Fabric Stores

There are a couple fabric stores here in town that I've visited. SISMO, near the Government Enclave on Nelson Mandela Ave., is supposedly a bit pricier than the other store that is near the Craft Market on Nakedi St.

I am no seamstress, but I LOVE all of the fabrics! I wish I were more creative and could do something with this stuff, it's great!

This stuff looks like it's for a sari? There is a large Indian population here.

This fabric reminds me of Hawaii!

This stuff looks like it's for ugly '80s style dress shirts?

I went to SISMO most recently with Nanny in tow to get her measurements and for her to pick out fabric for a tailor to make her some uniforms. I think it is a point of pride for domestic help to have proper uniforms with matching aprons, I certainly didn't insist on it. I can also see how it isn't fair for her to ruin her own clothes working in my house.

I saw the ladies below and with them in the background, pretended to take a picture of nanny, who laughed as she realized what I was doing. I asked her if these ladies were from Botswana, and she said no, she could tell by the way they were dressed and the way they talked that they were from Zambia. Interesting!

Another interesting thing was overhearing the way these ladies spoke to the employee who was helping them. They were joking in this deadpan way that I wouldn't necessarily have picked up on. The employee said, "just a second, I will help you" as she finished up with us. The younger Zambian said flatly, "no, you are not helping me. You are making me wait." The employee laughed and said, "I will help you Mma, do not worry" to which the Zambian replied, "You will not help me, you will help everyone else but me, you will make me wait." and they both laughed. It was a funny interchange once I realized it was a little banter between them.

At the "other" fabric store on Nakedi (isn't that a funny street name?), I was stopped in my tracks by these sewing machines. I was on my out of the store on my lunch break so I didn't ask why they were all sitting there in an array on a table, but I think they might be for sale! They had at least five of them. Are they authentic? They had tags on them that looked old and said Singer. The tags were actually cool, vintage looking, I should have taken a picture. I will go back some time and ask what the deal is, they look so cool!