FabricLady

Confessions of a Fabric Junkie

2011-11-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Confessions of a fabric junkie!

If you already didn't know this about me, I love to buy fabric. Yes, I am a fabric junkie. As my story is told, I have been collecting fabric since I was 9 years old. The oldest fabric I have in my trunks is a print with the landing on the moon. Throughout my childhood I cherished a 1/2 yard fur remnant which draped over the end of my twin bed.

Looking back through time, this is one of the manifestations of our humanity - the making of textiles and all their uses from birth to death; for body and home. All fabric junkies carry this in our genetic makeup. It's really old and it serves us on many levels. I am blessed that I was born to buy fabric. I look back to my forefathers and what I have been given. This opportunity to make beautiful connections deep within the American textile industry is one of the things I cherish most about my job.

I remember going to New York back in 1985 - with only one contact and a lot of excitement. This trip last week was a special time to see old friends in the industry and buy new fabric. I hope you will enjoy these photos as I share part of my journey into the jobbing heart of Midtown NYC!

Take a look and see how inspiration can be found all around us. Better yet, come down to Stonemountain & Daughter and check out all the new one-of-a-kind designer fabrics.

I love my Marcy Tilton Skirt!

2011-10-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

Today I am wearing my Marcy Tilton Skirt from Vogue Patterns. We sell all our Vogue Patterns at 20% off everyday!

Dad came in for a quick visit to the store and to deliver eggs fresh from the family chickens!

I am busy working on the class schedule for 2012. I am super excited about some of the new classes we are developing! Are there any classes that you are looking for?

Color me White Quilt Class with Angie Woolman - October 23rd

2011-10-12T13:35:00.001-07:00

New Date and Time! Come join this small class on October 23rd from 5 pm to 10 pm!

Call us at 510-845-6106 to register and learn how to create a stunning visual quilt of your own! The class is only $60 and taught by Angie Woolman.

Patchwork is fairly simple, but you must enjoy collecting these light and white fabrics which contain large gesture!! No previous color theory is needed - just the desire to jump right into a new world of fabric use!

You can check out Angie's blog at angiewoolman.blogspot.com

COLOR with WHITE
Tessellation = Tiling with 1 geometric shape. Our project will use a "tessellated" design, in this quilt a 4-sided shape.

This color class teaches you to work in fabrics with "large gesture" on a "light ground." These wonderful fabrics are currently abundant of at SMD. See photos and examples hanging in store next to class sample, made a student from a previous class

Students in class create one-of-a-kind flowing pieces while learning about line and texture and surface design.

Everyday is like Christmas here!

2011-10-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

I just love the energy when the UPS and Fed Ex trucks pull up and unload boxes of fabric, notions, patterns and buttons! Today we got in beautiful cottons and oilcloth!

Timeless Treasures Quilt Show at Stonemountain & Daughter!

2011-10-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

I love to see our walls filled with quilts and garments! We literally have inspiring projects hanging from the ceiling. Look up and be amazed.

I am excited to show off the beautiful quilts from Timeless Treasures here at Stonemountain & Daughter!

We also have beautiful quilts hanging that are made in a collective in Guatemala - they are for sale and the proceeds go directly to this womens collective!

Samples of Kwik Sew Patterns up in our Store!!!

2011-10-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

One of the inspiring things we love to do at Stonemountain & Daughter is show off the many uses of fabric in clothing and quilts! The other day a customer told me that she always looks UP when she comes into our store to check out the latest up on our walls and hanging from the ceiling. I loved hearing that and it inspires me to search for new and exciting displays of garments, quilts and more.

Come check out our exciting sample show of Kwik Sew Patterns hanging on our walls. Here are some photos of what you can see.

4 Generations strong!

2011-09-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

I love this photo of my Grandfather and great-uncles! My Dad grew in Steinberg & Sons Fabric business which began in Los Angeles in 1919.

This was a photo in 1967 when my dad opened up the first counter-culture "hippy" fabric store focusing on cotton and natural fibers - a big change from the polyester double-knits that everybody was wearing. We have been buying from companies like Alexander Henry and Hoffman fabrics for over 45 years!

One of the things that drew me into the fabric business with my father, was this long time family connection and contacts that felt so right. When I joined my father in 1981, there were very few women anywhere in the business. We bought from men; men were the sales reps and men owned fabric stores. I doubt the same doors would have been opened to me without my Dad at that time. It has been a privilege to help grow our business into the unique and valuable resource that it has become.

Dad and I are still going strong after 30 years on Shattuck Avenue. Please come see us soon and work with our experienced and helpful staff on your next project.

