Austin fabric store reviews & sewing meetup awesomeness

Sewing meetup awesomeness at The Common Thread in Austin (with lots of love for stripes, clockwise from L): Me, Melissa of Melly Sews, Angela of So Made, Melizza of Pincushion Treats, Sara, Susan of Moon Thirty, and Susan of Miss Lulu Sews

So Austin turned out to be the perfect family vacation spot—and sewing mojo reboot inspiration. I somehow managed to attend four (!) sewing-related meetups in slightly over a week, sew a skirt, acquire an excessive amount of pretty new fabric, and even go to a crafty birthday party for Dixie (of Dixie DIY). (I must thank Susan for being the most amazing sewing hostess ever and for making all of this fun happen!)

Unrelated to sewing, I baked allergy-free bread, made homemade tamales on a hotplate, ate many tacos, met up with a cartoonist friend, swam in Barton Springs Pool and went on a movie date with my husband to the Alamo Drafthouse. It was a good time.

At The Common Thread a week earlier, with Dixie of Dixie DIY, Susan and Angela

My three-year-old daughter had some stitchy fun herself at the Thinkery children's museum:

And joined me for two of the sewing meetups. But I must say that one of the NON-highlights of the trip was her running around Stitched Fabric shop during a sewing club gathering, pins in hand, yelling "Poop soup!" and giggling maniacally, with me madly chasing behind. Sigh...

Austin fabric shopping is very different from the NYC fabric shopping to which I am accustomed. In Manhattan, I can stroll a few blocks over to the Garment District on my lunch break, and find myself in very large (and sometimes dim, dusty and crowded) stores, easily overwhelmed and at a loss for what I actually want or need. The selection is huge, but sometimes maybe a bit TOO huge.

In Austin, I had to get in a car (oh, GRRR, how I hate driving!) to reach the little shops I visited, but they were calmer, better-lit, more well-curated and had a more personal touch and intimate customer service approach than, say, Mood (not that I don't love Mood! but you know what I mean). I came away with some truly special and high-quality pieces that I can't wait to stitch into, especially the knits.

The Common Thread

• Location: 701 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704
• Vibe: Relaxed, welcoming, elegant. A well curated selection of high-quality woven and knit fashion fabrics, including eco-friendly and organic fabrics in a range of fibers (even hemp and bamboo), and in styles from quirky and bold to elegant and refined. The fabric is beautifully displayed and there were lovely sample garments out for inspiration. Jeanie, the owner, was very welcoming, knew all the Austin sewists and seems to regularly host sewing meetups. Prices are fair, but this isn't a discount shop by any means (though there is a small sale/remnant rack in the back.)
• I couldn't resist: Riley Blake cotton/spandex gray and white polka dot knit and some lovely gray and white seersucker (the top top fabrics shown)...
  ...And this scant amount of Echino cotton/linen blend fabric. It was on sale, and there's barely enough for a straight skirt:
  

TexStyles Designer Fabric Showroom

Susan wishing she had a reasonable excuse to buy some $85/yard French silk charmeuse

• Location: 2605 Jones Rd Ste D Austin, TX 78745
• Vibe: One-of-a-kind designer fabric finds, from the over-the-top to the fancy, ranging from about $7/yard to much, much higher. Lots of great knits (including some fantastic sweater knits, which aren't easy to find), loud bold prints, bright colors and sequins. The fabric is packed in tightly on the racks and it's a small space, so a bit of hunting and digging is required to turn up gems.
• I couldn't resist: A yard of black and blue zig-zaggy knit print to make a fun tee.
  

  I also randomly got to meet Daniel Esquivel (of Project Runway fame) who was super friendly and showed us some fabric designs he was working on:

  

  On our second visit to the store, Little Z enjoyed grabbing the fabrics a little too much and I had to take her outside before she ruined anything:

  

Stitched Fabric (at the Austin Fabric Coop)

• Location: 6601 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78752
• Vibe: Knit paradise on earth. It is probably for the best that I don't live in Austin, as this place might be a problem for me. I have never before been in a shop where it was so painful to walk away without taking 90% of the store items home with me. There were knit stripes, and knit prints, and knit polka dots, all in good weights with excellent stretch and drape and recovery (something I struggle to find, even in New York). There were plenty of woven fabrics too, but I wasn't paying them much mind because the KNITS.
  

  AND there was a TARDIS door:

  AND I got to see some of the Cake Patterns envelopes I've illustrated at large in their natural sewing-shop habitat:

  

  The prices are fair (but not discount cheap) given the quality and there is a "free scraps" table with some surprisingly large scraps.

  
• I couldn't resist: Purple/gray/red thin-striped knit for a skirt (scroll up) and green and white polka dot knit (enough for a dress):
  

  Plus a good amount of wax print fabric from the free scraps table for a dress for the little girl.

We were so sad to leave Austin and all of our friends there (old and new), and I hope those of you attending Pattern Review weekend have a fantastic time!

P.S. Also while at the Thinkery, little Z and the husband and I had fun with a giant microscope to look at some different objects very closely including knit jersey fabric, corduroy fabric and my daughter's little plastic Princess Tiana doll:

Yarn & Fabric Shopping Overload + 2 Cardigans in Progress

Don't look at me like that, it was a birthday yarn shopping emergency!

