Fabric market - must go!

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Woke up and walked 40 minutes to an English club to check out volunteering opportunity. I thought I was going to die from exhaustion by the time I got there. I wore jeans today, thinking that it might rain. Bad decision. At least I bought the most delicious fresh baked seaweed cookies/cracker en route... melt in your mouth texture (butter!).

Volunteers (like me) from Hands On Shanghai teach English to disabled adults and children. The class is held at this cafe/communitycenter called Talk Da Talk. Apparently, you need to buy a membership to go to the events at this place. Hands On rents out the classroom for a few hours each week. Also, Talk Da Talk has language exchange every Friday - free for English speakers! 😊 Anyway, when I got there I sat in on a class and the adults' disabilties included being blind, physically impaired or emotional disabled (according to the teacher). I'm not really sure why these middle aged disabled adults want to learn English, but they seem pretty motivated! I am looking forward to getting to know these disadvantaged students and understand their motivations! This is a great resource for them - free English classes! Anyway, the semester lasts 4 months, and each class has around 7-10 people. I will alternate months with another teacher; I will teach the adult class every Saturday next month. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity - to teach my language, share American culture, and gain understanding of the disabled community in Shanghai.

Coincidence: yesterday I met up with B and his alumni friends for lunch... guess who is the current director/teacher of this project for Hands On? a girl at the lunch! We didn't make that connection until today though! What a small world!

After the volunteering event - I went to the fabric district/warehouse in Old Shanghai. It's a huge building with vendor stand after vendor stand of fabric... wools, silks, cashmeres, cottons, velour, linen, you name it. You can purchase fabric and then get clothes custom made! There are hundreds of vendors.... very hard to know which is the best. I selected one that looked pretty busy and picked out some fabric and got a button down blouse made. I got the cuff monogramed (extra 15 rmb). Then I walked some more and bought two more shirts at a different vendor because she had a sample shirt that was lined with silk in the collar and cuffs that I liked. You can get a qipao made, wool coats, suits, purses/diaper bags, even duvets/sheets etc. I wish I brought my favorite banana republic skirt... then I could ge them to copy the style. They have a lot of cashmere wools which would make great a-line skirts for winter. I saw two fabric prints (silk) that I really liked but couldn't immediately think of a style so I just bought the fabric and I will do some fashion design research and take it back to get it made. The fabric was about 40 rmb per meter. After buying the fabric, I realized that I over paid for the shirts. I'm guessing the labor should be about 35 rmb and cotton fabric should only be around 35 rmb. Anyway, for future reference, a women's cotton blouse should be around 70-75 rmb. It was very busy... a lot of expats bringing their friends there. Anyway, if the quality and craftsmanship is good, I will take all my visitors there. It's just fun to pick out fabric, get measured, etc! It is less than $150 USD to get a custom made wool suit. Forget department store shopping... this is much more fun! They also have trinkets, scarves, ties etc for very cheap. Some pretty nice pashmina scarves for 15 rmb. FYI - It's on Lujiabang/Nan Cang Road, and must take a taxi there.

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Comments

[twf]

pictures please!
hey, post pics once you get the custom made clothing! i'm so curious to see what it looks like.