Wools, Silks, Cottons and way too much more...

2011-09-28T12:34:00.001-07:00

Can you feel it in the air? It's time to sew! The store is full and getting fuller every day with the new shipments coming in.

What are you getting ready to sew for fall? We have the best wool, silk and knits ever!

Most of our designer fabrics are coming over from Italy and you won't find them anywhere else. Our long time connections in the apparel industry are really coming through for us. Since all our domestic mills have shut down here in the United States and there are no more protective duties to pay, it's Italy and France for us!

I am sending out a big thanks to all the Fashion Students in San Francisco and the East Bay for coming to Stonemountain & Daughter for their fashion lines!

OK, back to pricing some of the fabric you see in those cartons...hmmm I wonder what's in them? Come find out!

Stonemountain Voted #1 by Parent's Press

2011-09-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

We thank all the reader's of Parent's Press Paper for voting our sewing classes #1 for Kids!

We taught over 175 young and enthusiastic seamsters to sew this summer in our Youth Summer Camps.

I am working on the next schedule now for 2012. Maybe you can think of some young person interested.

I have found that this is the most talented generation - so capable, focused, technical and creative - plus they love fashion and to wear clothes that express their individuality!

Check out our classes on our website.

There is a Stonemountain and Daughter

2011-09-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day in Berkeley. My Dad coming up on his weekly trek to the store to take care of biz. We have been doing this together since 1981. So much has changed in the fabric business. One of the things is the quality of printed cottons is amazing. Today we got in so many cartons from different vendors: Hoffman batiks and prints, Benartex, Timeless Treasures, Quilting Treasures, RJR and more!

I will start blogging more about the day to day happenings at Stonemountain & Daughter

Celebrating 30 years in Berkeley!

2011-03-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed and wanted to share the questions and my answers!

1. How is Stonemountain & Daughter different from other fabric stores?

Bob and Suzan Steinberg (Stonemountain translates from Steinberg) are the 3rd and 4th generation selling fabric in California. This family business has long time connections for unique and well priced fabrics for apparel and quilting since 1919. Customers come from all over to explore their vast collections of current cotton, silk, wool, linen, knits, rayons, polys, velvet, fur, yarn for crochet and knitting along with an extensive notion, accessary and pattern department. Our sales staff is knowledgable, experienced and ready to help you with your next project! Stonemountain & Daughter is one of the few independent fabric stores in the country with an expansive program to teach sewing, quilting and knitting. Customers have fun exploring our 3 rooms and two floors - over 6000 square feet in downtown Berkeley!

2. What positive changes have you seen over the years in the fabric business?

The quality of the fabric just gets better and better. The artwork on cotton is amazing and the quality of the cloth they are printed on is superior to what was around 15 years ago. We are getting more and more from Italy, as the Design Rooms shut down in New York and that has been exciting to watch the wools and silks come in from Europe. More and more is coming from China which has been a mixed bag for our industry. The prices were very competitive up until quite recently and now they are manipulating currency and the raw resources and raising prices 25 to 50%. It will be very interesting and potentially disruptive to our industry if this is a long term trend. There are wonderful patterns and notions coming from all kinds of individual creative sources and we are able to move away from big corporations and sell many products that are local!

3. Who are your customers these days?

Our customer is everyone! From the person who needs a button for their vintage shirt to the fashion student at The Academy of Art. Our customers are young, old, hip and straight. Our classes have taught a new generation to sew and have helped us to stay in business through these changing times. From the time we are born and put into fabric till our final days, cloth is a main part of our lives and Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics loves this creative connection with it's community.

4. How does it feel to be 30?

It's amazing! When we first opened our doors, everyone was saying "Oh just what Berkeley needs - another fabric store!" There were so many back in 1981 all over the Bay Area. Now we are among the last in our area and nationally. We are blessed that we have been able to keep listening to our community and what they were looking for. Each week we strive to be better and better and that really fills a need all around us. People come in from all over the world and tell us how special we are and how they wish they had a Stonemountain & Daughter in their community.

5. What do you see in the future for S&D and fabric shops in general?

These are indeed changing times and we are doing our best to ride this wave. It's not easy for an independent store to exist in this day and age. We have seen this trend not only in the Fabric Stores, but in video, books and music stores. We hope to hang on and continue to share our passion for finding great fabrics at fair prices. In general, it doesn't look so good as the industry as a whole is a bit of a dinosaur. It's too bad because this current young generation is finally into sewing and crafting - let's just hope it's not too late.

