Berkeley and San Francisco Fabric Excursion
On the advice from my reader from Sophie Junction, today I went and visited StoneMountain and Daughter Fabrics, in Berkeley, CA. After 30 years, this store has a wonderful collection for quilters and seamstresses alike. They have one of the better collections of wool and linen I’ve seen (and I’ve looked for both in the Seattle area.)
They also had some fabulous ethnic fabrics. The ceiling of StoneMountain has two wonderful long crazy quilt-like banners streaming across it, as well as fabulous quilts and an unusual kimono hanging from it.
After leaving Berkeley, we headed back to San Francisco,and visited an art supply & fabric shop in the Haight-Ashbury district called “Mendels & Far-Out Fabrics“. My girlfriend, Uvonne Jones-Most, is a painter, gourd artist, and glass maker. She referred me to Mendels, as a place to find unusual textiles, as well as incredible art supplies. Uvonne told me that Mendels stocks such unique products to appeal to the diverse population of San Francisco and the Haight neighborhood.
Well, she was right. Feathers, glitter, all sorts of sparkley fabrics, fake fur in every color, hand-made papers, and more.
Stocked to the gills, it’s almost impossible to NOT find something that you’d like to play with!
I’m hoping to visit Dharma Trading Co. tomorrow, if I can fit it in with my family visits.
I'm glad to know that Stone Mountain and Daughter still has those ethnic fabrics. I recently found some beautiful Guatemalan fabrics in Santa Fe and realized it's the first time I've seen them anywhere since I left the Bay Area.
Thanks again for referring me there, Sophie. It was worth the trip. I have some lovely fabrics that I picked up on a fiber tour of Guatemala a few years ago… they weave such fabulous material!