Wednesday, June 19, 2013

I met velosewer!

I took last Friday off from work because a very special Aussie was coming to the Big City...

Maria at Metro
It's Velosewer Maria, from the blog How Good is That!

We hit 7 fabric or notions stores in 8 hours, plus lunch and doughnuts....quite a whirlwind!!  and we both wore outfits made by our own hands...my McCall's 6078 shirt and J Stern Design Jeans and her peplum Vogue 8815 top and purple Vogue 1204 jeans (I remembered the purple jeans from her blog!)  The topstitching on her jeans is superb!

We made Metro Textiles our first stop, as you know it is a sewing blogger rite of passage to have one's pic taken with Kashi.  Plus I haven't seen Kashi since May 2012.  Definitely time to revisit.
Maria, me, Kashi and Barbara at Metro Textiles
And while we were there, we met another Kashi customer, Barbara, who asked us how we know Kashi....that led to the discovery that we are all on PR!  We had such a nice time time shopping and chatting with Barbara, who makes jackets to sell.

The shirt I was wearing was made from the fabric that was on Kashi's mannequin on the Friday of PR weekend.  That was the fabric that was less than a yard!!!!

I really enjoyed listening to Maria banter with Kashi and teasing him...

Kashi's new role as photographer
Of course he wants you all to know that he has new fabrics and wants you to come visit him.  And if you've never been to Metro, the background of these pix really give you a sense of the store!

We did really well there.  Keep in mind, Maria has to haul all this fabric back to Australia!
Maria with her haul from Metro
The haul from Kashi
Honestly, every day is a sale day at Metro
Honestly, every day is a sale day at Metro!
Here is my haul from Kashi's (I had it shipped; it was on my doorstep on Tuesday):
Kashi's haul
Then it was time for MOOD.
Maria with knit at Mood
Sadly, Swatch took the day off due to threat of rain and wouldn't be back til Monday.


Antoinette, this is the remnant bin at Mood, under the staircase, but it was mostly Home Dec:
Antoinette: this is the remnant bin at Mood
We were able to meet up with Meg who works in marketing for Mood, and she took this picture of our Mood hauls.  Meg is the original author of the Shop the Garment District blog, which Mimi took over when Meg started working at Mood.  The map and info on that blog is excellent--the map gives store addresses, phone numbers, and even indicates which stores have bathrooms!
me and Maria at Mood
In the mood foyer:
about to leave Mood
ha
about to leave Mood
Here is what I bought at Mood (I had it shipped; it was on my doorstep on Monday).  That bottom piece is the most luxurious piece of stretch corduroy ever, from Alice + Olivia.
My haul from Mood
Then it was time for the big reveal at lunch! The 7 hour zipper pouch!!
Maria and her new bag!
It turns out that the interior fabric is her favorite color, a bright green! Woot! That just happened to be what I chose from my stash.

Maria had gifted me with Tim Tams from Australia ( a quite delicious chocolate cookie covered in chocolate with a layer of chocolate between the chocolate cookies, yes, chocolate chocolate chocolate!) and she asked me to hold up my bag:
Tim Tams, my bag and me!
Maria had her first ever mac and cheese at one of my favorite Chelsea restaurants, named Cafeteria. Then we went to my favorite doughnut place in the whole world, Doughnut Plant.
at Doughnut Plant
Then it was kind of a rapid succession of stores: City Quilter, Pacific Trimming, SIL Thread, then Maria went to Spandex House while I went to Daytona, then we reconvened at Parone.
Pacific Trimming zippers
Pacific Trimming zippers

One of my main goals was to get cotton lining, zipper and thread to match these fabrics from Joanns and Kaimuki:
more matchy-matchy
zippers and thread: SIL Thread
Lining: Parone

Here was much of my haul:


much of my haul for the day
I have already made something from the items above, but that will be my next post.

I bought more of that cat fabric that I originally got at Kaimuki, online from a local (NJ) seller....and happened to find webbing to match for bag making (I didn't even know I wanted webbing to match, but I did when I saw it!):
perfect match!
webbing: Pacific Trimming

This is the fabric from Parone:
fabric from Parone
I had brought swatches of various with me, so I could find linings and thread to match.
swatches I brought with me to find thread/lining/zipper matches
I had a fantastically fun time with Maria. She is warm and witty and caring and kind. I'm so happy I was able to meet her!!  Like I said, for the past 18 months or so she has commented on almost every blog post of mine--that is dedication!

And I am planning on doing a post devoted to my favorite NYC places...in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

Here are your Princeton Farmer's Market flowers for this week:
Princeton Farmer's Market flowers 6/13/13
Maria, I wish we were going to the Garment District again this Friday!
Be well!

13 comments:

  1. Those look like Nigella, "Love In A Mist".
    I love your weekly flower (haul) bouquet.

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  2. How awesome, Kyle you sure know how to fabric shop!

    Christiana
    sewamusing.blogspot.com

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  3. What A Happy Meetup That Must Have Been! :)

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  4. OK. It's time to stop shopping now. You win! You hold the record!. The most fabric bought in one trip in the shortest time! Enjoy your haul!

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  5. I had my first visit to the shopping district last year and can't wait to get back. It's a bit overwhelming for a newby, but in a very good way.

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  6. what a fun day and the way you wrote this post I was with you two on a virtual tour, fantastic. p.s. great fabrics, lots to keep you busy!

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  7. I loved reading this post! Such vivid pictures and what a wonderful story of your first time meeting Maria! All of your goodies are sure to keep the creative juices flowing. Adore the hot pink webbing with your cat fabric! PS: I broke down and bought some purple eyelet yesterday, just like your navy :-)

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  8. What a magnificent haul! I am fairly jealous, of both the fabric and the donuts. You got some fabulous pieces in there. The 7 hour zipper bag is so adorable, too.

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  9. Aaargh NO! the sacrilege... Tim Tams are NOT cookies, they are biscuits!!
    What fun! and you have both bought the most amazing range of fabrics. How I wish I could go shopping with you two too!

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  10. I'm still reeling from our NY shopping. Where do I start?
    Was it the fact that we met up and bonded instantly?
    Was it because the Mac n cheese was so good - just like you said?
    Are you the most organised sewing shopper on the planet?
    Or was it the high 5s we kept having.
    Kyle - you're the best.

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  11. You are both adorable! Love the sweet gifties, and although I thought I purchased a lot of fabric on my last trip, you still beat me. Wow!

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  12. Sounds like a very fun visit! I am envious that you got to meet Maria.

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