Drooling. . .

Among the many plagues of the sewing world in general is trying to find decent fabrics. Although some people are lucky enough to actually have a brick-and-mortar store near them that actually has fabric that they are delighted to buy, most of us have nothing other than Jo-Ann's, Wal-Mart, and Hancocks. (Unfortunately, both my local Jo-Ann's and Wal-Mart are shrinking their fabric selections, and I don't have a Hancocks anywhere around.)

The only resort for those of us so deprived is the internet. Unfortunately, there's no road-map for the internet, so most finds are made by suddenly stumbling upon stores one never knew existed before. In helping those hoping to stumble upon something delightful, I offer two sites that I drool over.

My favorite place to drool is at Denver Fabrics. I have ordered swatches from them, and one cut of fabric, and was happy with both. Denver Fabrics has a great, huge selection, is well sorted and easy to navigate, and I like their service. They include lots of information on their site about the fabric they're selling. And they have good prices, and good pictures and descriptions. Among the many things you can find here include small leather hides, silk weaves of all types, linen, velvet (including, thank goodness, non-stretch leather, and leather with rayon and cotton instead of poly!), and a wonderful selection of wool, as well as denim (in many weights, stretch and non-stretch) and corduroy. I try desperately to avoid visiting this site, as it makes me want to buy a truck load of fabric. I just went and visited it again for the first time in months, and the selection has only improved.

My second favorite place to drool is Trim Fabrics. I've only ordered from here once, with good results, but again, it has a big selection. However, it's unfortunately not organized as well, which makes it seem more hectic to browse. You truly get lost over here, looking at the scads and scads of fabric. Their descriptions aren't as good, but their pictures are even better. Denver fabrics is more reliable and consistent in it's offering; with Trim Fabrics you never know what you will find, and that's part of the fun. You're more likely to stumble upon something breath-taking and unique at Trim Fabrics. Denver Fabrics has more solids and a wider scope of fabric types, but Trim Fabrics has more prints, or tone-on-tones.

Both places also have good trim sections; not surprisingly, Trim Fabrics is much larger. Their lace trim alone is just staggering, and the most beautiful lace trim I've seen anywhere. If you're looking for that "extra something", you'll probably find it here.