I know I talked about Sewlarium the other day, but Josephine’s Dry Goods (JDG) was actually the first shop we visited. In comparison to the other places I know in Portland, I am not sure where it was. I let Amanda drive and I just entertained her. 😉
JDG is described as a luxurious fabric boutique. This shop reminded me of the first shop, Satin Moon at 23 Clement Street, I visited in the City when I first started to sew. Both shops are not just quiltmaking stores. They are sewing stores with a tendency to specialize in garments and garment fabrics.
JDG had quiltmaking cottons, including some designs I hadn’t seen or colorways I hadn’t seen. One was Gardenia by Sally Kelly from Windham. Unlike many quilt shops, JDG did not have the whole line. I thought the border print was gorgeous. With a black bodice, this print would make a fantastic dress. The colors of the flowers were so vibrant and lovely.
Much of the fabric was on rolls, which I always find interesting. There were velvets, silks, a lot of Liberty lawn, linen – a lot of linen, suiting fabrics, some chiffons and all manner of other garment sewing fabrics.
A number of the garment sewing fabrics were set with a drape of fabric flowing off of them, the way House of Fabrics used to display fabric, but you don’t see in quilt stores at all. I think it shows the drape of the fabric. Not all the fabrics were displayed that way. I think they displayed the fabrics as required for the type of fabric. I think that shows a thoughtful owner or manager.
Just out of the photo, above, behind the fabric, was a couch where two men (husbands?) were parked.
This photo captures the front of the shop to the left of the front door. You can see some of the fabrics in the photo above from another angle.
You can also see some of the finer fabrics that were on rolls. The green in the top roll was amazing! It was a velvet, but not a thick one, so, perhaps, velvet-like. I would love a dress made out of it.
In the back of the photo, against the wall, you can see some silks and various Japanese fabrics. I think most were either silk or linen. Right in front of the leftmost wall display are the Liberty fabrics.
There really was fabric everywhere and there were also a lot of customers on a Thursday when we were in the shop. I was kind of amazed.
The photo, right, shows many more of the rolls of fabric. I thought that would be a good place to find some oilcloth that would go well in my dining room, but no luck on that front. I did see a linen stripe in teal that, in a different color, might be great for reupholstering my wingback chairs. Mom didn’t like the width of the stripe.
From where I was standing above, I could turn and see towards the front of the shop. This was an aisle of notions. The button case is on the right. It reminds me of the button wall at Britex before they moved. So many buttons! I was tempted to buy some crystal and rhinestone cluster buttons. I don’t have a project, so I passed.
In the back of the photo is a rack of garment patterns by independent designers. The way the patterns are displayed makes it hard to see the front of the pattern, which means it is hard to know what kind of pattern you are looking at.
The front of the shop has a nice big counter. I would LOVE a cutting table like the one they have.
They rip all of their fabric and that sounds always makes me cringe. I know why they do it.
Above the counter, probably for their website, they have a camera setup that looks pretty sophisticated.
I didn’t buy anything. I might have bought the Gardenia border print, but I didn’t have a project plan, so I restrained myself.
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Josephine’s Dry Goods
2609 SE Clinton Street
Portland, OR 97202
P: 503-224-4202
Info@JosephinesDryGoods.com