A Material Girl

Last weekend, there were two events on Saturday and Sunday was open, so I had some more time to look at fabric and to find out all sorts of interesting things and get interesting results.

Saturday morning was the Orangebelt event at Benedict's Castle, which is a home for Teen Challenge, a great program that assists youth with various problems and issues to get control of their lives and learn life skills that allow them to do well in the world.  I have been there two or three times before.  The food is usually good and the grounds are beautiful.  But it seemed like there were less people there than last year and no one was quite sure why.  Of course with the economy the way that it is, maybe the ticket price was an issue, but that was the same last year and from what I have heard, while the area around Riverside is still very hard hit economically, it is no worse than it was last year according to the locals.  We also wondered if it was because last year was a themed event or whether more entertainment would help boost attendance.  We also talked about maybe inviting the local Lodges and other Masonic Family groups to attend next year because it is an open event, so anyone could be asked to come enjoy fun and fellowship with us.  It will be interesting to see how that all comes out and I can't wait to see what my very clever Dragon Riders come up with for next year.

Saturday evening was the Official Visit in Coachella.  I've been in that hall a couple of times before, especially for Hands Across the Border events with Arizona.  It is a great Chapter room although the lounge and bathroom set up can really confuse you the first time you go in there.  If you go in the door marked Ladies, you don't end up in the room with the fixtures and if you go in the lounge, there is also a door marked Men and then it gets really weird from there.  But the lounge is enormous which is always awesome for people to change clothes before heading home.  The Chapters did a great job with a lovely "heavy appetizer" spread that made for a very nice meal before the OV and road snacks afterwards, which was good because lots of us had two or three hours to drive after the OV to get home or to hotels, etc.

So then on Sunday, it was time to get measured for dresses and get a form put together that I can give to my eventual Grand Officers so that their dresses can be put together.  That all was pretty easy, but then we drove down to the LA textile district to start looking for fabric and that was an adventure.

Now I have to digress from my story for a moment to admit that I have been given the most amazing example of the old saying that no learning is ever wasted.  One of my guilty pleasures (big admission time - please do not think too much less of me) has been watching Project Runway over the past few years.  The episodes are saved on the On Demand function of Comcast cable so I can watch them for free whenever I happen to be home, since there is no way that I could ever watch any show at the same time every week.  Heck, I can't even seem to get home at the same time on any day of any week.  But with the On Demand function, I can watch the episodes in order whenever I am home.  I don't really care for the "drama" part of the show, where the designers talk about all their "stress" and make catty remarks about each other.  But I do enjoy seeing what they come up with and, as I have mentioned earlier, I get to learn that I have no "fashion forward" sense whatsoever, because I often find the winning design to be something unwearable by any woman who has a shape other than "thirteen year old boy with plums in his front shirt pockets."

However, the one thing that I have learned from watching the show over all these years is different fabrics, which is why I knew the difference between embellished net and embroidered organza which I mentioned last week.  So as we went through the shops in LA (we only made it through about a third of them), I at least knew what to ask for and several times that meant that we popped in and then out.  I have also learned to ask "what can you order" and "what do you have in stock" and "how much" meaning yards not price.

So we started out at Joann's, just to get some base line ideas and found a couple of fabrics that could not be gotten in enough quantity, but someone in our group said, well, why don't we just get six to eight yards and we can make you a dress, so the next thing I know, our quick stop to get some base line ideas nets me fabric for two dresses and vest material for two vests for my AGP.  If only I had realized that this was going to be a trend!

So as we go through the shops, rejecting the ten billion embellished net fabrics they have, I find two or three organzas that I like, but no one can provide the needed quantities.  But someone said, well, why don't you get six yards and we can make it up for you, so then I had another bundle.

I also found the most perfect beaded chiffon that I thought would be the perfect session dress material, but after the gentlemen searched their inventory, it turned out they only had eighty yards of it and they couldn't order more because it was last year's fabric, but somehow I ended up with eight yards, because we can use it to make a dress for you.

Somehow, I spent hours trying to find fabric for other people and now I think that I have fabric for four dresses for me but no final selection for what I was looking to buy.  Next week I will be down in LA for a weekday and we will see about searching another third of the textile district to find something that will work, but I fear that I will end up with four more dresses worth for me and zero for what I need.  Sigh!

Next weekend, I am in Yorba Linda, Escondido and Hemet, but will miss the Sunday breakfast.