Beautiful fabrics for Christmas

I had such a nice day yesterday, I have to share it with you. Peter told me that this year for Christmas, he wanted me to get some really nice fabric from Darrell's. I have some very nice pieces that I wear a lot, made from fabric I had bought at his shop years ago, when I had more money. Peter knows how much I like them and how much I like really nice fabric so that was his present to me. In fact, in the above photo, I am wearing a shirt made with some lovely cotton I got at Darrell's years ago and the buttons on my faux fur coat are from Darrell's too.

Also, Peter wanted me to invite my friend Carmen so she would provide the necessary moral support for spending that much money. And so we also had lunch together which totally added to the fun.

You really should visit Darrell's web site (if you can't make it to the store). I totally forgot until now to include it in my links on the right - I haven't changed my links in years, sorry. So now it has a top spot. It is a high end store with some designer fabrics selling for hundreds of dollars per meter. But if you want to make something really nice, that you will wear a lot because it is so nice, I would go there. Also, Darrell himself is very knowledgeable about fabrics and sewing and you can even take classes there. And no, I didn't get a discount for saying this. :)

Here are the fabrics I got at this visit. From the left: plain white cotton (you can never have too many white shirts), striped cotton with a little bit of Lycra, steely blue pure wool (almost a crepe), and pure wool plaid. I plan to make matching skirts and jackets with the wool and it is light enough weight that I can probably wear them most of the year although probably not in the middle of summer.

Now (and this is the time to look away if you are reading this, Darrell) I am going to prewash all the fabrics! A gentle cycle with cold water and then a short time in the dryer to really shrink it. Much industrious pressing afterwards. But then I can wash the garment in cold water and lay flat to dry and I won't have to go to the dry cleaner. I figure if the wool was once on a sheep, it can take a little washing.