Helpless Customers are Helpless.

[notalwaysright]

So this was my last day of six in a row. I get a few off, yay! But my payback was having to deal with the most helpless people in one day I can remember. And I have a high tolerance for this because I understand that not everyone understands how to sew, buy fabric, or read patterns. On a normal day we get a mix of experienced sewers, and newbies. Not today. I was the "all day" person, the 9-5 shift. My only backup from 12:30-5:15 is a sweet older lady who is really slow. I probably help five people to her one. Highlights:

• There was always one person hovering, without a number, with "lots of questions." Their words.
• No one bothered to, you know, find fabric. They wanted me to.
• I heard "is that a yard?" probably 50 times today. Yes, the yardstick is a yard.
• One person tells me they need fabric from up high (our overstock) and then can't remember which one.
• Another one wants me to walk her through threading her machine, when I can't see it.

I know all this sounds like a typical day at the fabric store, but EVERY single person needed TONS of help. By the end of the day I was glassy eyed and vacant. Also, I had to tell like 10 people to get out from behind the cutting table. I would see a customer come behind and I'd ask if I could help them, and they'd reply that they needed to measure something. On a normal day I would offer a measuring tape and tell them that I get in trouble if they are back there. Today I just flat out said "Ma'am this area is for employees only."

I just don't get why people think that we have the time to do everything for them. One lady came up and asked how much to make a shirt. GOD. I direct her to the patterns. She doesn't move an inch and says "just a short sleeved one." I again explain that there are many styles and sizes, and that I was not comfortable guessing. She then buys two yards. Oooookay.

Anyway, I'm going to make a tropical beverage and watch my Korean Dramas until my mind is mush.

[Kim Brody]

Sounds like a heaps stressful day!
I hate it when people ask the same question about 5 times and you say the same answer multiple different ways so they can get it into their thick heads! Good you have a few days off

[XCashier]

I just don't get why people think that we have the time to do everything for them. One lady came up and asked how much to make a shirt. GOD. I direct her to the patterns. She doesn't move an inch and says "just a short sleeved one." I again explain that there are many styles and sizes, and that I was not comfortable guessing. She then buys two yards. Oooookay.

Ugh! The only thing worse than someone who doesn't know is someone who doesn't want to know. There's also the feckless ones who pretend to be oh so helpless in the hopes that you will just give up and do their project for them...then they can crow to their friends how they did it themselves!

To say nothing of the dopes who don't comprehend that if they're making a tablecloth or curtains, they first need to measure the table or the windows to figure out how much fabric they need!

And Halloween is coming up. We're going to have all kinds of novices who don't know which end of the needle to put the thread in, yet they want to make a beautiful, complicated Queen Elizabeth dress or an extra-fancy fursuit...and they've given themselves one day to put it together. "I'll just whip it together, how hard can it be?"

[jedimaster91]

And Halloween is coming up. We're going to have all kinds of novices who don't know which end of the needle to put the thread in, yet they want to make a beautiful, complicated Queen Elizabeth dress or an extra-fancy fursuit...and they've given themselves one day to put it together. "I'll just whip it together, how hard can it be?"

I started this year's Halloween costume last Halloween. Because I cosplay anyway and I know how long it can take, especially if you have to do something like dye fabric (probably will take 2 rounds), run into problems (McCall's patterns suck, y'all), or have to modify a pattern and it takes a bit to get it right (no 5'2" me does not need to carry a 6' sword).

Our cosplay group has sewers of all skill levels too. BFF is amazing, I'm somewhat competent, and the rest cant find the pointy end of the needle. BFF hosts "costume machen" days (we took German in HS) starting late September. I usually do most of my stuff on my own, but I go to costume machen because I like to hang out with my friends and there's always a need for an extra pair of hands and someone who knows how to pin and cut fabric. Last year I went over for some finishing touches I just needed some ideas on and would go fix later. Come to find out, whomever cut out the fabric for Super Complicated Skirt didn't cut pieces on the fold. And then tossed the scraps. And it was a custom dyed fabric. So I spent that evening helping cut out the pieces we could and then it was off to the fabric store for a complementary color to finish it off. I also took someone else's vest home with me to sew together because BFF was dealing with the skirt fiasco. So whenever I feel bad about my (lack of) sewing skills, I remember that story and realize I'm not so bad after all.

