Ah, Fabricland!

I just returned from visiting the Whitby Fabricland end of summer sale. The Simplicity patterns on sale for $1.99 were too tempting to resist. I rented a car from Autoshare for three hours and made the drive from downtown.

The problem with Autoshare is this: you're shopping under a time limit. In Fabricland, particularly, this is never a good thing. I returned home with the 10 patterns I had initially picked out (there is a 10 per customer limit - probably a good thing) AND about $50 worth of fabric. Despite having made a list of the fabric I was interested in buying, only one of the six different cuts of fabric I purchased met the criteria.

That said, the fabric I got is beautiful and a bargain! But now that I have a decent fabric stash (my husband says our home is turning into a depot), more discipline in fabric shopping is needed. To that end, I'm laying down the following ground rules:

1. Never buy more material than needed for a single project - no matter how much you love it or how good the bargain is (Note: this rule does not apply to solid coloured black, white, gray, navy, forest green or burgundy cotton knits).
2. Organize the projects currently on the drawing board in order of priority. Never shop for more than three projects at a time.
3. Determine the kind of material you want for each project. Don't deviate from the planned materials, subject to the exceptions below.
4. If the fabric is soft, decent quality, in a solid colour you'd wear and $4 or less, buy it.
5. If the fabric is soft, in a colour or smaller print you'd wear, and $3 or less, buy it.
6. If the fabric is $2 or less, and you like it at first glance, buy it.

What do you think? What "rules" do you follow when shopping for fabric?