Welcome my new assistant Kate!

2010-10-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

What a summer it's been! I had such high hopes for a weekly blog, but got involved in all the day-to-day intensity of running a fast pace Fabric Store. Please join me in welcoming Kate, my new assistant and creative collaborator! I would love to share her wonderful experience that she had last week. I promise to resume with more stories from our industry and the fun of running a fabric store...kindest regards, Suzan

Kate Ruddle recently wrote:

Last Saturday, I went to my first real fashion show and what a treat it was! Sandra Betzina was showcasing her pattern line – “Today’s Fit” for Vogue. To my delight the “program” was a collection of about thirty patterns that the audience got to see made up in beautiful fabrics and wonderfully finished garments worn by Canada student volunteers.

It was very inspiring to see the fabrics that Betzina chose to go with her patterns. A real stand out was a velveteen skirt with leather piping ! She started her talk by saying how lucky we are to have access to such wonderful fabric in the Bay Area and later in her show recommended StoneMountain and Daughter’s denim in 12-14 oz for her cropped jean pattern (Vogue 1034).

Coats were a real highlight, Sandra Betzina said “ When you look at fashion magazines…Its all about the coat, the bag, and the shoes”, and indeed, my friend and I were particularly taken with her coat patterns. As Sandra encouraged us to get most most mileage out of our sewing skills for this Fall, I perused the program to choose the most wonderful Betzina coat pattern.

I loved pattern 1147 with its long sweep and my friend loved the shorter and more versatile Vogue 1198. I also was inspired by Vogue 1097, her raincoat pattern. It was a short swingy number that transformed with fabric choices: Betzina had made it up as a fun and useful Bay Area raincoat and as second coat in the same pattern as an elegant silk coat.

After the fashion show, Betzina’s gave a half hour lecture demonstrating many wonderful techniques from her new upcoming books. She has so much new knowledge to share that she is releasing two new books – Power Sewing Toolbox 1 and Power Sewing Tool Box 2. She started out with techniques that complement her patterns: rolled hems, fusible thread techniques, and sequins which will be hot for Fall !

I imagine that her lecture will be preview of your evening in October at StoneMountain and Daughter and so I also wanted to share it. There was a continuous collar that seamed on the back instead of at the collar points – a very discrete detail. She also showed a technique to line a wool ribbing pant with tricot that was easy and elegant, and finally a fast and super easy cut away seam for a bulky jacket that gets laid on a ribbon and feather stitched !

Oct. 14 – 6:30-9:30pm $30. Come to an evening of fun -–space is limited so please sign up early– see her samples and learn her new techniques. You will get to see how Betzina intends her creations in the fabrics that she uses and it will inspire your creativity.

You will also want to order Power Sewing Toolbox 1 and Power Sewing Tool Box 2 soon to get the first publishing, which you will receive for the Winter Holidays. The second publishing will be available in January.

~ Kate Ruddle

Where have all the Fabric Stores gone?...continued!

2010-08-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

So what happened to all the family run, independent fabric stores in every town? Our old-world fabric industry has indeed undergone huge changes in the last 3 decades. Stores have closed, factories have closed, women are working more, fashion styles have changed, sewing is not being taught in our schools and current trends toward on-line buying have all contributed to this wave of change.

From my perspective, the initial assault came from those within our own industry. The large chains like House of Fabrics and then WalMart came in to crush the mom-and-pop store and build their own customer base. They would discount 70% off fabrics and patterns constantly until the shops around them all closed. I saw this happening around us and in every community. To make it worse, my own suppliers, such as Vogue Patterns would give these chains lower costs making it impossible for ANYBODY to compete and try and stave off the inevitable...the loss of our customer base. All through the 80's and 90's fabric stores lost their financial grip and closed leaving the large national or regional chains supplying the fabric needs of most areas.

I remember when House of Fabrics bought the regional chain of New York Fabrics. The first thing they did with that amazing store in Emeryville was to take out the nice carpet and put in linoleum. Of course they could never maintain the high quality of fashion goods and brought in their version of fashion fabrics. It was actually a good thing for us at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics because we continued to carry fine wools, silks, cottons, knits and linens. House of Fabrics was super aggressive in it's discounting of fabric, patterns and notions all across the country. Many wonderful stores did not survive like we were able to do.

This trend toward large retail outlets contributed to the downfall of Retail Fabric Stores and was quickly followed by a shift in other industries such as Book, Music and Video stores.

