I went to my favorite fabric store (NO, not TSWLTH) hoping to find some genuine Malden Mills Polar Fleece® to make a throw for DGS who is going to Pacific University in the fall. I wanted black 200 weight, which I will edge with red wooly nylon on the serger, then embroidery the school logo in white and red (I have the design all digitized and ready to go). Well, of course there was no Malden on the racks, just a bunch of faux "Polar" "Winter" "Arctic" "No-Pill" (HA!) cheap substitutes.
I finally asked a clerk if they had any genuine Malden fleece, she looked again where I had just looked, nada. So I asked her if they had any backstock. She went off to look, came back with a bolt of Malden 100 weight, not what I wanted. She offered to go back to see if they had any 200 weight. Came back with a full bolt of black 200 weight Malden PolarFleece®! As she rolled it out to cut 2 yards for me, she discovered a minor flaw, so she rolled the entire bolt off and cut from the other end, giving me a generous 1/4 yard allowance because it was "wrinkled". ;-) (That's nice because DGS is tall.)
To top it off I had a "25% Off Your Entire Purchase" coupon so the two (and a quarter) yards of $14.99/yard fleece came to $22.49! What a deal. I also stocked up on 4 spools of navy thread, two sets of buttons, a couple of zippers, two cones of red wooly nylon, plus a piece of poplin to make a repair to a RTW coat. All for under $44.00!
Beverly, firing up the embroidery machine