The Confessions of a Fabriholic

It is springtime, nearing the end of the school year, and the beautiful dresses and sharp looking tuxedos are PROMinent in the minds of teenagers and parents.  A few years ago, I saw some beautiful fabric in the fabric store and my immediate thought was, "That would make a beautiful prom dress for a teddy bear."  When I see fabric, I always think in terms of teddy bear clothes.  I used to think about making myself a dress, or my daughter something really pretty, but I found I could buy smaller pieces and many more pieces to make clothes for teddy bears and spend less money than if I were making people clothes.  Thus the foibles of being a fabriholic.  I see a fabric that I like (and there could be hundreds of fabric I like in one trip to the store) and I immediately see it in the form of clothing.  I see it, I like it, I want to BUY it, even just a little.  Just a small strip of fabric keeps me dreaming and imagining all that the fabric could be and how I would feel if I make that imagery become reality.  One problem I have is that I am also practical.  I CANNOT buy every piece of fabric that I love, I CANNOT make something out of every piece of fabric that I love.  Using the fabrics to make teddy bear clothes helps a little because I can buy more of what I like and keep the cost down.  But there is always more that I want to do and reality always falls short of my dreams.  Have you heard the saying, "So much fabric, so little time."?  That is the fabriholic's mantra.  I wish I could say that I made the imagery of the teddy bear prom dress become a reality.  The picture is still in my mind, but more than likely it will stay there.  And maybe that's okay.  I would drive myself crazy if I tried to make everything I thought of.  And, actually, in my business, I don't make too many pieces of clothing anymore.  My seamstress does that and saves me a tremendous amount of time and stress.  Sometimes when I have an idea for a new product or a variation of a current product, I have her make the clothes and then I finish them when I get time.  Frustrating for me sometimes, when I can't produce that new product right away because other duties are higher priority (like filling current orders, taking care of the books, etc.).  But the promise of something new to add to my website keeps me going.

I have just given you a little peak into the life of a fabriholic, tough, isn't it?  Of course it's not tough at all and the frustrations are so miniscule, they don't even count.  And besides, I still have the gift of dreaming, even if it doesn't bring anything to reality.