The never ending fabric shop! Believe it or not this photo was actually taken in the middle of the store, looking in one direction - it was, in fact, double this size. Before British readers get excited, no, this isn't Brixton - this is America. Falls Church, Virginia, to be precise. Casey gave me some great tips on fabric shopping in her former stomping ground while I was in Washington, and textile enthusiast friend Karen was more than up for driving me - hurrah!
G Street Fabrics' range was actually a bit overwhelming. I just walked around in circles for a while, in a total daze and unable to focus. In the end I was very sensible and only came away with this beautifully soft grey fabric to make some trousers with - in the cut offs pile at only $3 per metre!
"I just picked these up at Jo-Ann's." I've always wanted to say that. I can't be the only non-American who is envious of the ease at which things seem to be able to be picked up at Jo-Ann's. The crafting revolution is only just starting to emerge in the UK so we'll have to wait a bit longer before you can find belting solutions and embroidery floss at $4 for a pack of 36 skeins in every town.
Oh the variety! Casey also recommended I visit the exhibition of First Lady dresses at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Museum + historical dresses = I'm there. Here are my favourites:
Mary Lincoln's dress
Helen Taft's dress
Eleanor Roosevelt's dress
Michelle Obama's dress
Last but not least, I can't write about Washington without sharing these snaps:
Vice President Joe Biden! Nooooo, not in Jo-Ann's, in the Capitol building, silly.
