Sewing in Chi-Town

So, overall I like living in Chicago.  It is cool to live in such a large city that has so many things open to you and so many different neighborhoods to explore.  The one thing I don't like is the lack of fabric stores...or maybe my lack of ability to find them.  For some reason, it seems that Chicago never developed a garment district. There are three large fabric stores closely located together, but they are all a little off.  They are the stores you go into to get a good deal on fabric that you might use, not get fabric for a set plan (kind of like those bridal dress sample sales- you go to get a designer dress for cheap, not to get the dress of your dreams).  For someone who is interested in sewing, it can be a little irritating.  For the most part, I go to the Joann off of North Elston for my sewing needs- although the amount of fabric is overwhelming and fairly, "blah" and the lines to have fabric cut are always insanely long.  I also get a majority of my fabric from Fabric.com, but it is hard to decide on fabric when you can't touch it or match it to another fabric.  If you want your fabric to work well together, ordering from a collection are a must.