Arroyo Fabrics by Erin Dollar, available online from Fabric Bubb
One of the most common questions I get on social media and via email is about where to source beautiful fabrics like the ones I use for Cotton & Flax. I’ve been lucky to live in cities that had vibrant craft and sewing communities, and so I’ve been able to visit lots of great fabric shops. Today I’m going to give you the scoop on my favorites, including a list of my all-time favorite fabric stores.
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If you love a good fabric store, today I have a treat for you: a guide to my favorite fabric shops in LA!
After moving to Los Angeles in 2010, I spent a lot of time driving around the city, visiting all the fabric stores I could find. I was experimenting heavily with printing on locally sourced fabric, experiments that would eventually lead to founding Cotton & Flax. At the time, I was just beginning to get to know LA (let’s be honest, I’m still getting to know LA), and all the awesome creative resources it had to offer.
I take pride in the fact that I still source the majority of my materials for Cotton & Flax from local shops and fabric distributors. I’d love to share some of my favorite LA fabric stores, so that locals and visitors alike can enjoy these fantastic shops!
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Are you making any of your holiday gifts by hand? I tend to make at least a few gifts each year, although I never seem to have enough time, and end up buying the rest of my gifts on Etsy or at local craft fairs and holiday markets (like Renegade!) When I do have some free time to work on DIY projects, I love to turn to The Purl Bee, one of my favorite DIY project resources, for inspiration.
If you’re like me, and are starting the holiday season with the best intentions to make your gifts by hand, maybe these DIY projects from The Purl Bee will get you started!
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I’ve been blogging a bit less frequently lately, as I’ve been working hard to build up my inventory for upcoming summer sales and in person shows here in California. I’ll be selling my work at Renegade Craft Fair in LA and San Francisco the last two weekends in July, so I’m spending every free moment printing, sewing, and designing new products for later this year.
If you want more frequent updates, you can follow Cotton & Flax on Instagram, I post lots of behind the scenes photos from Cotton & Flax Headquarters, plus the occasional photo of Frida, my adorable cat (and Cotton & Flax’s CFO… hah!)
Thread might seem like such a little thing (an afterthought, even), but using quality materials makes all the difference. If you’ve sewn larger projects before, you probably know what I’m talking about – it’s incredible how such a simple material can make such a difference. For Cotton & Flax projects, I use Gutermann’s natural cotton thread because it never seems to break or tangle while I’m sewing, and the colors are just phenomenal. This first photo shows a portion of my thread stash, built up over many years. It would be amazing to see all the empty spools I’ve used up over the years, part of me wishes I’d saved them all.
I’ve experimented with lots of different types of thread, and I’ve built up a pretty little stash of it over the years. It’s nice having it around when I want to work on side projects, like this sewn rope bowl I made a couple weeks ago, inspired by Doug Johnston.
If you sew – do you have a favorite brand of thread? Any other materials or tools that you just can’t live without?
I’m hoping to tackle lots of DIY projects this summer, and I’ve been accumulating tons of inspiration from the Purl Bee.
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