Britex Fabrics; Four floors in 25 minutes

Britex Fabrics 146 Geary St, San Francisco, CA 94108

In the heart of Union Square in San Francisco is the four story wonder store: Britex Fabrics.

And every other Saturday there is a 25 minute tour of all four floors starting promptly at 11am.

Pre registration is required at http://www.britexfabrics.com/events

Mary was my fearless guide and although I have been shopping at Britex for decades she shared lots of interesting tidbits about the history, the selection of merchandise and lots of amazing fabrics.

First Floor

An amazing 120-foot wall of woolens that was created by founder Martin Spector back in 1952 when the store opened over 60 years ago. And it's still run by family 

There are also beautiful silks and imported laces on this floor.

Lace and feathers and each dot on the lace is a tiny bead.
Unbelievable and $1,100 a yard

Behind a red velvet rope are the most amazing handmade laces from France and Europe.

And we actually got to handle these amazing laces whose beauty cannot be conveyed in a photograph.

Second Floor

Cottons, blends, knits and velvets; oh my!

This is also where there are Home Dec fabrics.

Third Floor

My most favorite floor in the store because it's all 

the trims, buttons, ribbons, embellishments, notions your heart could desire.

There are 2,500 buttons 

and the woman that hands customers the button box has worked there for 26 years!

She'll only give you two boxes to choose from because it's so overwhelming.

And don't even get me started on ribbons!

My current obsession is ribbons and trying to pick just a few is impossible.

Fourth Floor

Discounted remnants, and also tulle, muslin, interfacing, felt, oilcloth and more on the top floor.

And the tour was over.

image downloaded from http://www.britexfabrics.com/our-history.html

As I stated at the beginning I am no stranger to Britex but, there is so much selection packed into this building that I now know NOT asking staff for input and suggestions is really cheating yourself.

And I'll tell you one last secret;

 the tour lasted more like 45 minutes because there is no way to quickly cover all the 

four floors of fabulousness that is Britex Fabrics.

California Fibers

Soka University in Aliso Viejo is a giant, sprawling campus boasting some amazing architecture.

www.californiafibers.com

And from January 13 until May 8, 2014 Soka University is hosting a free exhibit in the Founders Hall Art Gallery of 66 original works of art by 22 members of California Fibers. 

Julie Kornblum surplus yarn, plastic bags

 The artworks range from very large to very small and from traditional to avant garde.

Kathy Nida

The level of skill in all the works is very impressive.

Susan Hart Henegar, tapestry

A photo never does justice to scale and textures. 

These tapestries and the recycled quilt are about 5' X 7'.

Susan Henry, recycled mens wool trousers and suit jackets

Vayla, felted and quilted

Polly Jacobs Giacchina, date palm, caning and raffia

 There are numerous three dimensional pieces that are very organic in shape.

Gail Fraser, hand twined with wax linen, reed, sisal, wire and ceramics

Lydia Tjioe Hall, steel wire, cast bronze, waxed linen thread

Lynne Hodgman, crocheted rayon thread

This is a very large installation and very effective for its' relative simlpicity.

Ashley V. Blalock, cotton yarn

And I will conclude with one of my favorite pieces; 

an old school skill of crochet taken to an artistic level with a giant floor to ceiling installation.

Many people possess skills that they think are quite ordinary when in actuality the only limit to the skill is their imagination.

This exhibit celebrates and explores the ancient skill of working with fibers in many new and innovative ways.

Wayne Wichern; Milliner Extraordinaire

WAYNE WICHERN

www.waynewichernmillinery.com

Wayne sharing his knowledge and supplies during hat workshop

After my fabulous experience at Hat Camp 

( see blog entry dated 10/3 2013 Destination: Hat Camp )

I was determined to attend one of Wayne Wichern's Hat Workshops in Burlingame. 

Wayne Wichern Millinery is at 1777 California Drive, Studio 7 & 8, Burlingame, CA 94010

Lucky for me Wayne's studio at the Peninsula Museum of Art was just a bus and BART ride away from my girlie's apartment in San Francisco.

Since the goal of the workshop is to learn how to block hats

 on wooden forms ( called hat blocks )

and the fact that there are probably 200+ ( 300+ ? ) hat blocks in Wayne's studio

I knew immediately the workshop was going to be incredibly informative.

And I wasn't disappointed.

The first demonstration was a straw hood ( or blank ) blocked on this hat block.

Wayne explained all the different types of straw, the good and not so good, the weave, and the preparation of the straw, etc.

It takes a lot of  strength to block a hat and 

agility to slip a string around the stretched straw to hold it in place.

After the hat dried the excess was cut away

The brim was clean finished on the sewing machine

and then Wayne shared his method for creating a headband and sewing it in place.

Then the steps were repeated with a wool felt that was blocked,

left to dry,

and some subtle variations in the finishing steps.

I am being extremely brief! 

Eight pages of hand written notes attest to

 the knowledge and impressive skills Wayne so very generously shared with us.

All around Wayne's studio were wonderful hats in all shapes, colors and trims that were so inspiring!

Wayne has been a milliner for 27 years and is a true master of his trade.

As I begin my millinery journey with no clear destination 

it truly humbles me to have someone so unselfishly share decades of experience.

Three Days in Hat Heaven

" A great hat speaks for itself " 

( author unknown )

Created in Wayne Wichern's Hat Workshop www.waynewichernmillinery.com

At the end of three days and 21 hours of dedicated hat making

 I completed four original hats.

Step 1 was the very difficult selection of what color wool felt hood ( hat blank ) 

AND what wooden block from the 100+ blocks…

Step 2 was even more difficult to actually stretch the hood snugly over the block 

when you are a weakling like me !

Steam the heck out of it…

Pull, tug, stretch, steam, tie off the crown with string, 

pull, tug, stretch, steam, tie a string below the brim to hold the shape.

Then let the steamed, stretched, strung up felt dry.

Repeat with a new hood and block...

 and one more time with a beautiful fur velvet.

I also blocked a straw and getting the top flat was beyond a challenge.

Once the hats were dry they were oh so gingerly removed from the blocks. 

Some of the blocks are 'puzzle' blocks that come apart so removal is easier.

After cutting away the excess material the edge of the brims were finished by machine sewing.

This hat has a very challenging interior pleat that must be sewn without wrecking the shape.

Next sewing challenge; putting in the headband to reinforce the shape 

and help prevent distortion during the lifetime of the hat.

Finally the last step of trimming the hat.

A simple task compared to creating the hat but, almost more important!

This hat was named the Rally hat by my fellow students because

 my ribbon trim resembled a road and I said I wanted to glue on a little car :)

Wayne is a master at creating these maple leaves from the cut off excess felt of the hat.

Simple and elegant.

The asymmetrical brim on my straw hat really needed something big but, 

this trim is just tacked on so I can continue figuring it out 

The biggest test of my hats was if my girlies liked them or laughed…

Success! They loved them and even asked if they could have one.

However I am still in the honeymoon stage with my newest chapeaus 

and immensely enjoying wearing them out and about

so I am keeping every one.

I love any reason to go to San Francisco,

but, my three days in hat heaven ranks as one of my best trips EVER!