The Internet

The internet can be a wild and scary place. But it can also be warm, friendly and a shopper’s paradise. I don’t really like to shop. I can, but on most days, I can think of a 1,000 other things I’d rather do. A couple of weeks ago I took a class with Sandra Betzina (more about that later). During the class she fit each participant using her “Today’s Fit” pattern Vogue 8043 (OOP). It’s also supposed to be impossible to find. Vogue has it on their website, but it’s $22 plus shipping. I’ve never spent that much on a pattern in my life and don’t intend to start now. Besides, they didn’t have my size. A search on E-bay proved fruitless. And it wasn’t listed on any of the vintage pattern sites. Hmmm. I changed my search parameters to V 8043. Ah ha, it came up. In my size. But I’d never heard of the vendor before and it was located in Canada. With shipping it’s $16. That’s more than I’d rather spend but I really want the pattern. But suppose it’s a gyp. I work too hard to give my money away. I put a query on Artisan’s Square and Googled the vendor. No endorsement but she was listed on Summerset’s blog. Now I’ve never met Summerset and I rarely read her blog (which I should do more often, she has fabulous clothes!). But Carolyn and several others love her. I’ve never met any of them either. But somehow “knowing” that Summerset had the vendor listed on her blog roll made it okay. Ruth (Babydoll) on Artisan’s Guild vouched for the vendor. See what I mean, people I’ve never met enabled me to get something I wanted. It’s like that game “Six degrees of separation”. Oh now that I’ve got mine, the vendor is Antique Doll House of Patterns. After I bought mine she had four patterns left.