Midweek Musings and a Post Dental Visit to Britex

First, I want to say that I have been thinking so much of the folks affected by Sandy. One of my blog readers (hi, Nancy!) has sent me pictures from her street in Long Island, denuded of many gigantic trees that now lay across roofs, streets, and yards. I hope your lives return to normal soon and that your spirits stay strong in this difficult time.

I'm sorry that I am not posting as much these days, but my recent projects have been more time intensive. Plus, I have this hobby, called "work", which is a jealous mistress.

Right now I have three projects in the hopper, which is unusual for me. One of them is a sew-along I am doing with Margy. (By the way, she pronounces her name with a hard "g". It's good if you get it right in your head, otherwise, if you ever meet her in person, you'll have to retrain yourself, like I did.) I thought I'd whip through this project, then it became an almost wadder, on life support. That slowed me down, and humbled me, but I think I can resuscitate the garment, even if it's not one of my favorites. Time will tell.

Today, I had a lengthy dentist appointment. My dentist is several doors from Britex.

Woe is me.

After my appointment, while still a bit hopped up on nitrous, with a numb face, I went to Britex to do a little fabric shopping for Margy.

Never before have I had so much fun in Britex. Normally, I sashay right past the first floor (designer fabrics/wools/silks) and go to the 2nd (cottons/rayons/home dec), 3rd (notions/buttons/patterns), or 4th (remnants) floor. But today I parked myself in the "interesting fabrics" section on the first floor, right near the front door. It was so much fun to pull out bolts and grope the Armani, Chanel (and similar) designer fabrics.

So.much.fun.

I did help spend Margy's money (and am now slightly hyperventilating, fearing that she won't love the fabric), but I will let her show it to you when she's ready. Unfortunately, I found that iPhone pics just didn't do it justice anyway.

While I was pulling fabrics with Charmain, the owner of, and buyer for, Britex, a well dressed, well coiffed woman approached and said, "You're Shams, right? I follow your blog!" It was Beth from South Carolina, who was visiting San Francisco on business. Such a nice, respectable person no doubt bemused by my highly "lagenlook", dentist-comfy attire and novocaine-induced half smile. Of course, I had to inspect her purchases - a beautiful cotton shirting in blue, and a whimsical Japanese cotton print with Egyptian designs. She was very restrained in her purchasing. I'm sorry I didn't ask anyone to take pics of us, but I didn't think about it until later.

And since this post is woefully light on sewing-related meat, let me share some links with you:

• KatiKoos. I've mentioned this wonderful San Francisco shop before, but they have moved. At the same address, they are now several doors down, on the 6th floor. I dropped by today, very briefly, and had a quick chat with the delightful owner. If you like lagenlook style, sign up for their newsletter - you can see all of their previous newsletters on their website. They also have an active presence on Facebook.
• Do you want to download high quality Metropolitan Museum exhibit catalogs in pdf for free? Of course you do! You can see the list of available publications on their website. This is good stuff and I've downloaded several.
• Sandylew is a store in Seattle, Washington. I've never been there, but I enjoy their blog. Start with the current posts and just keep going back for lots of eye candy.

I hope these goodies make up for lack of sewing content. :)

And now, I'm off to vote!