Sometimes you just have to ask....

It's that time of year where the credit card gets a good workout and I come in from work every day and ask "Did I get any packages today?" Usually they're gifts for others so it's not super exciting, just nice to know the Post Office hasn't lost them... This week, however, I was eagerly awaiting a package that finally came.

Here's the story. Back in March I ordered a full bolt each of my favorite interfacings--a woven fusible, and a fusible needled fleece. I use both obsessively in my bag-making and highly recommend them. However, for the past months I've noticed something. The fleece wasn't adhering properly, and often left my bags with a slightly rumply look, no matter how I ironed and ironed. Since I sell to a fairly small circle of people, none of who are as ridiculously detail-oriented and anal-retentive as I am, they haven't noticed. It's especially nice that most of the bags have pleats and outside pockets and all that jazz that help conceal the rumple. But I can't begin to tell you how it irked me.

I tried everything. I followed the directions, I didn't follow them, I did a hot iron with and without steam, a medium iron with and without steam, a press cloth, no press cloth, and a bunch of other "brilliant" ideas, none of which led me to success. And then, just before Thanksgiving, I was giving a good clean-out to my sewing corner. I keep an interfacing scrap bag so I can use little bits to reinforce snaps or use in small projects so I can keep my yardage intact. When I was tidying that up I noticed that the fleece I had from previous batches was very rough with adhesive, whereas my bolt was pretty smooth. After months of head-scratching it finally hit me that there wasn't enough glue! Lest you think I'm slow on the uptake...well, I am. I have no excuse for why I wouldn't think of that sooner.

I wrote to the company and told them, explaining I was going to keep using their products and I didn't want anything but for them to know about this issue. They not only offered to replace what I had used from my original bolt, but they sent me a label to return my remaining yards to them for analysis. I am more than pleased with this--I wasn't expecting or seeking anything, it was essentially a humble request to put more glue on the fleece so my future purchases would be nice and sticky. I even tried to explain to the girl that it didn't sound like a fair trade since I had bought it so long ago, and how stupid am I for not noticing, and I used such and such an amount, and blah blah blah. But she persisted and my big package arrived. Of course I had to tear into it to see what it felt like, and THIS batch feels nice and rough with adhesive. I can't wait to use it.

Sometimes you just have to speak up. You never know what the world will toss your way :)

I'm going to toss a post on my favorite interfacings your way, just in case you have a New Year's res to start sewing bags and want the nitty gritty.

And if you're wondering about the very random autumn pics--I took them on Thanksgiving when the light was just perfect, and then promptly forgot about them. I thought they were too pretty to keep to myself, so I stuck them in a nice, boring customer service/not enough glue post. You're welcome :)