Fabric Store Review – Allyn’s in Denver
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Here is where I found the lace and pale blue fabric roses for my wedding hat and dress in 1972. Lots has changed in this shop – lots has remained the same. It’s still 5 blocks from my old house just north of Cherry Creek on 6th avenue. The once tiny shop has taken over the adjoining dry cleaner space and it’s now bulging with amazing laces, silks, beaded fabrics, feathered fabrics, cashmeres, trims, trims and yes, more trims. They have an entire room devoted to white and cream imported lace for wedding apparel.
I found thick and wide dark red/maroon lace to trim a Chanel-type jacket, dark purple stretch lace for a slinky T-shirt, embroidered sheer purple silk for an overskirt or light blouse to wear with a camisole. The selection and eye-candy appeal is worth a trip to Denver. Being there is like being at a fine fabric archive or museum. Only, the good news is that you can purchase what’s on display.
Quality: 6 stars. Nothing here is junky or looks cheap.
Service: 5 stars. The service folks sew, know their fabric, and seem proud to work here.
Online: Rumors are they will eventually sell online.
Price: Not as high as it could be. The older stock doesn’t seem to have been marked up, so you can find deals here. They have tons of inventory.
Fabric Store Review – Mood Fabrics – New York City
At first my eyes and brain couldn’t accommodate the vast selection of – well, of everything. Seemingly thousands of rolls of silk were piled 5 and 10 deep on tables and racks. They held prints, polka dots, chiffons, charmeuse, shantungs, crepe de chine. For blouse and shirts, I purchased a coral crepe de chine scattered with small white dots, an apple green silk poplin with black polka dots and a wide solid-green border which could be great for collar and cuffs, and a crepe de chine splattered with bright pastels.
Among the vast choices for men’s tweeds Pat found the perfect one for a sport coat ($20.00/yd.) I’ll sew, he’ll wear. Mood had an OK selection of buttons – we found leather ones for the coat.
I found a fuchsia/plum novelty Chanel-type tweed for a jacket which I’m sewing in Advanced Sewing at SLCC – Salt Lake Community College in the next couple weeks. I’ll probably bond the skittish loosely woven fabric to a very thin knit interfacing and then use a silk shantung interlining, especially if I want to do bound button holes. It was $50.00/yard – pricey, but a one-of-a-kind.
Quality: 5-star. Everything was eye-candy to a person who loves fabric. I didn’t see any “dud” fabrics.
Service: 4-star. I felt a bit rushed, but I WAS in New York City. Joe, my sales person was highly knowledgeable and energetic. He knew how to figure yardage, which is a blessing for me when shopping out of town.
Online: available, but I haven’t used it.
Price: Some fabrics are low – Pat’s tweed, some are high like my fuchsia/plum tweed.
