next one. Show me a half yard. *stares at it intently* Maybe 1/3 yard. Actually, it’s not very straight, I’ll need it exact.
Me: *cuts, scans* Alright, and for this one?
SC: For this one I just need a little. What's the smallest you cut? An 1/8th? Ohh, hum. That's probably not enough. But a 1/4 is way too much! Oh, you can cut by the inch? Thhhheeeennn I guess 6"? Noooo... 7. Never mind this is silly, just make it a 1/4!

You get the picture. Meanwhile the line builds and builds, and of course we're blamed for not having enough cutters. It's not like I haven't guestimated myself at times! But I go fast, and I certainly don't do it for 15 bolts on a busy day. It's all about having some situational awareness. ETA: Also, I don't want to be hard on new sewers. However, when I was learning to sew at about age 16-17, I still didn't do this. I over-bought, because I was afraid of mistakes. Experienced sewers are just as guilt of this as newbies.

[Shyla]

My mother is an expert sewer. She knows how much she needs. For amateurs, I don't know how looking at it will help.

[Sparklyturtle]

Unbelievable. I'm a relatively experienced sewist, and I tend to overbuy and use the remnants to make totes. As for unfolding the entire thing, that doesn't make sense unless the customer needs 40 yards of something, like to make a bunch of identical dresses or costumes, and needs to see if there's enough on the bolt or if they need another bolt. Otherwise, it's really not necessary. If I have a project in mind and there's not much fabric on the bolt, then I'll ask, but if the bolt is almost full that's not necessary.

[Food Lady]

Why do people need to eyeball it? You read the pattern and get how much it says. oy.

[raudf]

I knew one person who wanted to see the length/width/whatever, because she felt it made her look like she knew what she was doing. Uh, no. You want to look like a professional, know what you want and how much of it you need. And get some overages, because in cloth, scraps can be used for other things, as my quilting granny often said.

[MoonCat]

Geez, even I know that you have to figure out how much you need to complete your project and then you buy a little over that amount in case you make a mistake!!

[Kanalah]

I do the math at home and write up a grocery list for the fabric store. I also take fabrics that I need to match. It's not that hard.

Then again I am using what hubs calls "the little grey cells."

[chimera]

I really don't understand the "inch" people. If expense or waste were such a concern...why not do some homework before you come to the store? If you need to have square edges for your project, you have to figure in extra fabric for squaring up anyway. The way fabric is cut at most big box stores, even a great cutter isn't laser-straight. Tearing fabric is close, but you often need trim off the bit that gets stretched by tearing. Simply put, the fabric isn't going to be project-ready right out of the store. It's a "raw" ingredient that must still be prepared. SCs expect "precooked" crafts. Heat and eat. Glue and go.

People are often amazed by how much fabric is actually needed for a project. I think a lot of the inchers go home and get started only to realize they've only got enough fabric to make a doll dress rather than a person-sized garment.

One of my worst SCs dropped several bolts of satin on the counter and wanted each one completely unwrapped so they could inspect it and choose the least creased/wrinkled section. This end, no that end, can I see x yards? How about y? The whole gamut. Then they reached across the counter, grabbed the fabric between my hands, looked at me and grinned "Let's just streeeeetch it, stretch it!" :-D and tugged the fabric further along. "A gift from you!" they laughed. I was very new and just went with it because I was getting so bewildered and pissed off and just wanted to get the transaction over with so I never had to see them again.

Another peeve I have, especially of late, is when an SC tries to lure me into being their shopping buddy. Like they want me to walk with them down the aisle, introduce each bolt of fabric and be a sounding board on which ones to get. Oh helllll no. I don't give enough ****s for that, and I've already got enough to do. Often I'm the only cutter, so it makes zero sense to allow myself to monopolized by one customer for like half an hour. Mostly I just don't have the patience for it. Do. Your. Own. Damn. Shopping. People! It's when people think they're entitled to/demand this kind of hand holding, I go all black and stormy inside. If they're nice and have a good attitude, I don't mind going the extra mile at all.

That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works. Do you have tablecloths? Curtains? Can anyone make this for me? Nonononononono.

[Seanette]

A tablecloth seems stupid easy to me. Buy large enough piece of fabric. Hem all four sides.

