Mini Sewing Tour

Back in the day, the Albuquerque ASG chapter put together sewing tours of the area by bus. There was usually a fee that included bus rental, lunch, and treats. We mostly went to sewing stores in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area, although the agenda could include cultural offerings such as the Santa Fe Opera (including the costume and prop shops) and the International Museum of Folk Art. Typically, lunch was included, and a good time was had by all.

We recently tried unsuccessfully to organize another "official" trip that fell through.  So some of us decided to organize a mini tour by car. We had two stops--Bernie's Fabrics in Belen and Silverado in town, then we ended up with lunch at the Grove in EDO (East of Downtown, hilarious that Albuquerque is now experimenting with Manhattan naming conventions!).

Bernie's was our first stop after meeting at our organizer's home. This is a new-to-me store located south of Albuquerque in the town of Belen in Valencia County. It was chock full of fabric--mostly quilting cottons, but a handful of other things.

It was a bit of a treasure hunt and you had to dig a bit, but I found some nice pieces--a vintage looking Western print, a pretty batik, and a tone on tone seersucker. 

Our next stop was a visit to Silverado, which is a manufacturer of soft furnishings (pillows, bed ensembles, and tabletop items) located in a former Datsun dealership. We have visited Silverado many times over the years as the business has morphed from women's boutique clothing to its current speciality, but at least it's still around. The owner, Silvia, told us that she currently has two main markets--the lodging industry and home decor catalogs. As you might guess, Silverado's look is Western-oriented, but with a luxury twist. 

They have been using home dec fabrics for years, even when making women's clothes, and Silvia opened up the warehouse to sell us some of her fabrics from past collections. I bought one piece there, which I bought for a future jacket.

Now I need to get sewing with all this new fabric! The weather is getting warmer and that means new things to wear.