Thank you, and new fabric

I want to send a big thank you to Lindsay for granting me the Brilliant Weblog Premio Award! The five other ladies she gave the award to are among my favorite blogs to stalk, so I'm even more honored to be among such great company. If you don't already know, Lindsay does awesome weekly polls about sewing, I love how they get people talking.

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I've been lazy about getting back into blogging since I returned from my trip. Though I've had my nose buried in BWOF and Patrones making all kinds of grand plans, I haven't actually been doing much sewing. I still need to finish my Burdastyle Alison swimsuit, specifically, I need to get the bust to fit so that it's wearable in public. Cross your fingers for me.

So let's talk about the most fun part of sewing - acquiring new fabric.

While fabric shopping was not a priority for me during my vacation (gasp! I know, well I was trying to focus on activities that both the husband and I would enjoy), in Barcelona I did visit one fabric store that was recommended to me by Paco. Gratacós is located on one of the most fashionable streets of Barcelona, Passieg de Gracia, where you'll also find Chanel, Hermes, Burberry, and Zara :). Talk about a nice fabric store... nothing but Quality with a capital Q in there.

Rolls of fabric are displayed on special hangers, and if a fabric is available in more than one colorway, you can pull out the rack to see them all. This is where you'd shop when you're looking for the perfect fabric for that very special garment; this place exists for people with exceptional construction skills like Paco.

Tim said I couldn't leave empty handed and insisted that I buy something (what a great spouse). That's when I learned that all the fabric you see is just for display - when you decide what you want to purchase, they make note of it, then they go to a back room where they have the actual yardage stored and they cut it back there. It's all so exclusive! I settled on this textured poly blend suiting type fabric, perfect for a nice jacket or an LBD. It looks a bit purple in this photo, but really it's solid black. They even wrap up your purchase in nice tissue paper. Thanks for the recommendation Paco, and Visa thanks you as well.


When I got home, I had a package from Australia waiting for me! Colette of Tessuti Fabrics had a giveaway, and I won this awesome "galaxy" print knit. She even sent a coordinating solid. I'm thinking of making this popular wrap blouse from the January 2008 BWOF. Thanks again, Colette!


Oh, I signed up for "Patternmaking 101" at a local fabric chain, Pacific Fabrics. It's only two 3-hour sessions, so I won't be rushing off to Project Runway tryouts quite yet. The first session is Monday evening. We'll be drafting a sloper (I think).