[Cecily]

And Halloween is coming up. We're going to have all kinds of novices who don't know which end of the needle to put the thread in, yet they want to make a beautiful, complicated Queen Elizabeth dress or an extra-fancy fursuit...and they've given themselves one day to put it together. "I'll just whip it together, how hard can it be?"

I'm somewhat experienced at sewing and I know that it takes time to make anything. If you're working with finicky fabrics (stretchy, sparkly or furry), time to make the part you want can triple. Even worse when you have to make or modify a pattern.

I'm planning to make a costume for next year, so I give myself about 6 months to make the pattern and the first prototype, 2 months of tweaking, and three months to get to the final product. It won't be a sewing project but I least I have a (hopefully) reasonable idea of the time it will take.

[AccountingDrone]

And Halloween is coming up. We're going to have all kinds of novices who don't know which end of the needle to put the thread in, yet they want to make a beautiful, complicated Queen Elizabeth dress or an extra-fancy fursuit...and they've given themselves one day to put it together. "I'll just whip it together, how hard can it be?"

Hm, I can hand pleat the waistband for an elizabethan of 36 inches around [which last time I made one was my waist size] in about 4 hours - doing an inverted box pleat and tacking it down so when I iron the pleats in they stay neatly. Like this. If I use a sewing machine to hem the bottom, and put the edging on, and sew the panels together in the first place, add another hour to the skirt for a more or less unembellished skirt. If I am working on a bodice for myself using a pattern I have made before, and working with a sewing machine I can whip it off in probably an hour. If I am making a pair of bodys [corset] it takes longer because I need to put the stays in. This would be for a very plain, cotton or linen servant type gown. So between cutting and piecing everything, I can probably turn out a base servant elizabethan gown in 8 hours if I already have a preshrunk fabric. Now if you want fancy, I have made lizzies with several hundred hours to just under a thousand hours of embroidery, beadwork and other embellishments and if you have to ask how much I charge, you can't afford me

[or:]
chemise - plain cotton or linen - 1 hour
bumroll - cotton stuffed with wool - 1 hour
hoops - you like torturing me, don't you! - 2 hours
petticoat - 1 hour
bodys - 2 hours
skirt - 5 hours
bodice - 1 hour
or overdress - 3 hours
collar and cuffs, no blackwork - 8 hours
with blackwork - meanie! 20-30 hours depending
hat - 2 hours
embellishment - $15 per hour for as long as it takes.

So, call it 3 days for a complete set of servant or middle class dress for a woman if you don't have anything yet. I don't do hose or shoes, or gloves. And that is if you can wear my clothing size. If I have to make a pattern for the corset and bodice/overdress, then it can add another 8-10 hours of work and your time for muslin fittings. And material cost, of course.

[XCashier]

(McCall's patterns suck, y'all)

Yes, they do. The instructions are just horrible; you can read and reread them a dozen times and they still won't make sense. I've had the best luck with Simplicity, but even they can get a stinker of a pattern from time to time. Haven't done much with Butterick or any other brands to know what they're like.

Come to find out, whomever cut out the fabric for Super Complicated Skirt didn't cut pieces on the fold. And then tossed the scraps. And it was a custom dyed fabric.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Oh, someone is cruisin' for a bruisin', as my mom would say. Just the very idea of all that work and money going to waste...and it was probably a beautiful fabric, too.

So whenever I feel bad about my (lack of) sewing skills, I remember that story and realize I'm not so bad after all.

That's a good way to look at it. And if you keep working at it, pretty soon you'll be really good.

