In Search of Thread

Who'd have thought that regular ol' sewing thread would be difficult to find? Especially in twin cities that also have a university with 50,000 students on campus?

I didn't, but boy howdy, it WAS. There are several places in town that carry sewing supplies, so I didn't anticipate any problems. (Insert derisive laughter here. Was I WRONG.)

1) Close to me is a Walmart. I didn't even go there. The last time I looked for thread at Walmart, they only had knock-off varieties. I'd bought one spool, it kept breaking while I sewed, and I ended up throwing it out.

2) The quilting shop in town? Not a place I where I will shop. They lost my embroidery machine while repairing it, stopped answering my calls about it, and it was missing for three months before I finally just showed up, said I wanted my machine back, and that I wasn't leaving until they found it. And, when they finally found it, it still had not been repaired. Grrr!

The place has new owners so I was willing to give it a try. But, to my dismay, the new owner had crammed that place so full of sewing machines and things on display, I could not walk around with my walker. Another customer was also on a walker and having the same problem. (Even people who were walking were struggling, too.) 

I asked if she had thread, and she pointed to a small wall display behind those machines blocking the aisles. I said I couldn't get back there, showed her the spool that I'd brought with me, and she wound her way over and back and handed me a spool of thread. $14?? For a spool of thread?

"It's Italian," she responded. And when asked if she carried Coats & Clark or other thread (that isn't $14 a spool), she replied, "Oh, I would never carry THAT."

Okay, then! Looks like between the inability to walk through the store and the high-cost thread, I was not coming back there again!

3) Hobby Lobby has a large sewing section in my town and while I don't buy my fabrics there, I do get notions and other sewing supplies there occasionally. Sadly (and I asked to be sure), they only carry their own brand of thread, Sewology.

Which I'd discovered while teaching Lukie to sew would break easily; a small tug and the thread snapped. I will not use Sewology thread when I sew.

4) At this point, I was thinking I'd have to go out of town to find thread, but then I remembered that Michaels had bought JoAnn's merchandise. Maybe there?

And there it was. A small display compared to the one Joann's had had, but it had the two colors (and the brand) I was looking for. I about hugged the girl who checked me out! 

I lost a couple hours of sewing time, but now I know where at least one source of thread is if I need some in a pinch. There is also a quilt shop in Rossville, a small town about 15 miles away, and when I get a moment, I will drive out there and see if they carry thread (that's not $14 a spool, too!)

I'm now back to work!