Fabric Shopping in San Francisco

We've just returned from 4 days in San Francisco. The last time we were there, we were flying, so I was pretty restricted in what I could buy. This time, however, we drove! I hit all 4 floors of Britex fabrics first and spent $132.00. I did have my hands on some fabric that was $350.00 a yard. I wish I had thought to take a picture because that is as close to having any of it I will get. It was made from tulle yo yos which were crocheted together with a black silky thread. Mostly, I purchased from the 4th floor "bargains" (not exactly on the scale of JoAnn's sale fabrics, but oh well) The people working there are top notch, so it was fun to just visit with them and also to watch the other customers.

The second fabric place I found was in Chinatown. There was a partial wall of bolts of silk, all for $19.95 a yard. I went crazy buying one yard of 10 fabrics and 1 1/2 yards of two others. I also found a book of Chinese Knots and some cute slippers I want to copy, so got those. Except for steamed and baked buns for our dinner, that is all we bought in Chinatown, but we did look a lot.

I'm glad I did some research before leaving home for the third place. Noone at the hotel seemed to know anything about a fashion district. I ended up taking a cab ($9.40 + tip each way) down to the Jessica McClintock outlet. There was a whole room of amazing formals and wedding dresses for $5 to 100.00. Most of the $100+ gowns were on sale for 60% off that price as an end of summer event. I even looked at a long black satin skirt that would have fit me for $15.00. It was the fabric I was after though, so I started through the rolls. They were all on rolls with numbers such as 6.00 on the tape. I thought the numbers must refer to the price (the sweet lady working the floor didn't understand my question, so I went with what I assumed) I picked out a few rolls and took them to the checkout lady. Come to find out, the number referred to the yards and each roll was a set price no matter how many yards. The price per roll was --drum roll here--$3.30!!! I ended up with 12 rolls of fabric which I then had to unroll and fold to put in bags to get back to the hotel. I also got a couple of purses, some feather trim, some gloves and some lace and ribbon. Now, I have to figure out what to do with 35 yards of light pink satin with darker pink polka dots! Anyway, I spent $71.00 for the whole bunch. I might not have purchased the silk if I had gone to the outlet first, but I will have a great time making real silk goodies. They will have to be priced a bit higher or else I'll just use the silk for family gifts. Who knows? I will especially welcome suggestions for polka dot satins.