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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
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Of all the stores closing in my lifetime Joann’s makes feel the worst. I almost cried. I shop there once a month for my hobby. I love feeling and seeing the fabrics. Now it’s gone. Torn to shreds by shoppers at 30% discount when they gave out 25% coupons weekly. Now I have to shop online for fabrics or check out thrift store which is going to be a huge pain. Worst of it is the stupid sewing machines are not going on sale.
I loved raiding the clearance sections. Clearance sections at craft stores are like letting the universe be part of the art makes it fun. It was fun to buy a random off cut of fake fur - and then figure out what to do with it.
Thrift stores are kinda similar. You give up a lot of control of the process for a kind of Jackson Pollock vibe. They are sooo slept on as a source of fabric and yarn (although Goodwill lately has been getting dear on the yarn - like I’m not paying $8 for a couple skeins of random Red Heart). You can get bulk t-shirts, no one really wants that 3XXL church fundraiser/rush shirts/blood donation/etc etc - which can be cut/dyed/resewn/stretched into yarn.
Sometimes you will also strike gold, and never have to worry again. I grabbed a random tote from a Goodwill in Fuckass, Arkansas which had enough cheesy grandma cross stitch projects to last me until the heat death of the universe and an entire fucking bolt of sparkly blue tulle with more square footage than my apartment for less than $15.
It is the kind of thing where you have to enjoy the hunt, and not have an outcome in mind. I guess it’s a lot more time, which is what losing Joann’s/the decline of local hobby shops in general represents.
Dollar Tree oddly often has a lot of fat quarters. Obviously lower quality and only good for small projects, but sometimes winners.
It does really really suck. I will only go into a Hobby Lobby if I can atone with some light vandalism - and even then feels wrong. (It’s like walking into the Stepford Wives - idk like the oxygen composition is different). Michael’s is nice but fabric is not great, yarn is like 60-70% based on the store. (And no MASSIVE GREEN WALL OF YARN 😭😭😭)
Maybe once the economy crashes we can all start our own small fabric stores.
It’s not the same, but I’ve been having fun with spoonflower.com. Thousands of independent designers with hundreds of prints each, available to be printed on any of their 20ish fabric types . You can order a box of fabric samples to see what each type feels like and how the ink looks on each one.
But chatting with the crafty ladies in line, getting all nosey with my shopping basket is irreplaceable 😭
Thanks mate. I’ll miss the staff. They were always good to me.
Honestly, my local Joann’s staff remembered me and always asked about my last project and how the recipient liked it. “Did your dad like his new tie?” “Did your uncle like the model boat?” legit some of the nicest people.
There’s a legit fabric store near me, like where designers get fabric, and it’s way more expensive, but the quality is better and the variety is unmatched, but I really don’t need all that. There’s also a sewing/quilting specialty store near me that’s independently owned and operated. Far less variety of fabrics, but more variety of patterns. Depending on what you went to Joann’s for, it’s possible there’s an alternative near you, though honestly I still preferred Joann’s to the two above alternatives. Just letting you know that sometimes there are other local options where the staff is equally helpful.
Not sure where I live. I heard local news people complaining “now there is no place to get yarn anymore”.
I do know of a place like you described but that’s 3 hrs drive + 2 trains. Sigh. Not worth the effort for my hack job. Guess it’s online disaster here we go.
Ugh. Sorry to hear that. I’m lucky enough to live near several big cities so I have a lot of options.
For what it’s worth, I’ve ordered fabric from spoonflower and it’s been great so far. I also get a lot of scrap/unique fabrics from small Etsy sellers, and 99 times out of 100 it’s perfect. Every once in a while the fabric has clearly been in a smokers house for a long time or terribly taken care of, but generally people do a great job of picking fabrics that go together and they package them nicely. Full disclosure my spoonflower purchases are all through their Etsy store because I don’t wanna make a whole new account for their site, but I imagine it’s the same experience regardless.
Oh good to know never even heard of it as an option.
I think we all know what he’s planning…
That thing traumatized me as a young child lol
Mandatory xkcd:
For me, it was the spider in Mountain King… Actually all of Mountain King.
Friend’s Cousin: I believe in ghosts and my siblings and I saw many growing up.
Friend: Yeah, so, we had a prankster uncle who liked to terrorise us. Everyone knows this now, but the damage was already done
It keeps ticket prices down on the fresh powder!
