I did something today that would amaze some and leave others in total and complete disbelief.  I made curtains for my sewing room with flawed fabric!!!!  A while back I purchased two rather large yardages of cream colored taffeta and both of them had some snags and several spots.  I could have finagled a way to avoid almost all of the “deal breakers” but I’m just not that fussy so I pulled one of the pieces out of the bag and measured it.  As fate would have it, that piece was long enough for two panels so I finished the edges on both of them, hems were next and last but not least I finished the rod pockets on both.  I saw a few spots when I was ironing them but once they were hung it was almost as if the spots completely disappeared!  They’re gorgeous, they’re exactly what I wanted and they’re done and not once did I have a melt down at the store when I saw those unimaginable flaws.  I just dealt with it.

I probably shouldn’t pick on the “fussy fart” types I deal with on a regular basis but they do have several very predictable reactions in common.   First they overreact.  “OH MY GOSH!  There’s a spot!!!  This fabric is going to be a blanket for our precious little poop poop and that will just not do!!!  No, No, NO!

Second, once they find out there is no more fabric with navy blue and aqua airplanes, the pregnant daughter tosses a pout in “first time grandma-to-be’s” direction as an indication that she expects another bolt of the same fabric  to magically appear due to the fact that it’s WHAT SHE WANTS!  I usually let them stew for a while and then offer the fabric to them at a discount.  Once they hear they are going to get the navy blue and aqua airplanes at a cheaper price they are ready willing and able to accept the fact that a few of the planes have a bit more “exhaust” than some of the others.  Little poop poop will probably poop on it anyway and life will go on.  I always chuckle when something can go from “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” to “I think we can make this work.” when the price goes down!

There are times the flaws really are unacceptable, even to me and those circumstances are much easier to deal with in my mind as well as at the cutting counter.  It’s the tiniest of the tiny flaws that seem to draw the most attention however.  The spots on the airplane fabric were about the size of the head of a pin!

I’ll bet I sound like the world of retail is finally starting to erode the protective cover that houses my sanity but it really isn’t.  There are days I want to smack people but over time you tend to develop coping strategies that your customers will never know anything about and it’s those strategies that help me to maintain a somewhat civil presence when the “navy blue and aqua airplanes” are crashing all around me!