Hi, Friends! It’s been a long time since our last meeting here on these pages. I was off visiting friends and family for most of July, and I thought you might like to see a few of the places I visited. As always, I’ll include links when possible. Maybe you’ll find some new favorites, too!
First let’s visit the Detroit area of Michigan.
My sister-in-law took my mother-in-law and me into Eastern Market in Detroit one weekend. Eastern Market is a farmer’s market filled with delicious food and beautiful plants.
Castor Bean
Dahlia
Dahlia
The market area is flanked by cool shops as well.
DeVries & Co.
DeVries & Co.
DeVries & Co. had all sorts of great foods, imported and domestic. You could ride the old freight elevator to the top level to find cute home goods as well.
And, of course, we had to look in this labyrinthine antique shop that my sister-in-law discovered.
Eastern Market Antiques
This little area was arguably my favorite. I even found a vintage dress/tunic!
Collar detail
It’s a bit on the short side for a dress on its own, but I have a few ideas for it…
Just before we left, we visited the Detroit Mercantile Company. Talk about a great selection of quality and hand-made goods!
Detroit Mercantile Company
Detroit Mercantile Company
Since I’ve been contemplating making jeans, I was pretty interested in the offerings from the Detroit Denim Company. After checking out their website, I kind of wished I had tried to set up an interview. Maybe another time…
We also had fun food adventures, and I can wholeheartedly recommend Joe’s Hamburgers if you are ever in Wyandotte, MI. They have a great retro vibe and delicious food. The burgers are small (“sliders”), which makes it all the better if you want to sample several–and don’t forget to order a few kinds of fries if you are with a group so you can try more than one kind!
Mushroom Swiss Slider and Poutine Fries. Yum!
And now, you probably knew it was coming…FABRIC SHOPPING! I have to thank my husband who drove me around and sat through three hours of fabric shopping (plus plenty of indecision on my part). My in-laws also deserve thanks for babysitting!!!
Before we left, I looked online for fabric stores in the Detroit area and came up with this list from Rae Hoekstra of made by RAE that covers some of the best of southern Michigan. And she was not wrong. I went to two different fabric shops near Detroit, and each was spectacular.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do Material Girls in Dearborn justice (so sorry!). I got a picture of the outside of their shop and then totally dropped the ball on photographing the inside.
The ladies who worked there were really wonderful. They had a good selection of quilting fabric as well as some carefully curated apparel fabrics. It was so wonderful to see, in person, many of the fabrics I have looked at online. There really is no comparison to touching and looking at fabric in person. After saving up a nice little fund for shopping, it was great to not only look, but also buy and stock up on supplies for upcoming projects. Here is what I got from The Material Girls:
The bird fabric is for me (I was inspired by Carolyn of Allspice Abounds), but the pandas and superheroines are for Christmas presents. Luckily the intended recipients don’t read this blog. Shh! 😉
We also visited Haberman Fabrics in Royal Oak, Michigan. It’s a little bit hard to describe this one. It might be fabric paradise.
I don’t think I’ve been in a fabric store quite like this since I started sewing seriously. It was mainly dedicated to apparel fabric, including bridal and special occasion, but also had home decorating fabric, space for classes, a sewing machine repair window, and so many notions. Wow.
When I first got there, I was so excited. I wandered through looking at all the various apparel fabrics. I had made a list so I could be at least slightly focused, but after looking at everything, my excitement turned into distress. I saved and worked to build a fabric fund, but there was too much! What should I get? What would I be sad to leave behind?
Want to see what I got?
The striped fabric is a rayon knit from Italy that’s double-sided! I also wanted to experiment with a little stretch lace and stretch net. (I can’t find any of these on their website, or I would link to them.) What a great store.
Yea for fabric shopping and yea for some fun in the city! Thanks, family and friends! Next up…the country!
Pattern and Branch 
Looks like you had some great field trips. I’ll have to make note of these places. My family lives only 2 hrs from Detroit in Ohio. When I visit by myself, I fly into Detroit. That would be a fun side trip after they pick me up! Thanks for sharing, glad you’re back home.
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I think you would love it. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
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