During a trip to Chicago I had decided to make a trip to Textile Discount Outlet located just outside the city of Chicago; just off of the Damen Street stop on the pink line.
Browsing through my for-you-page on TikTok I came across a video of a guy walking through the warehouse looking for a fabric for his project. Knowing that I would be in the city in just a few weeks I decided to make a special trip there! It is harder and harder to find good locally owned fabric stores so I always make it a point to seek them out when I am visiting a new city.
Open Sunday from 10am - 4pm and Monday - Thursday from 10am - 4:30pm, be sure to check this out while you can! The warehouse boasts 13 rooms and over 75,000 square feet of fabric, trims, notions, and more.
To see a full tour of the warehouse check out my YouTube Video!
While I was shopping, one particular fabric caught my eye... when I pulled the bolt out the fabric was unmistakably familiar.
This printed lace is a surplus of fabric that I had designed while working in New York City as an Assistant Dress Designer for Kensie Dresses. This particular fabric was one that was made during one of my first seasons! I couldn't believe my eyes; this is what the Kensie dress looked like:
Of course I had to buy some! It was such a surreal experience realizing that everything had come full circle. From growing up in the midwest, moving to NYC, and coming back to the midwest, this fabric had somehow ended up in the hands of a Chicago-based jobber and ended up at the warehouse that had popped up in my social media feed. What a small world!
Using Simplicity #S8047 I created a misses dress with overlay using the lace with scallop edges as the overlay. To follow along, watch my YouTube Video! To see how it turned out, scroll down:
