So I'm moving to California (to just south of San Francisco, to be vague about it) and Mary Beth is kindly having a fabric swap and quasi-going-away-party THURSDAY NIGHT (that's the 23rd! TOMORROW! Sorry for the short notice!) for me. Isn't that nice? Chicago people are so nice. (Sniff.)
I will have a ton of fabric to swap away, and other assorted weirdnesses from the depths of my (now mostly in boxes) sewing room, and maybe a vintage dress or two to give away. So please come!
Here are the details:
Time: 6-8:30 p.m.
Date: Thursday, July 23
Location: Rogers Park Public Library
6907 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626
2nd floor, south room
What?: Fabric Swap
What's a Fabric Swap?: We'll be exchanging fabric, notions, yarn, patterns and bagged remnants. Fat quarters are welcome this time around. Quilters take note!
Anything Else I should Know?: Since this is a swap, no money/check can be exchanged on the premises. This is important. As I mentioned previously, anybody caught paying real U.S. dollars for items in the swap will be lashed with a tape measure or forced to count pattern pieces.
What can I bring?: See above. Wear a dress too (if you're sew inclined). Perhaps one you've sewn would love to show off to Erin before she boards her airplane west.
How can I help?: Thanks for asking. In addition to bringing fabric, please bring food or a drink. Paper plates, napkins and cups too. We're having a party! We all sort fabrics on tables. Afterwards, we'll need a driver with enough room in the car to cart leftover unwanted fabric to local Salvation Army.
Where can I park if I drive? What about public transportation?: There's a parking lot behind the library. Call for details. You can easily get to the Rogers Park Public Library on the no. 22 bus. It's also two blocks west of the Morse Red line stop, a block east of the Rogers Park stop on the Union Pacific North Metra line.
Ok, what next?: Email marybeth.klatt @@@gmail DOT com with Fabric Swap in the subject line, let Mary Beth know you're coming OR leave a comment at her blog.
Hope to see you Chicagoans there!
A Dress A Day 
Hi Erin- Boy I sure wish I lived closer to Chicago- Ill have to see if my sister will be at the swap for me! Good luck in California!
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Hmmm, my son lives just north of San Francisco (along with a few jillion other people). With any luck, I will be in the Santa Rosa area the second week in August.Have a super good time at the Swap! Hope you have time to post about it.
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welcome to the peninsula! its a great place to live.
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welcome to the bay area! I live just east of SF, so Ill be watching for future fabric swaps on the left coast…
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Welcome to California! I live in San Jose and read you faithfully. The weather is awesome. I have never ventured into San Francisco for fabric (I hate driving in SF) but I hear it is good. Wish you the best!
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EEEEEE!!!!! You are moving so close to me. I might actually conceivably run into you on the street! EEEEE! (sorry to go fangirl on you, but isnt it nice to know that you *have* fangirls?)OMG, one of the first things you have to do is go into Frisco and go to Britex! Especially take note of the section where the Fabrics Are So Expensive and Delicate they must be roped off from Normal People and only members of the Secret Fabric Club can enter!
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Welcome to CA! I am in SoCal, but people across California generally are warm and kind, since most of us are transplants. I wish you a safe and happy move!
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Good luck! Waiting for your return. =D Take care friend. =DSummerA Writers DenThe Brown Mestizo
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Welcome to the Bay Area, Im in Santa Clara and second the motion to visit Britex. Denise
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Glad to hear youre coming to Cali! I just moved back myself. 🙂 I hope you enjoy yourself!
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Wow, big move. From what little I know of US weather – youll be having milder winters, so more dress wearing and less with the 2 pairs of tights!? Hope moving isnt too traumatic.Your swap sounds like such fun. And on my birthday too. Darn, no-ones invented a Transporter yet. Hope youve kept all the best fabric for dresses to come.Good Luck!AJ
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Welcome to CA. I am in the Bay Area and I am mobile so watch out!
