Thursday, April 26, 2007

Wrinkles Aren't Just A Sign Of Aging

As I was putting away two weeks worth of clean clothes this morning, two thoughts came to mind. One, I was glad that they were piled on the spare bed instead of the floor this time and two, how much I hated wrinkles. There is nothing that I detest more than wrinkled clothing or fabric. Yes, I have always been that anal ;o)

Back before the Fibro zapped all of the energy out of me, I used to always iron my clothes before I wore them. Always. Every piece. Okay, not my socks, bra and underwear but you get the picture :o) If my clothes weren't ironed before I wore then, I would feel frumpy and disheveled. Now, I rarely iron my clothes but only because I have found a quicker, less exhaustive way of getting my clothes wrinkle free. Enter the dryer :o)

Clothes aside, I feel the same way about my stitching fabric. I absolutely LOVE when shops keep their fabric as wrinkle free as possible. There used to be a shop in Moncton, that is now closed, and Barb kept her fabrics in such a lovely, organized way. I rarely bought my fabric elsewhere because just looking at those crisp pieces of linen was enough to drive a girl to heaven :o) She even surged around the fabric so that all the ends were nice and neat. Sigh! Barb, I "really" miss you!

I have yet to find a shop that keeps their fabric at this high level of excellence. I've found a few that come close so I guess I will just have to settle for that for now. On the other hand, I have been into shops that have fabric everywhere. And I mean e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e! The scene looks like something out of a horror movie. Instead of bodies lying everywhere, it's fabric. I just cringe when I think of how that lovely fabric is treated :o( Two years ago I finally got to visit one of the "very popular and most talked about" cross stitch store and I was horrified to see their fabric literally dumped into plastic bins. I still can't erase the awful pictures in my head.

I store my fabric in drawers and I try to keep them as wrinkle free as possible. Now unless you have huge drawers, there are always going to be some creases and that's understandable. Before I start a project though, I always iron my fabric. Again, anal I know, but if I'm going to spend days looking at this project, I don't want to be seeing a piece of frumpy material in my hands. LOL! Does anyone do this as well? Does anyone share my anal retentive ways?

At least I can say that I haven't reached the level of sorting my fabric by color. Not yet anyway ;o)

7 comments:

WendyCarole said...

I hate wrinkled fabric and yes I am afraid I store all my fabric by colour. And I iron virtually everything!

Alberta said...

Cathey, I agree with you. How the LNS treat their fabric is an indication of how they treat their customers. In some you are like family, others, they just want to make a sale. I wish you good luck in finding that special place that gives you a warm feeling when you walk in the door.

Jamie said...

Oh goodness - I wish I had this problem. I really should iron more. I think my Nana and mom drove me crazy about not being wrinkled too much so I just stopped caring, I did iron this morning though!!

Shannon said...

I am the exact same way about my stitching fabrc. In fact, unless it's a hand dyed, I rinse it in clear water and stretch it in Qsnaps (if possible) to dry, and then iron it. Zero wrinkles that way.

Gittas in Toronto has 90% of their fabric on the bolts, so they are always wrinkle free. They have some in bins, but very very seldom have I bought a piece there that was wrinkled. But I have been to LNS's that are exactly what you're talking about. It saves me money though - I'm not as enthused about the fabric ! :)

Faith Ann said...

Oh my. This is one obsession that I just do not share with you. My clothes are okay when I take them out of the dryer. I only iron my fabric when I'm done with the project. I find the area that I'm working on is wrinkle free since it's taught in the Q-snaps.

Anonymous said...

Note to self: do NOT show Cathey your fabric stash...

Karen said...

I hate wrinkly fabric as well , I can't even buy clothes that are supposed to be wrinkled I always want to iron them,I iron almost all my clothing before I wear it just not underwear. I keep my fabrics in big boxes I try not to put too much in so the fabric has space.