Shopping Success

Before I tell you my success story first I need to give you some background on the Singapore shopping scene. Singapore is a consumer society. Hard to imagine more shopping than the USA but it's true. This little island is jam packed with shoppers and shopping malls. The island is laid out so that you can stay in your community and find just about everything you need there. There are markets on the ground floors of the HDB's (condos for locals). These are open air and always include a Hawker market. a Hawker market is a basically a food court, usually yummy food, too. Within 10 minutes walking distance we have 2 local markets and one train ride away is a 7 story mall and Civic Center. Our mall is geared more towards locals, I can find most of what I need there except clothing/shoes. So, I ventured out to the downtown area to Tanglin Mall which I've heard referred to as the "Expat Mall". I was searching for Birkenstock sandals. I wandered around the mall to see what stores were there, I found a nice little quilt shop, several nice clothing and shoe stores and then (be still my heart) a store full of ethnic textiles. Most of the textiles were from Indonesia and Cambodia. There were some nice cottons, but as I explored more I found the real goodies locked up in glass cabinets. Silk Batiks - beautiful! There was a wide range of colors and wide degree of intricacy in design. The price of the piece increased according to whether the fabric was on commercial silk or handwoven silk and how intricate the design was. Most of these were shawls or sarongs. There was one piece that took my breath away, it was so beautiful and the design was incredibly detailed, it was a sarong as was priced at $1500 Sing (about $1,050 USD). As I was shopping for shoes I did not have my camera with me, darn it. I was searching for fabric for a simple dress to wear to a gala for the high school so I picked up a simple silk sarong. The piece I got is on commercial "silk satin". I have taken a photo of the piece laid out on my dining room floor and a close up of the border. Hopefully this gives you an idea of the detail in a simple piece. I have minimal sewing tools with me and a cutting board is one of the things I'm missing. I had to take a deep breath before cutting, how much harder can it be to cut up a sarong than a piece of handwoven yardage! I should finish the dress tomorrow - just in time for the gala. Tracy