Obstructionists to my DIY groove

[Gumbi]

Thanks, Ramblinrev.

I asked my wife to buy some ripstop nylon at a fabric store one time. She got to talking with one of the helpers who sold her some polyester canvas, which I ended up turning into a backpack.

I found some 1.1 ounce ripstop nylon at a Walmart one time, but it was only 48" wide... So frustrating!

[MacEntyre]

The major gripe I have is the level of customer service and assumptions that are made based on gender.

Geez, I thought it was just Gastonia, a classic southern textile town. All the help in Mary Jo's (just like JoAnne's) used to work in mills that have all gone offshore.

- MacEntyre

[E.A.Y.]

I believe the staff at JoAnns stores are instructed to ask all customers what they are making - so unless you want to start a long weird conversation - lying like Seuss said:

I just look them in the eye and say "prom dress."

I - with plenty of estrogen - have stopped shopping there as well for everyday sewing supplies (OK, so my version of regular is as weird as the gear-makers', just in a different direction).

Try telling them: I'm working on a copy of a 19th century day dress.
All they hear is "dress". and wonder why you need 11 yards of fabric.
Or a late 15th century arming jacket. "Jacket" and can't figure out why you want wool batting and canvas.

I can't get wool flannel, hair canvas, wool jersey, handkerchief linen, cotton batiste, coutil, silk thread and so on. Sometimes I'll go in there to pick up thread or zippers or pins or machine needles. But that's about it.

[beep]

....and heaven forbid that you should ask for Ventile fabric...

(Still chuckling over the original post)

[KerMegan]

I believe the staff at JoAnns stores are instructed to ask all customers what they are making - so unless you want to start a long weird conversation - lying like Seuss said:





I can't get wool flannel, hair canvas, wool jersey, handkerchief linen, cotton batiste, coutil, silk thread and so on. Sometimes I'll go in there to pick up thread or zippers or pins or machine needles. But that's about it.

I was just at the local JA to get some Gutterman thread- once upon a time ( last year) they did have wool flannel- no Jersey; and yesterday spotted a few spools of 100% silk thread as a section of the Gutterman's thread rack- not many colors, but definately there!
Good luck on the quest! KM

[MacEntyre]

- with plenty of estrogen -
I'm working on a copy of a 19th century day dress...
Or a late 15th century arming jacket...
...wool flannel, hair canvas, wool jersey, handkerchief linen, cotton batiste, coutil, silk thread...

Do you make historical garments for museums?

I've always wondered what "broadcloth" was...

- MacEntyre

[Ramblinrev]

Broadcloth was so named because it was woven on a broad loom. We would refer to it as oxford most likely. Standard ordinary clothes, linens fabric.

We have enough re-enactors and Society for Creative Anachronism folks that people can get used to some of those terms.

[Coffee]

Well put. I haven't been in Jo Ann Fabrics in a while. I have a lot of walmart fabric stashed away. I only go in there for notions, thread, or supplies. I get the same looks until we start talking. I think they get impressed when there is any man in there looking at stuff to sew. Even more so if we know what we are talking about.

Doesn't help when I don't listen to what they have to tell me. They are talking from what they know and not what we are looking to do.

Like Pan said. Ed Speer, OWR, thru-hiker, or other sites are great. I ordered from the ones listed and they are always dead on what they say it is.

Wondering of it is worth my life to admit I worked (during college) at a fabric store...

Male customers were of three classes-
"I'm just waiting for her" -vast majority
"My wife sent me for (X)" -infrequent.
and (vanishingly few) "I need some (xyz) to make (noun)"
do not be surprised if the young things working there do not know how to respond to this; ask for a senior associate or co-worker who has been there a while.
also I have found that even the sewing specialty stores cater primarially to quilters and moms sewing clothing. Just a fact of (fabric) life.

best advice so far - state what you need and ask it they have any.
NB.-fabric is not generally graded by weight at the consumer retail level; other than sheer, light weight , top/bottom weight and heavy.
if you need light weight ripstop or nylon ask for 'kite' or 'flag' fabric.
if they have Guttermans or Metrosene thread there will be a rack over with the other thread. if they do not have them, you are probably out of luck on the nylon fabric also.
Hope this helps! KM

[beep]

I've always wondered what "broadcloth" was...

- MacEntyre

That prompted me to look it up! From Wikipedia..."Broadcloth is a dense woolen cloth. Modern broadcloth can be composed of cotton, silk, or polyester, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool. The dense weave lends sturdiness to the material.

It was made in several parts of England at the end of the medieval period. The raw material was short staple wool, carded and spun into yarn and then woven on a broad loom to produce cloth 1.75 yards wide it was then fulled, usually in a fulling mill. When fulled, the fibers of the cloth would felt together, resulting in a smooth surface.

The raw material for broadcloth from Worcester was wool from the Welsh border counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire, known as Lemster (i.e. Leominster) wool. That for the West Country came from the Cotswolds. In both cases, the high quality was the result of the comparatively poor pasture, which (probably aided by selective breeding) led the sheep to grow wool with the desired qualities.

English exports of broadcloth reached their highest level in the mid 16th century, after which some regions began producing other kinds of cloth, particularly various new draperies. Difficulties were encountered in export markets in the mid 1610s, partly due to currency difficulties in eastern Europe, and partly to the ill-conceived Cockayne Project. Broadcloth production thus declined in the 17th century."

For some reason (probably reading Napoleonic war novels (Richard Sharpe, Aubrey/Maturin and Hornblower)) with their references to the wool broadcloth naval uniforms, I thought it had a more extended period of dominance into the early 19th Century. So, I learned something!

[MacEntyre]

Broadcloth production thus declined in the 17th century."

For some reason ...I thought it had a more extended period of dominance into the early 19th Century.

The term probably died hard... folks may have called durable fabrics by that name for a lot longer.