The $64 Lesson

Last night my friend Sara and I went out to dinner, and afterwards, we went to Jo-Ann (fabric and craft store) to look around. The first thing I saw was this really pretty, colorful sundress fabric that I had seen last time I was in. It would be super-easy to make a sundress out of this because one edge of it was what I think you called 'smocked' (?), so you just hem the other end and sew a seam up the middle. I had resisted it last time, but this time I decided I would make one using each fabric--one for Sara and one for myself. Pretty huh?

We had to wait a while for the fabric counter to be available, so in the meantime we looked at yarn, fabric that might work for a (Sara's) wedding veil, and rhinestones. When my number came up, we scurried back to the counter (visibly displeasing the lady whose number immediately followed mine) and I asked for two yards of each fabric. I purposely asked for more than I needed in case I screw up, which seems highly probable. As the lady made up my ticket, she asked if I had a 'mailer.' I think she meant a coupon that comes in the mail, and she seemed distressed when I told her that I didn't. When she handed the ticket to me, she said, "Please don't shoot me." I thanked her, and as I glanced at the ticket, the "$32" jumped out at me. It was more than I thought, but not too bad. I took the fabric as well as a spool of matching thread to the checkout counter.

Once my items were rung up at the checkout counter, the little display showed that I owed $72! I was so shocked that I asked the girl to check the ticket again, and she showed me that EACH fabric was $32, not $32 for both! That's a total of $64 just on the fabric to make two very simple sundresses! I was a bit blown away, but I bought it all anyway because it was completely my fault for not even looking at the price of the fabric in the first place. An expensive lesson, but now I'll be sure to be more cautious in the future.

Afterwards, we walked next door to Old Navy to look around. Of course, the first thing we see is a rack of fabulous sundresses--much nicer than anything I could make--and they are all $34. Go figure.