Hob Nobbing with Local Designers..

So I went to Portland Sewing last weekend for my first Textile Show with the jobbers from London Textiles. It was really interesting. I was pawing through samples of fabric, elbow to elbow with Bryce Black. I found a bunch of fabrics I wanted but couldn't afford any yet.

What is a Textile Show? I didn't know either. Apparently ' A jobber is a fabric supplier who sells mill ends (also called over runs), odd lots and seconds. Jobbers buy fabrics from textile mills and sometimes clothing manufacturers. Jobbers sell goods to individuals, one-off designers, small manufacturers and fabric stores. Jobbers typically have very small minimums'... according to the Fashion Incubator blog.

Basically they come and bring samples of the fabric, and you 'order' it, the prices are fantastic but it is in 10 yard minimums.

That's great for my costuming needs since Civil War dresses take about 10 yards a piece. I fell in love with a rust-colored, tropical weight wool and I would LOVE to grab it and make an 1860's day dress trimmed in black velvet ribbon. I'll have to sketch one.

What a great place to buy wool, they had so many choices and great prices.

Anyway, they had fantastic prices for silk taffeta, they didn't have a color I needed (ha!) but for future reference it's good to have a source. They had a gorgeous black-burgundy shot silk and a lovely, buttery gold. sigh