Although it would seem from recent posts that my trip to Switzerland has been quite heavy on sewing related activities, it really hasn’t. But I can’t help it if I happen to walk by a fabric store and need to go in and browse a bit, right?  And so it happened today just by chance that I passed by two stores on the same block, Stofftrucke, which had quite a lovely, albeit pricey selection (about $20/meter for polyester jersey, about $50/meter for silk charmeuse, and about $80/meter for wool coating), and the Bernina Nähcenter, which had a small but nice selection of fabrics at about the same prices.

But one of my favorite things was the sign in the window of the Bernina store:

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“Näh it yourself!”  A sentiment near and dear to the Selfish Seamstress’s selfish, icy heart! Now, I’m guessing that when the Bernina store tells you to “sew it yourself,” they mean it in a positive, friendly way because they want to sell you sewing machines and because they’re probably nicer people than I am.  They want to empower you to create and accomplish.  Whereas I look at this and take joy in thinking, “That’s right, you näh it your friggin’ self!  What do I look like, your Mutti? Lass mich in Ruhe!”

Here’s some fabric p*rn from the Bernina Nähcenter- felt and wool loden in lovely crayon shades, and Dan examining the velboa selection:

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Here’s some more amazing fabric p*rn from the Stofftrucke for you, an embellished wool loden, a rainbow of silks, a graceful embellished lightweight taffeta, and some assorted green woolly,  tweedy things:

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That dark brown coat-weight loden with the teal flowers on it is pretty spectacular.  I’d love it for a long coat with dark brown faux fur collar, cuffs and trim.  But at $88/meter, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I did find the BEST knit ever though:

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What makes it the best, you ask?  Well, for one thing because a meter and a half of it is sitting right here next to me and it’s ALL MINE. It’s a lovely, soft, loose, stretchy, drapey knit in a deep, intense shade of greenish teal (they call this color “petrol” here) with rich, subtle variations.  It was a bit of a splurge at $21/meter, as I think it’s just a blend of rayon and synthetics. But it looks and feels like luxury to me, and I’ve got the pattern for it all picked out in my head. All I have to decide now is whether to use it knit side out (above) or purl side out:

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I’m leaning towards purl.  A little more edgy, I think.  Oh, and I probably need to read up on how to sew a non-stable knit.  That knowledge could come in handy.

Anyway, flying home tomorrow and I’ll be reunited with my stash and my machine! All in all a great trip, a couple of good finds, and a whole lot of restraint- selfishness on a budget.