So, call it 3 days for a complete set of servant or middle class dress for a woman if you don't have anything yet....If I have to make a pattern for the corset and bodice/overdress, then it can add another 8-10 hours of work and your time for muslin fittings. And material cost, of course.

Exactly, and you know what you're doing, with lots of experience. Newbies really don't comprehend how much time and effort goes into sewing a costume or any clothing. I don't want to discourage people from taking it up, but I also hate to see people waste time and money and get all stressed out if it's something they're not cut out for (pun intended). If someone has never, ever sewn before, my advice is to start with something simple, like a pillowcase. That way, if you do a good job, you can take the next step, and if you're hopeless, you won't have lost lots of time or money.

[Catwoman2965]

I can sew a button on, repair a rip in a seam or hem, and my latest project, which was quick and dirty, was putting a makeshift "dart" into armholes of two sleveles dresses. Due to losing weight, they flapped a bit. If you look REALLY close, you can see what I did, but I'm hoping no one looks that closely at my pits, and both are dark colors (black and royal blue) So I think I can get away with that

My clueless customers come in the form of our sale. one item of clothing is a flat price, not marked but rings up as such, and its cheap. the rest of clearance is an ADDITIONAL 60% off markdowns. Everyone and their mother comes up to me "how much is this? "how much, how much?" "What's the price after the discount?"

Really? if you can't at least guestimate, then put it back and leave. My favorites are the ones who come up with an armful, and want you to figure out the price of each. I've started telling them no, but I will be happy to ring them ALL up, do the discount, and then let them know hwo much each item is. But that I am NOT going to stand there with a calculator and figure out the final price on each one.

They don't like it, too bad. Bonus points for all who say, as i'm ringing up "its supposed to be 60% off" Why yes, yes it is, but our system is such that we have to ring, THEN manually do the discount. So FFS give me 2 seconds to do so, and you will see your final price.

[notalwaysright]

Ugh! The only thing worse than someone who doesn't know is someone who doesn't want to know. There's also the feckless ones who pretend to be oh so helpless in the hopes that you will just give up and do their project for them...

And Halloween is coming up. We're going to have all kinds of novices who don't know which end of the needle to put the thread in, yet they want to make a beautiful, complicated Queen Elizabeth dress or an extra-fancy fursuit...and they've given themselves one day to put it together. "I'll just whip it together, how hard can it be?"

Those people are out of luck with me. I am not their personal shopper, or seamstress or whatever. I'll help to a certain extent, and if that's not good enough I recommend sewing classes at several local shops. Our store doesn't offer them.

And you forgot one major Halloween issue... Price! They want that Elizabethan gown to not only take one day, but cost less than $20! There are so many reasons why that specific holiday gets to me. This year EVERYONE is going to want to be a certain popular Disney character. And I have the worst time with it because I didn't care for it. It wouldn't be so bad, it's just that I have to hear about it multiple times per day. And they want to make the dress, and it's expensive and the pattern instructions are weird, and they want ME to tell them if the color fabric they picked is right.

[XCashier]

This year EVERYONE is going to want to be a certain popular Disney character.... And they want to make the dress, and it's expensive and the pattern instructions are weird, and they want ME to tell them if the color fabric they picked is right.

Ohhh, yes. The first year I worked at the fabric store, Where The Wild Things Are was the big film and everyone wanted to make Max's costume. No patterns, but we sold tons of fake fur. Nobody knew what they were doing, of course. One gal with no sewing experience bought two yards of fake fur and thought she could make an adult-sized Max costume. When I asked her if she had a pattern, she said, "I'll just whip it together. How hard can it be?" (Yes, that was the first, though not the last, time I heard that silly phrase!) How much do you want to bet that fake fur is sitting on the floor of her closet, gathering dust?

Two years ago, it was Brave, two years before, Tangled. Those, at least, had patterns (and we sold tons of blue-green crushed panne for the Merida costume!).