So while a great shift was happening in the lives of the home seamster, chain stores were devouring up the indie stores in every community. Then as soon as they shut down their competition, they stopped carrying high quality fabrics and notions! This has left most cities and towns without access to good fashion fabrics, like those available at Stonemountain & Daughter in Berkeley. Now in all fairness to these chains, like WalMart, it's hard for to rationalize carrying fashion fabrics. It really is not a very profitable part of our business and we know what we are doing! It's super hard for a minimum wage staffer with no sewing experience to really sell quality silk and wool at the chains. I see why WalMart is closing down it's fabric inventory in some of their stores. Our staff at Stonemountain have many skills to help our customers and it's still difficult!

There is so much more to talk about in my next blogs...on a positive note there is Stonemountain & Daughter along with many other great independent fabric stores across North America! Check out a fantastic group of indie fashion fabric stores at FineFabricStores.com I am passionate about the survival of the independent fabric store and have the privilege of being director of this group!

I truly appreciate any comments you have and thank you for your time in this "conversation"! Now it's time to go get ready to hear some music tonight at the Greek Theater! Happy Sewing!

Where have all the Fabric Stores gone?

2010-07-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Back in 1981 when my dad, Bob Steinberg, decided to move his 750 sq. ft. store, Stonemountain Fabrics from the cozy town of Pacific Grove, there were so many stores already around Berkeley and San Francisco. I recall people saying that Berkeley did not need another Fabric Store. Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics began as a spunky 1000 sq. ft store near downtown Berkeley. Just down the street from our little start up was Kaufman's FabricLand and the inspiring Poppy Fabrics. Close by were small shops featuring authentic Japanese Fabric and another selling Guatemalan. New York Fabrics was the most amazing family run "chain" of fabric stores ever and they were close by in Emeryville and Oakland. Home Yardage was on Telegraph and many other stores as well. It was a thriving time for our fabric industry. People were sewing garments; kids were being taught in school; fashion fabrics of all types were easily available in every community across North America.

Fast forward to 2010 and we are now living in a new time. What happened?

Back in the Store!

2010-07-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Wow what a weekend we had here at Stonemountain & Daughter! Lots of customers from all over were in and checking out all the great new fabrics. I had a great weekend mostly staying around my home enjoying the nice sunny days in the East Bay. Spent some time learning more about how to run my website and what SEO means and how to update photos so I can keep it all fresh and inspiring. There is so much to learn! Since the beginning of our web page back in the mid 90's I have been working with various people to run our website and now it's time for me to take a more hands-on approach thanks to new software and systems.

Tomorrow I am going to the Mac store for some one-to-one training to learn how to update my other website at finefabricstores.com

FineFabricStores.com is a collective of independent retail fashion fabric stores who all advertise together in Threads & Vogue Magazines together. A few years ago, we also added this great website for fabric lovers all over to send out an email to all our member stores looking for specific fabrics! I became Director of this group and really enjoy helping our entire industry become stronger.

So some of you may be wondering where our name came from. Our family name is Steinberg and that translates to Stonemountain...and with it being my dad and me, it became Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics. In 1976 my Dad opened up Stonemountain Fabrics in Pacific Grove until 1981 when he moved to Berkeley. You can read more of our history here.

Well back to the busy store - Going to send out a postcard this week. Hope you all are enjoying our e-newsletter that went out!

2010-07-16T20:33:00.001-07:00

Well here goes! I am not sure how I got here today, but it seems to be happening! Sometimes the spontaneous way of doing things is the best way to jump in. I will figure it out as I go, but it seems right and easy so far. I have been working on learning how to manage my own website and it seems like laying down some of my experiences and thoughts in a blog makes sense.

I think I have the best job in the world. Really. Who wouldn't want to buy every single pieces of gorgeous FABRIC...gorgeous silks, wools, rayons, linens and tons of knits...and of course cottons! Cotton is and has been King since the 70's. I grew up in my father's first store, Bob Steinberg's Fabric Emporium which opened in 1967. It truly was the first Hippie, Counter Culture Fabric Store selling Cotton - not polyester double knits!!! He bought from Alexander Henry, went to school with the Hoffman's and Kaufman's!

Our store is no accident. When my Dad opened up here in Berkeley, people were saying that Berkeley did NOT need another fabric store. So many have closed and we have grown steadily serving our community of Fabric Lovers in all kinds of original ways!

I have been working with my father for almost 30 years (anniversary is February 2011) and so amazed and filled with gratitude that we get to still keep making Stonemountain & Daughter a fabulous place to shop and work in.

I guess I do have stuff to say and look forward to sharing more of our family history, the great fabrics that come in everyday and some personal stuff from time to time.