Sunday Stash #266 – Stealing Liberties

There’s a whole bunch of fabric love going on in the studio at the moment! I piled up all the new-to-me fabrics that are waiting for their day in the Sunday Stash with Molli Sparkles spotlight and it measures over two feet tall. At least I know I’ll have plenty of options when I start to sew my latest projects. It’s got to the point that I can’t quite remember the chronological order of my purchases, so I’m just starting at the top of the pile and I’ll work my way down.

So to start us off are these amazing Liberty of London prints that I picked up at The Fabric Store in Dunedin, New Zealand. As I was walking down the street with Mr. Sparkles in tow, I did not expect to see a fabric shop. But there it was like a beacon: a sign than flashed The Fabric Store! It doesn’t get much more descriptive than that! Upon walking in, most of what I saw was apparel fabrics; I thought I was safe. And then. Then I saw a sign that read: “All Liberty fabrics 30% off.” What.

Surely, that was not right? What was this magical place that was testing my will power (of which we all know I have none)? I walked straight up to the cutting counter: “So let me get this straight. You are standing here right in front of me and telling me that all of your Liberty fabrics are 30% off? And do you have any tana lawns?” The lovely young Dunedinese (is that what people from Dunedin are called?) woman slyly smiled, “Yes, it just started today. And yes, there’s a whole wall of them right over there, with some others around the corner.” Holy Lourdes.

I then checked the price of the tana lawns, expecting the worse. You know, inflate the price, so it can be marked down to normal levels during the sales. Oldest trick in the fabric book, right? Another draw dropping moment, as the tana lawns were all marked $38 New Zealand dollars per metre. (This equates to $36 AUD, and $26 USD). I quickly started doing math calculations in my head to determine that 30% off of that would be $26.60 NZD / $25.20 AUD / $17.90 USD per metre. What-the-actual-what-what?! This was about half-price of what I would pay in Australia.

I pointedly looked at Mr. Sparkles: “I’m gonna be a while.” He was a bit unimpressed with this–after fourteen years together I can read him like a Kona card. But this was a fabric pot of gold situation! There really was no other option but to shop hard. I gave him my phone to keep him entertained, and went about pulling bolt after bolt (after bolt) off the shelf.

I started by trying to show some restraint. “I’ll only get five 20cm cuts. That will be an even metre … yadda, yadda, yadda.” That line of thinking lasted for about five minutes until I had 16 bolts lined up. I heard a faint voice behind me, “Are you really getting all of those?” Even though I was dehydrated, feeling faint, and my fingers were nearly bleeding from all that bolt-pulling, I yelled an emphatic “YES” over my shoulder and through the store. I couldn’t spend a minute even turning around!

The majority of the fabrics I chose were based on their high saturation levels and minimisation of traditional florals. I like the bold geometrics and campy novelty designs. As I lumbered all sixteen bolts up to the cutting counter, the same Dunedinese lady chuckled at me with positive intent. “You’re gonna be busy.” As I explained that I was a quilt maker, and I had never seen Liberty this cheap, she remarked, “Well have you been to our Sydney store?” Dead. There’s a Sydney store? Apparently, it’s been there for two years, and it’s about a twenty minute walk from my house. Off my game for sure.

I ended up requesting 25cms to give myself a bit more wiggle-room, but discovered they only cut in 10cm increments. Oh go on then: 30cms it is. She proceeded to rip the fabric, rather than cut it with scissors. I’m not a fan when they do this with regular cottons, but with the Liberty it holds up to a good rip. But here’s the kicker, y’all. Upon arriving home, and folding all of these beauties up for Sunday Stash, I discovered that she didn’t give me 30cms. She gave me 50cms of each of my fabrics! I checked my receipt and I received the already cheaper amount, less another 30%, and paid for 30cms while receiving 50cms of every single damn one.

I probably used up all of my good fabric karma in this one shop, but I think it was worth it! I’m extremely happy with each of the Liberty of London fabrics I brought home as they really compliment my existing collection. The fact that I got them for a steal is still shocking to me, and hopefully will allow me to be a bit more frivolous with them when creating. Plus, I now know about another nearby fabric store that can give me all the feels!