Quickie Question: What’s the Most Bizarre Reaction You’ve Gotten?
By TwistieI’m a big fan of Project Runway. Not only is it full of interesting design, the runway critiques are often deeply amusing in a train-wrecky sort of way. Once in a while, I even agree with the judges. One of those judges is the above-pictured Michael Kors. His comments are often… colorful to say the least. “She’s a stripper from Dubai” is one of the more interesting observations he’s made. It’s not uncommon for him to announce that something looks as though it’s trailing toilet paper, and he once said an outfit looked like “a molting turkey.”
The funny thing is, if you do your craft in front of people or give your work as gifts, sometime, somewhere, someone will say something that might have popped right out of Michael Kors’ mouth.
I once had someone watch me make lace for several minutes and then announce “If I go to Hell when I die, this is what they’re going to make me do.”
So how about you? What is the wildest, wackiest, most deranged thing anyone has said to you about your craft? I’m simply aching to know!
January 10th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
“I would like to buy that. Is $10 enough?” for a knitted scarf in Kid Silk mohair that took me over 20 hours to knit.
January 10th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
E-mail to me from stranger: “Hi, can you tell me where you get your headbands to make your tiaras?”
Me: “Sure, I get them from XYZ Company.” (Note – XYZ company is a wholesaler, so unless you have a resale license, then no go.)
Stranger: “Oh thanks. I’m with XYZ Ballet Company, and we’re doing ‘The Nutcracker,’ and we’re going to copy your Aurora tiara for the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
Me: “….um…how about I DONATE a tiara, and then you give me credit in the program?”
No response.
January 10th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Wow, guys! Those folks sure had some crust!
January 11th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
I was sitting in a café knitting while waiting for a friend to join me, and a woman walked by and said “Oh, you’re so domestic!”
Uh, if I were “domestic”, wouldn’t I be doing this at home?
January 11th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
A woman inspecting my bobbins, read the one that says “An immaculate house is the sign of a wasted life”. She looked at me and said – “You must have a very dirty house!”
January 12th, 2011 at 12:34 am
In the 80’s in Texas, I was fairly tan with natural brown hair. Brown hair was very unfashionable, so I used a number of lightening products like “Sun-In!” After I reached a certain level of blonde/orange hair, my mother looked at me and said, “You look like a Mexican whore.” Thanks for your support of my teenage angst, Mom!
January 12th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
“Wow, I bet you save a lot of money by knitting your own clothes.” Oh yeah, cuz Red Heart Super Saver feels so good next to the skin. Merino is expensive, people!
January 13th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
@BSAG: Yeah, I’ve gotten that ‘domestic’ thing, too. I giggle to myself because if people knew the lengths I go to avoid housework, they’d never make that mistake again!
@Impkitti: My mind would definitely go there… but I probably wouldn’t say it out loud.
@Devon: Sigh. Parents usually mean well, but they don’t always find the best way to deal.
@Orora: Most people do seem to assume that our materials don’t cost anything. Would that that were true!
January 14th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
@Orora…I used to sew a big percentage of my own clothes because it was infinitely easier to sew for my own body and style than try to dress off the rack and look like my grandmother’s sofa. Time and again I’d get that “You must save so much money!” comment, too, which would apply if I was wearing industrial burlap or unbleached craft muslin held together with buttons made from cheese rind.
Now that’s some stylin’!
January 14th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
@Whitney: Mmm… cheese rind buttons. Yum.
In my experience, people forget to factor in things like sweatshop wages and manufacturer’s bulk discounts on materials and notions when calculating how much sewing your own clothes costs as opposed to buying them. Of course, the manufacturers then have to add in cost of shipment, and the stores do their markup to cover things like: rent, insurance, employee wages, and the losses of shoplifting, but it never does seem to balance out in the consumer’s favor to do their own sewing… in large part because the manufacturers and sellers of cloth and thread are dealing with the same costs of doing business as the department stores, but for a much smaller audience.
I know the only reason having my wedding gown made worked out cheaper than buying one from a salon was that a) I made my own lace and the vendor gave me a discount on the thread because I bought so much in one sitting, b) I managed to find a wholesaler who also sold to the public for the fabric, so I was able to get pure silk for what acetate would have cost, and c) one of my bridesmaids sewed it in exchange for a hundred bucks and a special foot she was going to need for her sewing machine to complete it properly. I did save money, I looked fantastic, and nobody else will ever have a wedding gown quite like it. Win, win, win! But an anomaly.
January 14th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
@Twistie: Sortof the same deal for me on my first wedding, one of the few times I saved a bundle by doing someing gonzo myself. I took advantage of Vogue’s designer patterns, and while I was shopping at that rareity, an independent fabric store, the owner was so moved by the story of my engagement & wedding (he was in the Navy, stationed overseas for three years and pretty much the first time we’d see each other in months would be very shortly before the wedding) that I was upgraded from acetate to silk for 50% off the price of the acetate and all findings were free – including the pattern and thread. What came to over $500.00 was $27.00 and change. The marriage didn’t make it, so I’m extra happy I didn’t blow a big wad on the suit!
As for cheese rind buttons, ask any historic costumer of Rennie-to-Georgian (perhaps a bit later) and a good, hard, dried-out cheese rind stamped out into circles made for cheap, sturdy buttons.
January 17th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
@Whitney: Wow! What a fantastic deal! And especially nice since the marriage didn’t work out.
And yep, I already knew about cheese rind buttons. It’s just the sort of quirky thing I tend to pick up on. I love the history of human dress. You just never know what you’re going to find. One of these days I’ll probably write an article on eighteenth century lace smuggling techniques that will raise both eyebrows and blood pressure. Maybe I’ll save it up for Halloween week.
February 1st, 2011 at 8:11 pm
I do bookbinding and the weirdest (and yet quite nice) comment I’ve ever gotten was, “Wow, that looks like a real book.” Um… as opposed to a fake or imaginary one?