Bargains! Bargains!

Since it opened a year ago, modern sewers in Spokane have been flocking to a tiny fabric store on Spokane’s Near North Side called The Top Stitch . Owner Carrie Jarvis stocks the place with fabrics from designers like Amy Butler and the various artists behind the Free Spirit label. She also carries the latest craft books and patterns and offers classes and “Stitch Cafe” hours, where sewers can work on projects while they kvetch with one another. I was in the shop yesterday buying some fabric for a Christmas gift I’m making for my daughters and am excited to tell you there’s a sale right now on some of the Amy Butler fabric. It’s not every day that Amy Butler fabric gets discounted, so I bought a few yards and might go back for more by Saturday when the sale ends. She’s offering 20 percent off of Amy’s two Midwest Modern lines, as well as on apron patterns. I hadn’t been in in a few months (shamefully) and was shocked to see how jam-packed the place is with inventory. If I hadn’t had my hooligan children with me, one of whom was treating Carrie’s ironing boards like surf boards, I could have stayed all day. The Top Stitch is located at 1717 W. Garland Ave., just west of the Garland/Ash intersection. (The photo above is of a romper I sewed my youngest last summer using Amy Butler fabric I purchased at The Top Stitch.)