A recent visit to Chicago included a pilgrimage to my daughter’s neighborhood Village Discount, thrift store paradise of the mid-west. It was half price on all tags that day! My best buy was a large bag stuffed with fabric samples, including beautiful swatches of leather, $1.50 well-spent. I have just gotten around to making some gifts for friends and family.
There is some poetic justice here as well. My mom worked in a factory for over 12 years that made fabric swatch sample books for furniture companies. Federal Sample Card was not a glamorous place, but I was amazed by all the machines just the same. I like to think my mom would have gotten a kick out of seeing these pieces of her past.

11 Dec This entry was published on December 11, 2015 at 3:53 am. It’s filed under artwork and tagged artisan, bespoke, chicago, Christmas, gifts, handmade, leather jewelry, Village Discount. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.