Baer's Fabrics & baseball

I can't say that I was ever planning to visit Louisville, KY, but the occasion of an old friend's wedding there brought la familia to "the Ville" this weekend. We stayed at the shockingly hip and sweet 21C Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville. It's new, it has a "museum" of new art on the ground floor (mostly multimedia installations), and the restaurant connected to the hotel, Proof on Main, was nothing short of outstanding.

I, of course, made a beeline to Baer's Fabrics, which turned out to be a good 20 minute walk away. But it's actually fall weather in Kentucky, there were few vagrants about, and the stroll past Louisville's 19th century buildings in transition to loft living was pleasant.

The old floors squeak and crunch under your feet in Baer's, and the people working there are nice and knowledgeable. I would say that their fine fabrics selection is pretty much limited to woolens, but there were some very nice ones there. They had quite a large selection of buttons, one of the most expansive I've ever seen outside of Toronto. I had forgotten my pocket library of fabrics at home and did not know which buttons I wanted to buy. Finally, I drew upon my shaky memory and bought what I thought I needed. They were having a 25% off sale! I also bought some fun "bubble brocade" fabric that I think will make a great dressy jacket. In all, not my usual haul, but a lot of fun nonetheless.

Later that day, the child and I visited the Louisville Slugger factory, where baseball bats are made, and the black-tinted bats used in the World Series were being finished and packed for shipping. We got to hold models of the actual baseball bats that Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio order for themselves. I didn't know that Major League players get to order their own baseball bats, but they do. We could have picked up one that Albert Pujols uses, but I uttered a quiet "Booooo" in my child's ear and we didn't touch his stinky bat. I was quiet because people in L'ville are rooting for the Cardinals in the World Series. Their AAA farm team is in Louisville. I hate the Cardinals.

I hate Jeffery Sebelia and topstiching

Here's why I hate Jeffery Sebelia, winner of Season Three of Project Runway. You can call his Sid & Nancy routine and affection for heroin chic just a matter of taste. But the needs of children are non-negotiable. Last week, Vicious said he wanted to win Project Runway so his toddler son would be proud of him. Got news for ya, pal, it's not your son's job to be proud of you, to puff you up. Ever. This sort of thing is never obvious to alcoholics and drug addicts, though. They're always blaming other people's lack of appreciation for them for their wretched behavior.



I love contrast topstiching, but it's a bugger to accomplish. Three passes at my Vogue 2865 jacket, and I still don't have flawless results. I was thinking that one of Jeffery Sebelia's sample makers could probably get it done perfectly. Maybe I should drop by the next time I'm in LA. This jacket project, only my second ever in over 25 years of sewing, has been an online class project through patternreview.com. If you haven't checked out that Web site and you sew, do yourself a favor and sign up.