Textile titan Chantal Murphy has reinvented the strip of State Street near Dutch Garden and The Good Land Wine Shop & Bar with her new shop, Sew Santa Barbara.
Garnering attention for being Santa Barbara’s only BERNINA authorized dealer, the new mecca for sewists offers more than just great sewing machines. The store, which opened in May 2024, aims to focus on community — in the programming, partnerships, and events.
“We just want to reach out to everybody and bring them in the shop,” says Tim Cardy, one of Sew S.B.’s teachers and former Cardigans owner. “We’re a community-supported business.”
Murphy created her new sewing world completely from scratch in a space that she says has “the best view in Santa Barbara.” It’s hard to contradict her when she’s got pristine views of the mountains and a wide patio under the shade of several large trees — a perfect spot to hand-stitch, crochet, or just sip wine (from Good Land next door, of course) while embroidering. Inside, all of the BERNINA machines are front and center, while walls of colorful bolts of fabric immediately get any sewists’ wheels spinning.
“We wanted something big and open, where everything is accessible and easily found,” Murphy says, showing me around her small but mighty store. The two-story space also includes a classroom upstairs with sit/stand cutting tables and a design wall for quilters and sewists.
“There’s a niche we’ve been trying to fill,” says Murphy, when she and Cardy get to talking about items in the store — everything from patterns, fabric for both garment sewists and quilters alike, loads of silk swatches for special order, and Cardy’s new project, “Yarn Santa Barbara,” an in-store yarn and notions boutique.
“It’s hard to find embroidery floss, so I bought every color,” Murphy laughs. “I’m trying to fill in what’s missing.”
What’s clear is the vibrant caring both Murphy and Cardy share for the sewing community. It’s how Murphy first fell in love with the industry, and what she plans to continue building with Sew Santa Barbara. The shop is a member of the Santa Barbara Fiber Arts Guild as well as Coastal Quilters Guild of Santa Barbara & Goleta, and hosts the “Sticker’s Night Out” meetings for the Fiber Arts Guild. Be on the lookout for sessions on everything from garment sewing and free-motion to upcoming classes on alterations and upcycling. And come April, the shop will have a certified BERNINA technician onboard to service machines (he’s certified on other machine brands, as well). So, get ready to sew, Santa Barbara.
Sew Santa Barbara is located at 4175 State Street, and is open Wed.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sun., 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. See sew-santabarbara.com.
