Links
Vendors
Thai Silks in Los Altos is one of the best known silk importers and retailers on the west coast. Exotic Silks in Mountain View is their wholesale operation.
Pickering International is a mail-order only importer and wholesaler of hemp and hemp-blend fabrics. If you're willing to order wholesale quantities, they're the place to go for hemp.
Dharma Trading is the Bay Area's clearinghouse for everything dye and fabric-paint. If it can be dyed, they can help you do it.
Lacis is a little weird, but it is the source for lace-making tools and other obscure vintage textile arts equipment.
Fabrics-Store.com isn't local (it's in West Hollywood) but it's a great source for real flax linen.
The Linen Lab is a great source for linen, ramie and blends. It's in Korea, so give your order plenty of lead time.
L'etoffe Fabrics sells deadstock designer materials and other interesting things.
Wawak.com is a clearinghouse of sewing tools. Buy bulk needles there.
Allstitch sells discount machine embroidery supplies, and is a good source for bulk needles.
Educators
Sandra Betzina is the woman behind Power Sewing, formerly of HGTV and now available on the web.
Sandra Erickson runs the St. Helena Center for Pattern Design. Her patternmaking classes are amazing.
Wayne Wichern is an excellent milliner, and an excellent millinery teacher.
January opens with Further Confusion, the SF Bay Area furry convention. It's one of the biggest in the world.
February is Gallifrey One, the west coast's Doctor Who convention, down in LA.
Every spring Costume-Con is 4 days of costume. Kevin chaired the 26th Costume-Con in San Jose, April 2008.
In case you were having an easy time planning May, Fanime is the big SF Bay Area anime convention. In 2012 they added the Clockwork Alchemy steampunk convention to their schedule.
July 4th is the traditional weekend for Westercon, the North American west's oldest convention. Kevin and I are bringing the 66th Westercon to Sacramento in July 2013.
July is also BayCon, the SF Bay Area's longest-running science fiction convention, and happens near the 4th of July weekend. Kevin and I ran the costume contest for BayCon 2007.
July brings Mancuso Show Management's Pacific International Quilt Festival at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Worldcon is the oldest science fiction convention still running, and it's almost always in August or early September. Kevin and I ran the costume contest at Renovation, the 69th Worldcon, in Reno August 2011. Kevin produced the entertainment for the costume judging interval at the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow.
November brings us PAWcon, the Bay Area's newest furry convention.