Hey ya’ll! I’m back with part two of Mr. Bug’s and my fabric shop adventures from last weekend. After we hit Golden d’Or, my better half graciously agreed to check out one more shop – City Craft – it was only a few miles from stop #1, after all. Plus we got to drive past Love Field (the OTHER airport) on the way which for some reason was mesmerizing for both of us.

City Craft is an urban sewing studio with high end fabrics – mainly quilt weight cotton and a few heavier/upholstery fabrics. It reminded me of Sewtropolis in Minneapolis (where I used to work, for those of you not familiar) with a nice, big sewing studio on one side and cozy fabrics on the other. The shop is in a strip mall, shopping complex sort of place – you know the nicer kind, like, outdoor malls (is there a name for them?) The area seems pretty nice with lots of parking. It was a little hard to find, only because Google Maps got us to the general location, but then we had to troll the parking lot, looking for the rather low-profile storefront – sorry, I forgot to snap a photo!

Just check out those funky chairs and almost-naughty apron!

The first thing I saw when I walked in was a pattern wall with Colette Patterns, so I felt right at home. I didn’t see any Sewaholic patterns, alas.

I just noticed! More big, fat, rick rack! I can’t believe I totally missed that while I was there!

The fabric selection was a bit limited, compared to the selection I’m used to back in Minneapolis, but there were a lot of cute fabrics for those looking for modern quilting, kids clothes and fun accessories. I took a quick look at the website and some of my favorite designers are listed – Heather Ross, Alexander Henry, Joel Dewberry – plus there’s a nice selection of solids.

As far as garment fabrics, there was a teeny section with a couple nice wool fabrics and some of the super fine-wale corduroy that I love. I think it’s meant for kid-clothes, but with the texture so fine, it has a really nice drape for skirts so I can indulge in my love of 70’s schoolmarm fashion without feeling like I’m sewing cardboard.

There was ONE brightly colored interlock jersey with a zig-zag print and a couple of stretch ruffled novelty fabrics as well. I got a few yards of the green ruffles and a yard and a half of the grey for future dresses/shirts. Comfy and yet funky. Also, the fabric is see through… I’m going to have to go back to the Golden d’Or to peruse the giant selection of tricot to line the ruffle-dresses!

Here’s my haul…

The colors are off in the photo – the top fabric is pretty close (and aren’t I the trendy-according-to-Pantone-monkey?), but the bottom fabric is a nice graphite color. Like pencil lead. Or, um, otters.

Half the store is chock full of fabric, and the other half is a really nice, bright sewing studio. The class lineup had some familiar classes – PJ bottoms, beginning sewing, basic garments. There are a few more quilt classes and no knitting/crochet classes, which makes sense. Since there isn’t yarn.

All in all, City Craft seems like a nice little shop. While I was there a few girls were chatting away in the studio about a wedding dress and a few women were shopping on the fabric side. The staff was super nice and helpful – even jotting down the names of a few other fabric shops for me to check out! (Anyone been to Fabrique? It looks promising in a fussy seamstress way!)

Let’s take another look at the naughty-penguin-pilgrim apron, shall we? Where’s the handcuffs?

I’m sure I’ll stop by every once in a while. It’s good to know of a source for high end quilt fabrics, when I get a hankering to make accessories!