DIXON, CA (MPG) - If you are someone who likes to sew, get ready to swoon. No more driving out of town to get crisp cottons or luscious knits. Now you can just drive down A Street and head into the shopping plaza at the end of Gateway Drive to where “In Stitches” has expanded four-fold into 7,000 sq. ft.

Rows upon rows you will find hundreds of bolts of fabric but better yet, you’ll find staff that thinks they are at a party. One can enjoy the laughter and bantering from owner Julian Lis, Willa Sheppard, Marilyn Johnson, Emily Matthews and Debbie Weaver. But mostly from Colleen Erdes who is one of those talkative, happy sewers who gets excited over bright colors.

She walks past giant quilting machines like Vanna White on Jeopardy proudly explaining how the company expanded into Dixon a couple years ago and noticed an uptick during the pandemic shut down most likely because people had time to rediscover their hobbies, she said.

The Dixon store was a sister to the main one, ABS Sewing and Vacuum in Vacaville, and served mostly as a small, quilters store. But then there was a burglary in the Vacaville store that did more harm to the psyche of the owner than building or inventory damage. He saw it as time for a change so Lis packed it all up and expanded into the Dixon location. It was a “great” decision, Erdes said.

The staff learned new online skills and with their excellent visibility right off Interstate 80, it now appears they have become the fabric emporium of the area.

“Apparel sewing is gaining popularity and soft knits,” Erdes said while walking past Marilyn Johnson who was creating, then boxing, quilting kits that are sold all over the world. Those were made with pink hearts and a portion of the sales go toward breast cancer research.

“I grew up sewing with Ben Franklin and Sears stores but the new machines offer so much ease of use and better quality,” Erdes said, adding that their business now offers a full slate of sewing classes in house and video but better that you don’t have to lug your machine out there to class as you can use one they have there.

They are an authorized dealer for Baby Lock, Janome, Juki and Pfaff as well as Miele vacuum cleaners and tout that with their 60 years of industry experience, they are qualified to effectively help anyone select the machine that best suits their lifestyle and budget needs.

“I go out there quite a bit,” said Dixon resident Jan Hardy. “My mother did a lot of sewing so I have my mother’s sewing stuff also. They are very friendly. I’ve gone out there a lot and when I have something I can’t use, Colleen has given me the name of somebody to connect with. I’ve bought a few pieces. They have so much traffic out there now. My daughter does quilts and the colors they have are fabulous!”

Sewers are a close group of people and they talk a lot, according to Erdes.

“We tell each other when we find great shops,” she said, before quickly pulling aside Emily Matthews to help show off a quilt being raffled off with benefits to Dixon Family Services. The tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and the raffle will be held on Dec. 17. There will also be two other winners drawn: one will win a $50 gift certificate to the store and the other will receive a gift basket.

For more information, call (707) 679-3007 or visit the store at 450 Gateway Drive, Dixon.