[Mondestrucken]

I had a part time job one year at Joann's as a cutter. My favorite was the woman who called on a Sunday evening, 10 minutes before closing. She needed 10 yards of black and white striped upholstery fabric, and where was our store anyway?

I asked where she was, and she was a good 30 minutes away. I am trying to explain that she will never make it before we close. "I'm driving 60 miles an hour!" she screams (speed limit is 45), "and I kinda just went through a red light!"

I tried logic. "Even if you make it here before we lock the doors (which you won't), you still have to pick out the fabric and have it measured and cut, and then cash out."

Logic failed: "Okay! You go and pick out the fabric for me. I need 10 yards of black and white striped upholstery fabric! Have it by the cash register so I can just run in and pay!"

Me: "We don't have black and white striped upholstery fabric."

Crazy: "Any black and white upholstery fabric. Just cut it out."

Now, upholstery fabric is one of the more expensive fabrics in most stores. The cheapest we had at the time was $9.99 per yard. Most was closer to $20 a yard. Crazy doesn't care what this stuff looks like. She is going to trust some stranger on the phone.

Riiiiigggghhhhhhtttttt. I am not cutting anything and potentially cause loss for the store for some woman who is probably killing innocent people in the roadway even as we speak.

I told her No. She wasn't going to make it. She would have to come back some other day.

Fifteen minutes after the doors are locked, and she is pounding on the door. When the assistant manager refused to let her in, she yelled back that I had promised her that I would let her in. I yelled right back, "No, I did not! I told you that you wouldn't make it and we would not let you in! And I was right on both!"

Things may have changed, but at that time, Joann's hated OT, and so I never got into trouble for it. To this day, I wonder what the emergency need was for black and white upholstery fabric.

[EricKei]

This year EVERYONE is going to want to be a certain popular Disney character.

Makes sense to me. What elegant lady wouldn't want to go out on the town dressed up as Cinderella's evil stepmother?

Oh...wait...Did you mean someone else? Like a really important and critical character from something more recent? I dunno...It seems like an outfit like this would take an awful lot of work to pull off...

[notalwaysright]

Things may have changed, but at that time, Joann's hated OT, and so I never got into trouble for it.

It hasn't. It's gotten worse. Also, at that point the registers might have been pulled, and the system closed, so there wouldn't have been a way to process a transaction.

EricKei: lol! I would love for someone to be making that costume! But it's not. And I really think it's more intense than Brave or Tangled. The mom's will say things like "Have you seen Frozen? Isn't it great? It teaches little girls..." And really want to get into a discussion, which I wouldn't have TIME for regardless of my feelings.

People also tend to make risque costumes, and since I am on the younger side of employees, they expect that I'll think it's funny. "You're going as a giant genitalia (male or female)? Goodie. I'm not laughing because I don't care, not because I'm a prude. Move on."

[Food Lady]

I've never worked in a fabric store, yet I am so irritated at these stories. Look, my mom is an excellent seamstress because she's been doing it for 54 YEARS. What makes people think they can just buy some fur and "whip up" a costume? And if you can't calculate sales prices, how will you calculate inches and yards? I've been sewing off and on for 20 years or so, and even I know my limitations. I *think* about the project and cost first. If I can make a pattern, I do so, but otherwise I buy one.

I don't sew as much as some of the fabric store ladies, but I could work there because I at least know the different kinds of fabrics and what they're suited for, and what kinds of thread work for what, etc. I know what kinds of tools there are and sewing terms. But would I want the job??

[Cecily]

I've never worked in a fabric store, yet I am so irritated at these storie...

Are you me? My mom was also a professionnal seamstress and pattern maker. I learned some through osmosis, took classes and I still know that some things I will not touch or if I go ahead, I know there will be more un-sewing than sewing.

My sister and I were once offered jobs at a fabric store because we knew how to read the pattern enveloppe, what kind of fabric would work well and how much we needed. We didn't take it but it felt nice to be asked.