Shopping by the Seat of My Pants

It was embarrassing. Karen lives less than three miles from me and we’ve never shopped for fabric together. Cenetta came from Chicago and shopped with Karen! Karen shopped with Trina and Isabelle all the way in Paris … in France … in Europe! And we couldn't overcome three miles?!?!?!? Well, we fixed that! We met to shop in our favorite places on Fabric Row. Turns out we both love Kincus Fabrics and PA Fabric Outlet.

I got fabric needed to coordinate with two pieces in my very small stash

The orange print piece was in danger of becoming a permanent Old Maid. I bought it in NYC last summer with a piece of wool. The colors worked together, but the print is sheer and summery and, for me, didn’t work with wool pants. So I bought the orange cotton to use as an underlining for the dress pictured (BWOF 05/2005 #133).


The solid green was an impulse purchase from JoAnn. I bought the batik to coordinate with that for a basic shirt and pants outfit for work (BWOF 03/2007 #128 & #130A).

Karen was good luck for me. Usually when I have something specific in mind, I don’t find it and I end up disappointed. But this trip was very successful. We both had our swatches and found what we were looking for. Sometimes, I like to have a fellow sewer along to validate (or veto) my decisions. I stayed within my budget and I have two new “assembly required” outfits. Including these purchases, I have enough fabric to keep me busy throughout the summer.

Thanks, Karen! It was fun!