Sheesh, my sewing skills are basic at best and I could handle that.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Obviously these folks are all amateurs... Everybody knows that s/he who dies with the biggest stash* wins.

As for the 'least wrinkled' section - oh good grief. What, you reckon you sew and you don't have an iron?

* why yes, that was me at the Flash'n'Fancy Fabric Shoppe's closing sale, buying bolts of fabric. I'm sure I'll work out something to do with it.

[Sunshine]

I don't sew, but my best friend quilts, my gma sewed and did other handicrafts. This makes my head hurt. A lot.

[KuariKaydrith]

I've referred to myself as a fabric dragon as I tend to end up with a huge hoard of fabric. This was especially the case when I worked at a fabric store because I'd end up buying at least six metres of any fabric that caught my eye. I may not have had a plan for that fabric right off the top, but I always bought it with the idea of using it for 'something'. It helped that I had a 40% discount because I was in management at the time, and even got the discount on already discounted fabrics and sale prices. Not to mention all the bolt ends I would buy - especially quilting cottons or panels.

The sad thing is that when I moved across the country I couldn't bring my hoard with me But I'm starting a new one...sales are a bad, bad thing. Well, not really :P

[workerbee222]

I was employed at the fabric store, but not on duty, when a couple came up with a bolt of fabric and started asking for specific amounts: very specific.

"Okay, can I have two pieces cut to 63 1/2 inches?"

She's told, no, it has to be in eighths of a yard. 63" would be 1 3/4 yards, but you asked for 1/2" more, so 1 7/8 yards. Custy sighed. "Okay." Then it was two pieces 76 inches long. Not yards and eighths, but 76 inches. The cashier is a little irritated at having to do the math for them, (the manager was kind of a dick about taking too long to close a sale) but what could she do?

They kept asking for these odd lengths be cut specifically to the list on her slip of paper, and frustrated at having to buy more on each length. The employee finally asked what they were doing

They'd hired a professional seamstress to make their curtains, **but she refused to cut the fabric** only sew it, so they had to provide her with the exact lengths she'd listed.

[notalwaysright]

As for unfolding the entire thing, that doesn't make sense unless the customer needs 40 yards of something, like to make a bunch of identical dresses or costumes, and needs to see if there's enough on the bolt or if they need another bolt.

Oh, I don't mind measuring a bolt to make sure there's enough fabric for their project. Not really, unless they won't tell me how much they need, which is just annoying. Because they'll be looking for two yards and I'll measure the whole bolt and it comes out to like seven yards. Why not stop me when I get to two yards?? What I was trying describe originally are the people who literally want me to unfold the fabric. As you know, 44" fabric is folded in half on the bolt, so what they are looking at is 22". They want me unfold it so it's the full 44" wide so "they can see it."

Chimera- You're whole reply was spot on! This part especially.

Simply put, the fabric isn't going to be project-ready right out of the store. It's a "raw" ingredient that must still be prepared. SCs expect "precooked" crafts. Heat and eat. Glue and go.

That's exactly true. They don't want to straighten the fabric, or heaven forbid, prewash. They want to be all trendy and DIY, but they don't have the patience or creativity.

LesserSouthernFroglet

As for the 'least wrinkled' section - oh good grief. What, you reckon you sew and you don't have an iron?

Don't even get me started on these people. We're a college town, there are so many dorks who wander in who have absolutely nothing, not a sewing machine or iron. Which is fine, but just tell me that up front and I'll show you the glue aisle. Don't ask how to do a project, let me spend time explaining it, then at the end say "oh, I actually don't have an iron or sewing machine." Once this ultra snobby person was ranting about how the velvet was "damaged." While she went on and on, I got some tape, and fixed the "damage." It was a small amount of lint, which she was demanding that I cut off. I was like, "cut what off?"

[Slave to the Phone]

I do fancy, fussy needlework. Our fabric is priced by the inch and cut on the thread, and our thread is priced by the yard. As Moon Cat mentioned, even with the price of my hobby supplies, I always buy extra in case of a mistake.

When I'm in a regular fabric store for finishing supplies, I don't need to have the fabric unrolled to complete my "vision". That's probably because I already have my "vision" clear in my mind. I might change my mind while looking at fabric, but that just means it takes me longer to get to the cutting tables.