Crafts
nursecramer
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Speaking of those poor kids in China...
in Crafts
I'm going to China (on FRIDAY!!! EEEK!) and I would like to buy some fabric while I'm there. Last time I was completely overwhelmed by the variety and underwhelmed by my knowledge. Can anyone point me to a blog or other resources about how to buy fabric? I mean, I buy fabric all the time, but remnants and cheap stuff from Joann. I have no idea how to judge quality and discern a fair price when it's not on a labeled bolt.
Re: Speaking of those poor kids in China...
How amazing! I think I'd be lost, too, though- so I'm not much help. I know I've gotten pretty good at feeling poly count in a cotton fabric, and can definitely tell all poly from a natural fiber- but, that doesn't really assist you much. And I doubt they'd take kindly to the burn test.
Enjoy yourself and have fun exploring!
Hm... actually, I've seen merchants flame testing leather products before, so that might not be too off base. I'd hate to try to explain what I wanted in my broken Mandarin, though!
Your broken Mandarin has to be more effective than my hand gestures and impromptu Pictionary games would be.
How long will you be there?
You only need to know one word!
SILK ! I expect you to come back with a suitcase full woman.
On a serious note after fabric shopping wash your hands and arms really well. The chemicals used to process dyes over there will do bad things to your skin. If you touch a bunch of fabric you are bound to get itchy hives.
I can't help much with the quality/price thing.. I wasn't interested in fabric the last time I was in China. I think the best thing you could do would be to keep your own calculator handy for currency conversions so you know what you are spending in $. Also, don't be afraid to haggle aggressively & be ready to walk away b/c they will call you back if they want the sale bad enough.
My in-laws lived in Beijing for the last 2.5 years & my MIL is huge into quilting. She bought very little fabric while she was there because she said most places expected you to buy the WHOLE BOLT & the places she could buy smaller amounts didn't have anything she was interested in. I'm not sure what kind of fabric you are interested in, but ditto pp about silk. I remember buying something like 30-40 silk scarves for like $10. (I was there a long time ago, but many people accepted dollars as payment)
MIL did bring me back ~8billion feet of velcro that she paid about $2 for.. so it might be a good place to stock up on notions.
(there are 2 rolls of each color!)
Have a great time!
Lucky, I didn't think about notions, that's a good idea! I was 20 the last time I went and wasn't really interested in fabric, either. But we're going to be in Hangzhou and that's supposed to be THE place for silk, so we'll see.
adhdfashion, thank you for that tip! I love feeling fabrics, and DS is the same. He rubs them all over his face, and I would feel terrible if he got a rash from it. I'm sure you just saved both of us from lots of itching.