Monday, April 26, 2010

argh! (and, cool!)

The argh! part:
My local Fabricland is closing. Okay, I know it didn't have the best fabrics, but it had some good ones, and it was 2 blocks from my house, so it was easy to pick up thread or a zipper or other necessities when I needed them. (I didn't know they were closing - I must have missed that - I went in Sunday to look for something and found bare walls, and fabrics stacked on tables. I have a week left to clear them out of whatever I can...)
The cool! part:
What I went in to look for was some outdoor solar fabric. I'm making a hammock for the cottage - I had originally thought of weaving a rope one (I had the kit and everything, but weaving it is a HUGE pain, and those rope ones aren't really the most comfortable, and my husband was eying the polypropylene rope, so I decided to make a fabric one.) I needed outdoor solar fabric because well, it's going outdoors and I wanted the fabric that wouldn't break down in sunlight. The rope parts that will attach the spreader bars to the trees are done, and in dark green polypropylene, so I was thinking about a green fabric. Which I found. Green outdoor solar fabric, regular price $22/metre, on sale for $4/metre. There was a 100 odd dollar saving right there! Very cool. However, all the thread and polyester batting I wanted was gone (sent to another store), but patterns were 2 for a $1, so I stocked up on a few. And may go back for more. Unfortunately, there's no rhyme or reason to the pattern sorting, so one really has to just dig through and hope that 1. one finds what one likes, and 2. it's the right size.

Then there was the funny part. The lady at the check out - her greetings and goodbyes to customers obviously have been ingrained for too long. As she checked people out, her parting comment each time was "Come again soon!"

Ummm, to what?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man, that was good!

But too bad about it closing. I have one by the subway station where I do our work errands and it's so handy if I need a quick notion or what not. And they are handy for those quick bead supplies that you need some basics of!

I find Fabricland stores are constantly closing, opening, or moving. Someone in their real estate department is busy.

Brendaknits said...

I've noticed that many Fabriclands are going to home dec stuff lately. And many closing. I guess fewer people sew.

Acorn to Oak said...

Wow! What a great deal! :-)

Sel and Poivre said...

Every time I visit my local Fabricland I wonder if it will be my last - that is will it still be there next time I need it because the site is up for redevelopment. That being said though there is always a line up. I don't think people are sewing less (around here at least) but I think the locations these huge stores often have are more valuable redeveloped into condos perhaps with ground floor retail than as single story retail. Whatever, I hate it when they close!

Saren Johnson said...

Congrats on the savings. Hope you find another store you like as much.

Anonymous said...

Hey, great deals! Congrats!
However, if you want a different type of hammock, try Lee Valley--
They sell a Mayan woven hammock for
about $100 (plus S&H/and tx) but if you can drive to one you'd save the
shipping.
Enjoy!