Chicago Craftiness

[rhiannontherose.livejournal.com]

Hallo fellow CraftGrrls!

My husband and I are going to be moving to the Chicago area at the end of July (we just got a lease on a place in Evanston, actually), and I need to get my craft-bearings again! Any useful or friendly tidbits you can pass along to us would be much appreciated!

Beween the two of us, we do about everything...or will, once we get our hands on the supplies and know-how. We draw, charicature, paint, sew, do costume design, woodwork, metalwork, beadwork, jewelry making, chain maille............

Really, you'll be hard pressed to find a craft we do not do or are not interested in doing.

So I guess we're hoping to find out about...

~ Fellow crafters...hey, why not?! :-)
~ What's big, over there? I know the trends and market around here, but I'm not going to assume it's the same half way across the country (we're currently in Central NY).
~ Where is the garment district? What are the best places to go for fabrics, trims, cords, beads, fittings, chain, leather, wire, tools, etc?
~ Craft faires? How does one get in on these? When and where do they tend to take place? Do you always have to pay to sell at them? What about stores that want crafted goods?
~ Anything else we might want to know?

Many thanks, in advance! ~ Rhiannon (and Keainid)