Thanks, Akrogirl. I am a rug maker too, and I also use a lot of strips in quilting. If this is quality made and would hold up well, I'd pay $80 for it in a heartbeat. It takes a lot of, lot of strips to make braided rugs, and I also make my own bias with cones, and could justify it. I wish it cut just a bit wider. 3.5 inch would be super.

There are many problems. Retail stores have long hired relied on part-time help. Thirty years ago, that worked better. Our local mall hired a lot of high school kids and Airmen's wives. Gas was under a buck a gallon. A Filet-O-Fish and a shake came in under a dollar, too. Many women didn't *have* to work, and worked because they wanted to, and if the job didn't work out, it wasn't a huge deal. Now, if someone is working, it's likely she needs the money. Many retail jobs are seasonal, so people quit when something better comes up. Or they find something in the off-season that isn't seasonal. Or they find that a seasonal job plus collecting unemployment in the off-season is more lucrative than looking for (and traveling to) another job. Gas is near four dollars a gallon, so if you're not scheduled for a full shift, you may feel as if some money is wasted. All this makes it hard to find good help these days. The managers are under the gun to make plan and come in under payroll- so the minimum number of people are scheduled. The problem isn't the the size of the cutting area, it's that there aren't enough people scheduled. Additionally, the number of people who still sew is rather small. Few people will apply for a job in a fabric store knowing nothing about sewing and crafts - and if they get hired, aren't going to be knowledgeable for a while. And to be honest, the work ethic isn't what it used to be, either. The managers are hiring the best people who walk through the door. Who did you contact in the head office? And does McCalls know of Joann's policy? Last time I felt strongly about something, I looked up the name of the president of the corporation, and sent the letter to him, by name. Personnel changes were made in five weeks.

Shady lady, My T&S is old!!! 1964, doesn't have the 4 step method that Mother's 70's model T&S has, and I have one of those buttonhole attachments, but I've looked everywhere and can't find the dang thing. I'll find it one day when I least expect it. AJ, The flannel we're talking about is 100% cotton and is probably what you're use to seeing in gowns. Most of us make PJ bottoms, baby blankets and baby wash cloths out of it. There are no Joann's left in AL. The closed all of them after they came into the state in the 90's and bought alot of other stores. They bought a family owned chain and the Cloth World stores. They closed the last stores here (Alabama) 2 years ago. It was no longer in the best part of town and was a wreck everytime I was in there. The store that we go to in Georgia is nice and clean. I've emailed them about our area, we're the largest town between Atlanta, GA and Birmingham, AL and are getting an outdoor mall with target, hobby lobby, etc and all the Joann's folks will say is "we're looking at expanding". I offered to email them a pic of hancock's parking lot on a non sale week day so they could see how busy they stay. Susan

Also concerning the WIKI Free Pattern Downloads I have only presented excerpts from a very long article by vavoomvintage.net---I would recommend going to this site and reading fully what she has to say. So here are the snippets. "Let's talk about what the Vintage Sewing Patterns Wikia is and isn't. Even though you can't download 83,500 patterns from it (bummer, right?!), how you can use it and even get patterns from it...because it really is a cool thing! The Vintage Sewing Patterns Wikia is a collaborative effort from sewing pattern collectors over the globe to categorize and document patterns that are 25 years and older. They upload images of the covers and descriptions. Each entry has spots for blog posts reviewing the patterns so you can see what they look like when sewn and if the person who made it has any tips for you as you navigate sewing the garment. Some entries also have links to purchase the original paper patterns from various sellers online. The people who have contributed their time, knowledge and effort to this project are amazing! It is not a source to download a massive collection of vintage sewing patterns. Someone wrote an article with a very misleading headline and it has spread like wildfire all over social media. Many patterns are still under copyright (I'm looking at you, Vogue) and scanning/remastering these delicate paper patterns for the general public would be an unbelievably big undertaking. Sorry, you can't download the patterns. There's just photos of the pattern covers." Seems to be factual because I went to the WIKI site and there was nothing to download. Just look at. But it at least has pix right??? lol Thank goodness for google!!!! Rosie