7 April 2004
Cheap Thrills
I'm sure glad that not many folks read my blog! It would suck if everyone knew about Darlene's Fabrics in the Mission. Darlene's is a vulgar mess of random fabrics spilling out of bins in a grungy neighborhood. Rooting around like aardvarks are the local señoras and miscellaneous young do-it-yourself fashionistas. Much of it is cheap crap, but there are always several dozen absolute gems—none of them more than $4/yard. Last weekend, the owner finally took me aside and explained why: Textile and clothing designers unload their extras and samples here, where they're resold for pennies on the dollar. This outfit cost me about $10 in materials, plus about four hours of my time.