wool and thread

Yesterday was quite the adventure. I left my house Tuesday night and 

headed to Ukiah to spend the night with a dear lady from my weaving and 

sewing class. Her name is Sylvia and she is such a nice womyn. I stayed the night 

in her little sewing room in a very cute house which she said was built 

in the late 1800's.

. 

We woke up early Wednesday morning, (6:30 am to be exact) and got ready to 

leave for our adventure to Berkeley and SF for our fabric field trip with our 

sewing class. There were 7 of us, all on a mission to find some treasure. I was on a 

mission to find hemp, silk and WOOL! This semester is all about tailoring 

and I am so excited.

Our first stop was Stone Mountain and Daughter located in Berkeley.

 

Oh such a great store this was. So many beautiful fabrics and a really 

friendly staff sowilling to help. We even got 20% OFF for being students!! 

That was a nice surprise. I found the perfect shade of purple wool for my skirt 

I will be making in my weaving class.

 Then we stopped off at the cutest store ever. It was called

"Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles" and they had the most 

fantastic of things.

Vintage lace, aprons, bloomers and even molds for hat making. Unfortunately 

we only had 20 minutes to shop, so I peeked around at as many things as I could. 

So much to see and so little time. I did manage to find the cutest coat pattern 

from the late1800's era. I also scored a $2 vintage pattern for a great 

summer dress. Found a little birdie embroidered on some clothand just had to 

take it home with me. Definitely going back to this gem of a store!

Lacis is hosting a victorian corset making workshop this month, as 

well as in March. I really hope I can come back to take the workshop.

 The cutest embroidered shoes! Oh the detail is killing me!

 Leaving Berkeley on the bay bridge

Next stop was Fabrix.

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 I found more wool treasure at Fabrix and was very pleased with the prices. 

So many colors to choose!

We stopped for a nice lunch at a place one my classmates Amanda recommended. 

 Yummy fresh spring rolls wrapped with all the fixings and a peanut sauce.

  I ordered a jasmine blossom tea and we all enjoyed watching it bloom.

 I ordered a pot pie with portabello mushroom with veggies in a 

curry sauce with basamati rice on the side. 

 So delicious!

 Magic appeared too! 

I found this cute little heart button in my lap at lunch. 

I swear it was magic*

 And just as we were getting ready to leave, we spotted Satin Moon 

across the street. We all had to go in because the fabrics in here were so lovely! 

Teryl spotted the most beautiful fabric in the window and it wasn't 

long before I saw her with the bolt ready for a piece to be cut. I gasped at the price 

of $50 a yard! But I must admit it was quite beautiful. I found beautiful silks and 

many lovely shades of purples. 

Then I found the most perfect fabric to go along with the great vintage 

dress pattern I found earlier at Lacis. The fabric reminds me of gardening in 

the sun and drinking herbal teas. So excited to make it into a spring/summer dress. 

Somehow we managed to make it to Dharma on our way back from the city 

for some silk and dye. I found some beautiful hemp blends and couldn't resist. I got 

some silk and a beautiful turquoise dye for the inside lining of my soon to be jacket.

Dharma is such a great store for crochet and knitting needs too! 

 Outside I got to see my first guerilla knitting done on a pole in front of Dharma's.

So awesome!

We made one last stop to Cafe Gratitude for some yummy chocolate treats! 

I got an extra one to bring back to my sweetie. 

 It was such a great day and now I am so ready to get sewing!