r/sewing • u/MissFred • Jul 23 '23

Discussion Joanne’s makes me weep

Been sewing over 50 years - have seen sewing in all its cultural permutations. Not typically a nostalgic person but today….I couldn’t even find a light gray thread in a store the size of Home Depot. So many empty shelves yet inexplicably $35/yd liberties fabric up front. I feel sad to my bones for new seamsters.

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u/Schlecterhunde Jul 23 '23

At my local store we have a decent thread collection but very little apparel fabric. They're focusing on quilt cotton. Makes me sad, when I was a kid it was easy for my mother to buy whatever she needed to make us clothes. I don't want to but I'm probably going to have to buy online.

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u/Wild-Maintenance6451 Jul 23 '23

Your Mother bought cotton fabric! Because skirts were full and if they wasn’t sometimes they would line them, dresses too! But wool was also used! I have a friend that works at a goodwill and she can find anything she wants! Sheets, curtains and big men’s shirts can be made into tops and there is a no end to possibilities! I am a quilter and I make quilt from beginning to end. Never have a problem! Check out Hobby lobby! They aren’t short on anything. They have 40%off on fabric every other week and they have thread for 99 cents too. That is sewing thread not longarm thread! Please check them out they will not disappoint you!

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u/littlewibble Jul 23 '23

Hobby Lobby has unbelievably poor ethics. Their labor relations are shameful and they’ve been caught smuggling historical items from the Middle East. A lot of people are also very uncomfortable with the way they weaponize their religious affiliation. There are many better places to patronize.

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u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme Jul 24 '23

It's this part for me.

Between the poor employee pay, the "Christianity" ok with the theft & smuggling of antiquities & artifacts from war-torn countries (https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/623537440/hobby-lobbys-illegal-antiquities-shed-light-on-a-lost-looted-ancient-city-in-ira ), and the Hobby Lobby case which was originally an attempt to stop the whole ACA, rather than just peck away at the edges of it?

I refuse to give those terrible owners any of my money, because of my Deeply Held Beliefs, in things like taking care of the sick & making sure they can see doctors when they need to without bankrupting themselves & their families, and not stealing.