Happy Moment #3: My Fabric Store

Some folks know that I work a little part-time job at a local fabric store called "Jackman's." There are two stores in our area -- one off Lindbergh in St Louis and one on the other side of the river in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Even though I live in St Louis, I actually work at our Illinois store. I started working there last Fall when I noticed that the folks there were looking for someone to help out in the evenings on the two nights that the store is open late -- Mondays and Thursdays. I also usually work at least one weekend shift and during the summer I pretty much worked full-time. Now that I have been there a year, my usual working hours have settled to either Saturday or Sunday and then either Monday night or Thursday night (no more than 15 hours a week, sometimes less). This fits my teaching schedule perfectly -- not too much time working that it is hard to get my primary work done but enough to provide a little extra money (of which I pretty much spend each and every dime at the store!).

I am sure that other folks who love fabric will agree with me that touching and handling high quality textiles is one of the most pleasantest feelings in the whole world (akin to walking into a used book store for me!). Jackman's is a wee bit more expensive than places like Joann's because we buy the good stuff (in fact, if the quality is not there you won't find it in our store!). We have folks working at our store who are true artists in terms of their amazing quilting abilities. In fact, my shifts at the store are filled with the kind of variety that makes every working moment a learning experience (be it something I learn from a colleague or a customer).

Today was a full day of working at the store. I tend to get up early on Saturday mornings anyway (Stella needs to visit the park, of course!) and then afterwards I made some coffee and caught up on email and the news. I then packed a lunch and left for the store, kissing my sleepy husband who was still in bed. Once I arrived at the store, I counted cash registers and walked around the main floor to see what had been moved or newly added since my last shift on Monday night. Today, though, I brought some chocolate for my co-workers! (we have a little basket we keep behind the desk and I though a little chocolate on a probably busy Saturday would be awesome! And it was!)

I also grabbed a huge stack of recently cut fat quarters to fold during the shift (we have a fat quarter sale coming up soon and have been folding for weeks!). I know some folks might find it boring but I love folding fat quarters (this is about an 18" by 20" of fabric that is a popular size for quilters). The fabric feels wonderful in my fingers!

Before I knew it, the doors were open and we started helping customers!

The day went by pretty quickly (though during lunch I graded some research papers!). We have tons of awesome projects up in the store. This Aurora Boreas Panel is quite popular right now -- it might be hard to see in the picture but we put actual Christmas tree lights in the panel!

I am working on the very same project at home!

It is hard to condense in just a few sentences why I love working at the store. Sure, the employee discount is pretty awesome and probably buy way more fabric that I need. I love learning about sewing with every shift I work and working with customers is a bit like working with students. I want them to feel passionate about sewing and quilting and I hope any interaction I have with a customer is positive. I would be lying if I said that I don't get stressed out at Jackman's because I do (especially on event weekends) but this is one of my happy places for sure and I am delighted that I found a place that makes me as happy as teaching does.

Here are a few last pictures of our store tonight as I was closing up -- if you ever come by, though, the place never looks the same! We are constantly adding new projects and putting up completed quilts. If you have ever been curious about sewing -- and touching awesome fabric -- I hope you will stop by! (we have fantastic classes!)