Columnist Muriel Stevens: Poking around the fabric stores

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1999 | 10:01 a.m.

Muriel Stevens' shopping column appears Wednesdays. Her dining column appears Fridays. Reach her at muriel@vegas.com or 259-4080.

It had been a long time since I'd been in a fabric store, but a call from a friend to help him pick out upholstery fabric for two small chairs was a reminder that I, too, wanted to redo chairs. So, off we went. Most fabric shops have a section devoted to upholstery fabrics, but we were looking for a shop that specialized in such materials.

My friend thought he could find what he wanted at the Joann store in the Sahara Pavilion at Sahara and Decatur. This store is more craft shop than fabric shop, but it had a large selection and it was an interesting place to browse. Still, nothing we saw fit the bill. We were on a serious mission that we hoped to complete that day, so after wandering the large store for a while we set off to find a store that we'd heard about.

We easily found the $2 Fabric Store, just a few blocks west on Decatur. Devoted mostly to fabrics of all kinds, this busy store was like any discount store. We were on our own. All of the sales clerks were busy at the cash registers.

We walked up and down the aisles looking for the kind of cloth that my friend wanted. Fabric stores are dangerous places for shoppers like me. I had to stop and look at everything, just in case. Just in case what? I wasn't going to buy anything here and I couldn't find anything for my friend, but there's something intriguing about bolts of fabric on display and trying to anticipate how they might be used.

In the days when I had time to sew I used to buy any fabric that caught my eye. Sometimes I even used them. I don't do that anymore, but I'm still tempted. Old habits die hard, but I'm getting better.

After much discussion my friend and I decided to go to one more store -- Calico Corners in the Sahara Pavilion South. A long time ago I'd been to the first location, a tiny space behind a furniture and home decor store. The Sahara Pavilion store is beautiful.

The display windows are lovely, the merchandise so appealing, we knew this was the right place. Calico Corners is filled with walls of upholstery fabrics all well-lighted so that the color and designs are true furniture and accessories. As they say, "fabric, furniture and inspiration."

Within minutes we found four patterns that would work. A salesperson approached almost immediately and answered all of our questions. She also gave us samples of the four fabrics to take home so they could be placed on the chairs for comparison.

Calico Corners specializes in quality fabrics at value prices. Many of the fabrics are exclusive to the company. They also make custom bedspreads, pillows, duvets (blanket and comforter covers), tableskirts (tablecloths) and custom furniture. All of the fabrics are 54 inches wide and have a stain-resistant finish.

My friend was delighted. He took home the samples, found the right one for his chairs and returned the next day to buy the fabric.

Calico Corners is based in Kennett Square, Pa., and has stores all over the country. The Decatur store is the only one in Nevada.

There are so many wonderful decorating ideas in the store and such a friendly staff I could have stayed there for hours. CC is open seven days: Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; Monday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.