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Yippiee!! Dresses all year round! (And really fantastic chinese chopped chicken salads, sourdough bread, and sunshine!)
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whaa??? Youre leaving us?I wont get to frighten my husband with my screeching if I see you on Chicago tonight? Best wishes on your move!
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Good luck with your move. Too bad I cant get to Chicago to join the swap. Well, at least now youll be closer to cool things like Sew Expo (http://www.sewexpo.com), which is held in Puyallup, WA every year. ^_^
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Eat a piece of cake for me tonight! Good luck on the move. Heres hoping that those favorite patterns and fabrics land safely.
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Wow, Erin, congrats! The Windy City is nice and all, but heavens to Betsy, the weather. Youre sure to love the SF area, and, as someone else noted, youll get to wear many more dresses!
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How exciting! Does that mean Fabric Swaps here!? whoo-hoo! Seriously, have a safe and stress-free move and welcome to the Bay area.
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Great to see that you are moving out here!Maybe you can plan a post on where to find fabric and vintage dresses in the bay area, and we can send in suggestions for shopping (its a gold mine!) best of luck on the packing up and moving out part too
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Congrats Erin! Cant wait to have you over here (Im just East of SF). Youll love it.
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Welcome to my neighborhood south of San Francisco. I will look forward to seeing you in the aisles of Stonemountain and Daughters in Berkeley, a fabric store I like so much that I cross the bridge to get there.
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Well–I might just have to show up tomorrow evening. I would love to meet you before you leave town! Hope your move brings great new adventures. And you can wear summer dresses longer…yeah!
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Good luck moving!
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Another South of San Francisco resident here quite a bit south: Los Gatos, west Silicon Valley, nestled up against the Santa Cruz Mountains.Britex is considered the fabric temple in SF, but do also visit Fabric Outlet while youre in town.I second the Stone Mountain and Daughter recommendation (Berkeley), but theres also Santa Cruz: Harts Fabrics (next door to a roller skating rink!!!!!), Beverlys (a CA chain similar to Joanns but better, also a store in San Jose). Also in Santa Cruz: Donnelly Chocolates, considered by some to be one of the top 10 choclatiers in the world. Silicon Valley: San Jose: The ever funky Fabrics R Us (remember the dictionary print silk?). Sunnyvale: Eddies Quilting Bee_and_Dawns House of Sewing (one establishment). Sprinkled all over the Bay Area: multiple Joanns and Hancocks and a proliferation of Quilt Stores, plus many other niche fabric stores (Sari fabric, anyone?)Just the tip of the fabric/sewing iceberg. Welcome to California!CMCSilicon Valley (aka The Valley of Hearts Delight), CA Native Daughter.
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Oh wow! That is a huge move! From the looks of it, with all those loyal followers in the Bay Area, you will have a big welcome here. I live in San Jose, too. There will absolutely have to be a swap or get-together of some sort once you are settled in.Holler if you need anything!
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So will there be fabric swaps in the bay area after you settle in? ;o)I happen to love Britex – Ive gotten wonderful things there – some expensive fabrics, but also some wonderful bargains on the remnants floor – as well as some fantastic baptiste for a dollar more a yard than I would have paid at Joanns. I like the fabric outlet, too, and Eddies Sewing Bee.
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Oh Erin my favorite city in all the world! We try to visit there once a year – well its been a few since weve gone but now we have another reason to visit and finally meet you. Are you going to still do Dressaday!
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Welcome to California, Erin! (I live in Santa Monica.)
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Welcome to the SF Peninsula, Erin! Yah, Britex is the fabric temple, but I enjoy going to Fabrics R Us (San Jose), Fabrix (Clement and 2d in SF, then stop by Satin Moon to see/purchase/drool over the pretty Japanese fabric), Darleness (24th and Mission, I think), and Happy Stop (12th and International (?)) in Oakland), as well as Eddies Quilting Bee/Dawns House of Sewing in Sunnyvale. I hope that you have a smooth transition to the Bay Area.Rose in SV
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Erin, good luck with the move! Just think–a whole new sewing room to decorate.
