As a seamstress and designer, fabric is always so important. I have so much in my stash right now, I almost never need fabric but you always need the pretties right? Treelotta is one of my favorite local shops in Denver. Its located at 29 fox street, Denver, Co. I even help out there every know and again when I can. Because who doesn’t want to be surrounded by fabric lovers and makers? Its just fun! They mainly focus on quilting and even have a beautiful purple quilting long arm machine. It is so fun to watch it go! But they have an excellent selection of knits and wovens that are appropriate for apparel sewing. In addition to fabric, they have all the notions you needs, along with patterns, ribbon, fun shears, and more. I promise you will walk out with something you love!
Some time ago, I sat down with the owner, Teressa and asked her a few questions.m
Arielle: Tell us about your shop, what fabrics and supplies do you carry?
Treelotta: Treelotta carries mostly quilting weight cotton, but we also carry a large selection of other substrates (knits, lawn/voile, denim, flannel, double gauze, rayon challis, etc.). We also carry many supplies for making bags (zippers, hardware, foam/interfacing, etc.). And, we have a ton of patterns and lots of notions, trims, batting. I could go on. 😀 And, a service that we offer is longarm quilting. You can bring in your quilt parts, and we will quilt them together for you.
Arielle: Where did the name Treelotta come from?
Treelotta: I wish I remembered exactly where the name “Treelotta” came from. Maybe someday I’ll make up a cool story. 😉 In the meantime, here it is: I was playing with names, and it is either something that my son said putting some sounds together (he was probably around 4 at the time), or it just popped into my head, and I knew as soon as I “heard” it that it was the right one.
Arielle: When did you decide to open the shop? What inspired you?
Treelotta: I toyed with the idea of opening the shop for a while, and finally officially opened on September 8, 2012. The largest impetus for opening the shop was wanting to teach people how to make cool things. When I first opened, I had grand plans to keep working as a sustainable kitchen and bath designer, sell “green” products for the home in the shop, and teach many different kinds of classes (sewing, of course, but also organic lip balms and lotions, screen printing, knitting, etc.). The fact that I had a longarm quilting machine and more and more fabric showing up in the shop each day had people telling me that they “really liked my quilt shop.” Hmmm … I guess that’s what it is! I have since embraced that and focused mostly on the fabric arts in my “Fabric + Craft Studio.” We like to branch out a little to other crafts as well, but so do our customers, so it works out well.
Speaking of opening … we opened in our new space almost a year ago now, and we are finally getting around to having our Grand Re-Re-Opening Party! Yes, this is our third location. Moving a fabric store is hard work! Anyway … our big party will be on Saturday, November 30, 2019 (from 10-5). That is Small Business Saturday, and it is 2 days after Thanksgiving. We opened in our new space last year on Small Business Saturday and thought that it would be fun do have our party on the same day this year. There will be giveaways and fun things to do. Come check it out!
Arielle: What kind of events do you offer?
Treelotta: We offer classes pretty regularly as well as some clubs. For example, we offer many bag making classes. Later today I am teaching the Sew Together Bag. We also have a ByAnnie Bag of the Month Club going on this year (and we just announced a different ByAnnie Bag of the Month Club for next year). This year’s club focused on bags and containers that are great for organization. Next year’s club will focus on bags for traveling. We also have an Alabama Chanin Club that meets once a month. If you don’t know about Natalie Chanin and her reverse applique technique on knits, look up “Alabama Chanin” online! She makes beautiful things (and so do we using the techniques that she teaches). Next year, I hope to have more garment sewing classes on the schedule. I love to make garments, and can’t wait to teach everyone else to love it, too!
Arielle: What is your favorite thing you carry in your store?
Treelotta: Asking me to tell you my favorite thing in the store is like asking me who my favorite child is. 😉 So hard! I love everything in there, but right now I am excited to work on some English paper piecing, embroidery, and sashiko. Handwork is calling to me these days. Also, I want to be doing more garment sewing, so I love our knits, double gauze, etc. And, in fact, I just returned from Quilt Market where I ordered a bunch more garment fabrics, so I can’t wait to work with those.
Arielle: How did you get into sewing?
Treelotta: I got into sewing when I was about 7. My mom taught me how to sew. I started with garments, but as an adult moved more into quilts, bags, etc. Now I am itching to get back to garments.
Arielle: Whats your favorite thing to sew? What would you like to add to your sewing list?
Treelotta: My favorite thing to sew … there you go again! I can’t tell you my favorite. 😀 Well, even though I do really want to make more clothing again, I love making bags. They don’t need to fit my body (score!), and they do really come out looking nice and professional. And, they are much quicker to make than a quilt.
Arielle: Do you have any advice for people wanting to learn to sew?
Treelotta: My advice to anyone wanting to learn how to sew is to go ahead and check out YouTube, etc. because you’ll see how easy it really can be. But, the best way to actually learn is in person from someone who has been doing it for a long time. We offer classes at Treelotta, and I also offer private and semi-private lessons. That is probably the best way to start out. I love beginning sewists; they don’t have any bad habits yet, so I can program them with good habits right from the beginning!
If you are in Denver, go support your local fabric shop!!!!
