Exquisite Fabrics Update, Trip to Philly, and Stashoholism Confessional

I had a very productive weekend...if you consider stash-building productive. Ahem.

Cidell came to visit me in DC. We exchanged gifts from our recent travels; she picked me up a ton of knit lining and a cute little shirting print in Panama.

We spent Friday hitting up the Simplicity sale at Joann, where I picked up 8 patterns at 99 cents each. Score! My top picks are 2473, a princess sheath with faux-belt separate waistband; the Cynthia Rowley 2512 paper bag waist skirt with shaped waistband; and a tie-neck blouse 2501 that comes in both peplum and one piece variations with an awesome ruched sleeve.

Then we hit up G Street, where I SWORE I was not going to get any fabric. Until I did. Luckily only one piece. I could not get the color to come out right in the photo--the flash kept washing it out--but it's a dark gray (of the blue gray variety) knit. There is a dress in the Drape Drape book that I want to try, but it is a bit wild and crazy and has to be done in a sober solid color, not to mention that it will EAT UP the yardage so the $2.97/yd price was a big sell.

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Then it was some snoop shoppping in Georgetown. Embellishment is big, is all I can tell you. We went in J Crew and every t-shirt had some kind of ruffle, bow, lace, sequins, applique, etc. on it. I am all for girly details, but the indiscriminate application of sequins was a bit much on some of them. I NEED to do something with a froth (or bib, for the less poetical among you) of ruffles at the neck.

We also made a point of stopping into Exquisite Fabrics' new(ish) location at The Shops at Georgetown. They moved there about a year ago from their old K Street location, which was metro accessible and *ahem* easily drop-in-able from my doctor's office. It's still very high end, as it was before, with high end prices to match. There are a lot of very nice wools and a large selection of silks, though I found the vast majority of the silk prints...inexplicable. By which I mean hideous. They still have the "bargain" section, with yardages allegedly in the $2-10 range, though most were $8/yd and above. There was nothing much to interest me there. I will say, the notions section has expanded and I can definitely always find a zipper or thread here if I'm in a pinch, which is awesome. I ended up getting only one thing, an AWESOME gold bow buckle that, judging from the packaging, is actually from the 80s. It was marked down to $5. I'll be using that puppy at the first available opportunity.

I must say that service is crap. Ugh. Cidell and I were greeted when we came in, which was nice. But then after I figured out what I wanted I went and stood at the register, patiently waiting (that is to say, no sighing, eye rolling, finger snapping, or other boorish behavior) where I was PATENTLY ignored. I mean, the clerk went out of her way not to see me while standing a few feet away. She made a huge show of helping another customer, who obviously didn't sew at all, look for buttons. Had the other customer been there first, I would of course not complain at all, but I was waiting first and since I was at the register was probably going to be quick, while button chooser had no idea what she was looking for. It felt very much like the clerk considered me too young to be a "real" customer, and treated me accordingly. It left a very bad taste in my mouth. So, buyer beware.

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The next day we hit the road and headed up to Philly to meet Karen and sate ourselves at Jomar. I brought my camera but of course failed to take a single picture. Sorry about that. I had limited time so we got straight to business. Jomar is crazy, man. It is huge, there is so much fabric, it's a little weird, and the prices are insane. So I, um, went a little crazy.

In the fashion fabric category, I got two silks for blouses and four knits:



The dark silk is navy. I never wear navy because (1) I like black and think it looks good on me, and (2) what shoes do you wear with navy????? But I am branching out. I also got gray because I have been feeling the gray this year. It's a good color. On the knits, the three ITY prints are self-explanatory. Cidell maintains that the metallic tweed-ish knit defies explanation, which it sort of does but I was really drawn to it.

I also picked up linings in black and silver/gray (the lightest color I could find in an acceptable texture) for $1/yd. Sadly, I couldn't locate any rayon lining so I have either 100% poly or acetate, but I have often found myself in need of a silky lining, especially as we go into Fall and tights are necessary. Now I can never say I don't have any lining. Then there was the interfacing--also $1/yd, I got two wovens and a knit. But my total for all of this was right around $70, which is crazy for six fashion fabrics, two linings, and three interfacings!

After our shopping, Karen led us to the most delicious falafel place. The fries were made with onions and peppers along with the potatoes, which was divine and I don't understand why everyone doesn't do this. The falafel and hummus sandwich was incredibly delicious. Mmm. I have been thinking of this place ever since!

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So now I really, really, really need to stop buying fabric! My plan for this year was 6 yards per month. I am guessing I have exceeded that, although there have been several months where I didn't buy anything. I have certainly exceeded my sewing because I have been busy lately and not been able to spend an entire day each weekend sewing. I wish I could learn to sew during the week, but unless I have a deadline I've never been able to bring myself to do it. So, discipline in buying is really the only alternative. If only I could figure out how to develop it...