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Give my love to San Francisco – I lived there nearly ten years before my visa ran out and they threw me out! Well, not literally thrown out. :)Good luck with your move!
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I miss living in Cali. I only had 2 years of the pleasure.
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oh Erin I am a dorky fan girl but live in SF proper and would love to meet you. Will happily take you fabric shopping in the city!
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Wishing you a very safe transplant and a happy landing! I think you get to leave the worst of the cold, but keep the best of the cold where youre going, too: not so much with the snow higher than your head, but you can still wear your beloved cardigans!Happy trails, Erin, let us know when youve landed safely.
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Erin, your outfit of choice is perfect for the CA climate. Loafers, shirtwaist dresses and cardigans 365 days a year (or close to it) I really did leave my heart in SF so anyone headed out there is my idol.Good Luck and Ill be watching for Dress A Day west coast style.
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Good luck with the move Erin, that is a big leap, Take care of yourself. and you will be closer to our Canadian Rockies! Contact me if you ever travel up to Southern Alberta!
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Welcome to CA! I live in the North Bay. You will love the weather here!
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oh boy! so excited youll be in the neighborhood! cant wait to read your Northern California thoughts/fabric scoops once you get settled in.
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California weather is SOOOOOO much milder than Chicago. Youll never wear a pair of tights in this state let alone two….okay so maybe in the way north but certainly not in the Bay Area. I live in the South Bay/Santa Clara/San Jose area and having been transplanted all the way from southern California, this is as much cold weather as I can take. I would never survive east of the Sierras! Welcome to CA the Bay Area!
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Welcome to the Bay Area! Were in the process of moving out of San Francisco to Oakland. If youre looking to make friends, Id be happy to arrange some sort of welcoming party (maybe after youve had a bit of time to recover from the stress of a move?)
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My two big Erin thrills this week: 1) Seeing you mentioned in a TED article in USA Today, and 2) finding out that you are joining us in California.Welcome to California!Julie-Ann(CA Native)
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Best of luck in the move. That distance is really hard (having done it twice).
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Welcome! No wonder you havent been showing us what you are making lately–youve been packing! I live in Berkeley (SF East Bay). I recommend that you visit Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics here–fabulous selection, great discount for those on the mailing list, and a wonderful staff. I bet youll love it!
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So happy to join my fellow native Californians in welcoming to our wacky state! You can help us get rid of Arnold…I live just south of Santa Cruz and hope you will make it to Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove–of course you will be taking your kidlet to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is practically next door. I do love Stone Mtn. and Dtr., too. Also Berkeley Rep. We have a roller rink in Santa Cruz, next door to Harts Fabric, so dont forget your skates!
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well Im a native daughter of the golden west…I cant ever leave the west coast…cept to visit! Chicago is so amazing…but SF is the center of the universe…Yes the weather is sweet…but dont ever call it Frisco…;-)
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Welcome to the Bay Area, and do have a swap here.
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JUST REMEMBER: If you are going to Saaaaaan Fraaaaaan-CIS-co / Be sure to wear / Some flow-ERS in your hair…I am from that area, too! Still go north for the occassional holiday or two, so shall cross paths with you at some point : )I was in Manhattan for 10 years following college on the east coast, and definitly think of California as The Easier, Softer Way now. Fewer people try to stab you, which is always nice.
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Yet another bay area resident – my first thought was that you would be able to wear dresses all year round with maybe a little cardigan for winter! Good luck with the move.
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Welcome to the Bay Area Erin, it will be great to have you out here on the West Coast. I hope that your move goes really well!
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Adding to the list of welcomes to California! Im in the east bay, and Ive been a fan of yours for a few years now. I agree – youre going to love the weather for dresses. Id love to attend a fabric swap or welcome meeting for you! and now Im going to be extra careful about wearing dresses more often, especially to fabric stores, Id hate to run into you wearing jeans.
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