Not a totally fruitless visit to Fabric Focus and the Cloth Shop in Edinburgh but could have been better.
I went to Fabric Focus first and was surprised how small it was; nevertheless, I found a nice fabric in navy for the Stylearc Barb trousers and a coordinating top. I haven't quite decided which top to make yet. I should have written down the fabric content because I can't quite remember now. I think the navy for the trousers is cotton/elastene and maybe Lycra with it and the patterned fabric for the top is viscose/elastene. Nothing has polyester in it.
Fabric Focus has a sale on the main pattern companies patterns - buy two, get one free. I could only find two and was even pushed to find the second one, never mind a third. I asked what happens if you only want two. The woman said "No deal." With a straight face so I passed on the patterns - with a straight face. She was most unhelpful.
Then I asked about the crafty cat quilt panel and she said, "Not from here. Never heard of it." So I gave up on that, too and to be polite even conceded that perhaps I had them confused with the Cloth Shop.
Then I asked about quilting rulers. Nope! Only got weird shapes in stock.
At least I bought some very nice fabric. I must admit most of their fabric is lovely but customer service is not.
Then I toddled of to Cloth Shop. I asked about the crafty cat panel. No, not there either.
Apart from their Liberty fabrics, there's not much else there of quality or at least I couldn't find it. Their selection of knit fabrics for trousers was almost zero and they had only two bolts of viscose/elastene for tops, neither of which I liked.
Cloth Shop didn't have quilt rulers either. I'll buy online.
I just finished writing to Fabric Focus seeking an explanation as to why their assistant had never heard of the crafty cats panel even though it's on their website - and it is. I checked when I got home.
It was a nice trip, though, and I like the fabric that I bought. I hope the fabric for the pants works out okay. I haven't sewn trousers in a long time and therefore haven't chosen fabric for them in a long time.