I'm sure you've heard bits and pieces about
Fabric Weekend floating around online the past few weeks. And if you follow me on Instagram (@sewmuchado), you might have followed along all weekend with us!
Fabric Weekend was organized by the wonderful Andrea from
The Train To Crazy, with a lot of help from Bev from
Flamingo Toes and Justine from
Sew Country Chick. It involved about 20 sewing bloggers getting together in Los Angeles for the weekend, and, you guessed it - fabric shopping! Plus, a lot of food, late nights, and laughter. This photo of
Sabra and I kind of sums up how I felt about it all...
Most of us trickled in to Los Angeles on Thursday, and I soon met up with my roommates - Sabra from
Sew A Straight Line, Stef from
Girl Inspired, Caila from
Caila Made. Cherie from
You and Mie also stayed with us and arrived the next night.
Friday morning the fun began with a tour of FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising). I left feeling very inspired. I have to admit I also enjoyed watching the students coming and going. I kept thinking to myself how exciting it was that they were pursuing their dreams and choosing such an exciting career. Don't get me wrong, dental hygiene was
super exciting too...
We shopped in the FIDM scholarship store, where I got about 6 yards of the animal print and a denim-looking knit for $5! The other fabrics were from other shops.
It was definitely a tight squeeze for 20 bloggers!
Next we went over to
Michael Levine, which really was the highlight of our fabric shopping. We got to meet THE Larry, who owns the store, and he gave us a tour of the store and their warehouse.
It was pretty incredible to see the isles and isles of fabric, and to see Larry's excitement as he talked about what he does and about the beautiful fabrics. The hashtag #larrylovesfabric was also born at some point along the tour :).
The part of the trip I was anticipating the most was shopping at The Loft, where Michael Levine has bins and bins of fabric, mostly knits, for $2.50 a pound! It exceeded my expectations, and I came away with so many great finds. I also picked up a few other fabrics in their main store, including the Kokka butterfly print. I can't wait to make it into a dress for Lola. And if you're like me and live far far away from LA, you can also order from Michael Levine
online!
Bethany snapped this photo of me in all of my Loft glory...
We also spent a bit of time that afternoon in other shops in the Fashion District. I won't be needing to buy elastic or zippers for quite some time ;).
Saturday morning we headed out to Mood Fabrics for some more shopping, and just when I thought I couldn't possibly find any more fabric that I
needed, I was wrong. I came away with more great knits and even some green leather that I couldn't pass up.
The whole gang at Mood...
Some of us (thanks to Bev's superb LA driving skills) hit up SAS Fabrics that afternoon, where I found some more must-have fabrics (or should I say fabircs) and even more notions! My goal was to get a button collection going (don't you hate having to buy buttons for each project?), and I'd say I'm now well on my way.
Saturday evening we all met back up for a fabulous Girls' Night Out, hosted by
Jess and Jo-Ann Fabrics. Even though I feel like there's no possible way I could need any other sewing supplies for the next year after this trip, I know that I'll still be stopping by my local Jo-Ann here in Seattle.
It was fun to get dressed up and have one last event to visit with such wonderful women and friends. It was great to come home with a suitcase full of fabric and notions, but even better to come away with such great friendships.
I came home absolutely exhausted, but it was such a fabulous experience and I hope that I'll be able to do it again! It was amazing to hang out with people like me, who love to sew and don't have to just smile and nod while you're going on and on about how to get the tension right on your twin needle. I'm so grateful to Andrea, Bev, and Justine for all the work they put into the weekend, and for Jess for organizing Girls' Night Out.
Oh, and did you enter the
Fabric Weekend Giveaway?! There's over $800 in prizes, and you could even win a serger!