Part 1: A Tale of Two Yarn Sprees

I've been TRYING to be a good little stash-buster. The first two tops I made last month were from the stash, as were my TARDIS socks AND the denim Hummingbird skirt I've almost completed.

And I deliberately chose the Delancey cardigan I'm knitting now to use up some lovely DK-weight merino I'd had lying around for over five years. Here's a progress shot (it is SO fun to knit, you start with two triangles and then join them to get the chevron effect going:)

But last weekend while riding the Bolt Bus to Boston with my husband and daughter, I reached into my purse for the Delancey AND IT WAS GONE (left at the office, thankfully, and not at the bus stop!). That meant two five hour bus rides WASTED and LACKING IN CARDIGANS.

Worst of all, it meant NO KNITTING on my BIRTHDAY, which was the following day. My husband came to the rescue, and gamely agreed to take me yarn shopping as a present.

Which is how, on my 33rd birthday, I ended up desperately pawing through the shelves of the...

Hub Mills yarn store (see photo at top) at the Classic Elite yarns distribution center in Billerica, Massachusetts.

When I was learning to knit in high school, Hub Mills (located in a scenic canal-side factory in downtown Lowell) was my Local Yarn Store, but although the new Billerica location isn't as nice, the yarns are still soft, colorful and yummy, there are lovely samples on display and the staff are super-helpful and knowledgeable. I came away with:

• Yarn, needles and pattern to make a Baby Surprise Jacket for my niece-or-nephew to be. This is Classic Elite Liberty Wool, a super-soft machine washable variegated worsted yarn with lots of colors in each ball, ideal for baby clothes:
  

  I've made a Baby Surprise Jacket before for my daughter, so knew it would be a quick fun bus-ride-worthy project.

• Kim Hargreaves' Hearfelt: The Dark House Collection book of 21 patterns.
  

  The book title is a bit over the top, but the patterns (see Ravelry for all of them) are just stunning (SO MANY PEPLUMS), so I'm not going to get too worked up.

My husband (man knows what I like) also got me a gift certificate to a local yarn store for Mother's Day. So today I went to:

La Casita Yarn Shop Café in Brooklyn.

This tiny little store and café/bar is just blocks from my home. It's jam-packed with all kinds of beautiful yarns from budget to super-fancy-expensive, some of them tucked into cookie jars and little baskets just to find space.

I especially love that they are so kid-friendly and even have kids' knitting classes and a kids' summer knitting camp. (I say this because I've had some unfortunate experiences with staff in another local yarn store that I won't name who were really rude to me and my daughter even though she hadn't touched a single skein).

Anyway, after some deliberation I bought:

• Enough yarn for my NEXT cardigan, Cherry by Anna Bell.

  I decided to make a candy pink Cherry, with a coral for the body and a slightly brighter fuschia for the ribbing and belt. The yarns shown are Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, a mostly merino superwash wool blend with a hint of cashmere and silk, and Filatura di Crosa Zara, a soft merino superwash. (I'm going to knit it extra-small to combat the growth properties of superwash).

  

Part 2: Mood Print Madness

Oh, and the fabric. Yeah. So I already have quite a bit of knit fabric, but I have a lot of summer tops and dress plans, and I'm getting a little sick of just solids, stripes and polka dots. So last month I went on a printed knit binge at Mood and got:

• A lovely monochrome purple-and-white rose print rayon/lycra jersey:
  
• Pink and purple chevrons! (also rayon/lycra jersey):
  
  The print of pure color chaos... I'm thinking a sleeveless Jalie scarf-collar top (I know, AGAIN).

  

• Not to mention the Hummingbird-esque fabric I used for my second Hummingbird top:
  
• And for slight balance, some soft stretchy double-knit (or ponte?) RPL for a Bonny top:
  

Phew! Confession time over. I think I have a lot of stash-sewing in my future before I can justify setting foot in a yarn or fabric store any time soon...

Store Review: Sew-Fiscticated Discount Fabrics (Dorchester, MA)

Above: me, my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law about to experience discount fabric shopping enjoyment

It's not REALLY a crime against fabric destashing if you do it on vacation, right?

Sometimes I forget how spoiled I am, fabric-wise, living in NYC, so close to dozens upon dozens of amazing--if sometimes chaotic and confusing--fabric and notions stores. Masheka (Cartoonist Husband) and I are home in Massachusetts this week, dividing our time between my family in Lowell and his in Dorchester. Both my mother and mother-in-law have sewing setups they are happy to let me use, and both have been happy to take me fabric shopping.

My mother's favorite Lowell fabric store, George's Textile Co., has mainly converted to home dec of late, leaving her few on-the-ground options besides Jo-Ann's. My mother-in-law is luckier--if I lived in Dorchester, Sew-Fisticated Discount Fabrics would definitely be a regular stop!

What they have: Amidst the polyester silkies and quilting cottons, there are gems--including fabulous designer fabrics--to be found. A full review and photos of tasty fabric finds after the jump!