Tales of the Mundane
May. 11th, 2010 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyrasantae
The cloth pouch I keep my iPod in was getting quite... holey, and I had already replaced the cords a little while ago, so I made a new pouch. 100% hand-stitching and fingernail creasing, heck, using needles as pins. Ow.
Now the mundane story behind this small roll of cloth.
Two days after going to Yläkaupungin yö 2008, I discovered to my horror that a large hole had been worn into the back of my red bag from where it was hanging too close to the wheel while I was riding on Johanna's bicycle. (The intervening day was a Sunday and we didn't do anything so I had taken no notice.)
I had brought needle and thread to Finland with me (so that I could hem up my new cloak and sew badges to my book bag), so all I needed was fabric to mend the hole.
I don't remember who I asked about where to find such a shop, or if I'd asked anyone at all, but after class I went directly to this shop on Kauppakatu (thank you Google Street View!).
P.S. That new/used book shop next door is pretty awesome. New stuff at the front, a huge used section at the (surprisingly deep) back. I saw a couple of new copies of the Nightwish book there. Naturally, I didn't want to touch it. So I didn't. Just sayin'.
I looked around the sewing shop but the only fabric they seemed to carry was upholstery fabric. I asked if they had any fabric remnants and they didn't, so I was referred to another shop farther down the street. "The shop is next to McDonald's." Okay.
As it so happens, "next to McDonald's" means it's in the pedestrian part of the street, so Google Street View hasn't got it. But this is the best picture I could find. You can take my word for it. It really was next to the McDonald's.
Anyway, I had much better luck here. This shop practically sold only fabric of all kinds. The shopkeeper greeted me, but noticing my slightly bewildered look, explained to me in English what was on sale. I looked for something suitable for my bag (cotton or cotton/polyester) with a suitable pattern. I selected the leafy green fabric (it wasn't on sale) and carried the bolt of cloth to the cutting table.
I'd be freaking insane to ask to buy a 10x112cm strip of cloth. All I really needed was maybe a 20x10cm square. In an effort to seem less freaking insane:
— Kakskytviis senttimetriä, I requested. For a moment I was super-duper proud of myself. I said something in Finnish, OMG; I used short forms; OMG, I <3 the partitive case, OMG.
The shopkeeper paused. She measured out the fabric and gestured that I verify that was really how much I wanted before she cut it. When she rang it up on the till...dang, this stuff is really expensive. Four Euros something for a quarter-metre?! (I'll be fair and tell you that fabric is expensive here too. Maybe not that expensive though.)
I've only used this cloth for patching and mending things, until now. It's American-made fabric so it's not special to me in that way...but it's this totally mundane story that makes it special.
Now the mundane story behind this small roll of cloth.
Two days after going to Yläkaupungin yö 2008, I discovered to my horror that a large hole had been worn into the back of my red bag from where it was hanging too close to the wheel while I was riding on Johanna's bicycle. (The intervening day was a Sunday and we didn't do anything so I had taken no notice.) I had brought needle and thread to Finland with me (so that I could hem up my new cloak and sew badges to my book bag), so all I needed was fabric to mend the hole.
I don't remember who I asked about where to find such a shop, or if I'd asked anyone at all, but after class I went directly to this shop on Kauppakatu (thank you Google Street View!).
P.S. That new/used book shop next door is pretty awesome. New stuff at the front, a huge used section at the (surprisingly deep) back. I saw a couple of new copies of the Nightwish book there. Naturally, I didn't want to touch it. So I didn't. Just sayin'.
I looked around the sewing shop but the only fabric they seemed to carry was upholstery fabric. I asked if they had any fabric remnants and they didn't, so I was referred to another shop farther down the street. "The shop is next to McDonald's." Okay.
As it so happens, "next to McDonald's" means it's in the pedestrian part of the street, so Google Street View hasn't got it. But this is the best picture I could find. You can take my word for it. It really was next to the McDonald's.
Anyway, I had much better luck here. This shop practically sold only fabric of all kinds. The shopkeeper greeted me, but noticing my slightly bewildered look, explained to me in English what was on sale. I looked for something suitable for my bag (cotton or cotton/polyester) with a suitable pattern. I selected the leafy green fabric (it wasn't on sale) and carried the bolt of cloth to the cutting table.I'd be freaking insane to ask to buy a 10x112cm strip of cloth. All I really needed was maybe a 20x10cm square. In an effort to seem less freaking insane:
— Kakskytviis senttimetriä, I requested. For a moment I was super-duper proud of myself. I said something in Finnish, OMG; I used short forms; OMG, I <3 the partitive case, OMG.
The shopkeeper paused. She measured out the fabric and gestured that I verify that was really how much I wanted before she cut it. When she rang it up on the till...dang, this stuff is really expensive. Four Euros something for a quarter-metre?! (I'll be fair and tell you that fabric is expensive here too. Maybe not that expensive though.)
I've only used this cloth for patching and mending things, until now. It's American-made fabric so it's not special to me in that way...but it's this totally mundane story that makes it special.
