Rancho Solano boutique a hit for vendors

Cherie Cahn, right, looks at herself in a mirror after trying on a "scialle" at the Holiday Boutique, held at the Rancho Solano Clubhouse, Sunday. (Daily Republic-Adam Smith)

FAIRFIELD — The Rancho Solano Holiday Boutique was jam-packed Sunday with businesses and local vendors eager to sell their goods and shoppers primed to buy.

The Rancho Solano Clubhouse was filled to the brim with sellers and buyers.

Many regular vendors were selling their artistic gourds, jewelry, dips, art pieces, purses, clothes and, of course, Christmas decor. Some Bay Area businesses also took part in this large event, luring shoppers with heavenly scented candles and ornate jewelry.

San Jose vendor Camille Crawford came back to her hometown of Fairfield to see how her clothing business Rainflower would fare. With only a couple hours left in the day, Crawford was nearly sold out.

Crawford’s main hit an original design she calls a “scialle,” which means shawl in Italian, she explained. Crawford decided to adopt that word for her creations.

Her scialles are similar to shawls except for one distinct difference – sleeves. As it turns out, these two-arm cutouts make a world of difference between a shawl and a scialle.

Crawford, who attended fashion school, wanted to draft ideas for clothing that would be both versatile and suitable for every woman’s body type. What she created was a box-shaped design forming a shawl, but with sleeves.

Initially she only sewed the scialles as gifts for friends and family. But after some prompting, she decided to start selling the creations in June. Her business has been so successful, she said she quit her job this week to do it full-time.

The scialle comes in one standard size but many different swatches, fabrics and textures. Crawford designs and sews every scialle and only buys her fabric at small, local businesses.

Shoppers were surprised Sunday to see just how many ways a scialle could be worn – eight, to be exact. It can be worn, Crawford demonstrated, as a long scarf or infinity scarf, a tunic or open back blouse, a sarong, a light jacket, a fitted shirt and, of course, a shawl.

To see Crawford’s scialles, visit her Facebook page, Rainflower Design, or Etsy page, Rainflower.

Reach Heather Ah San at 427-6977 or hahsan@dailyrepublic.net. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HeatherMalia.

Heather Ah San

Heather Ah San covers Rio Vista, features and general news for the Daily Republic. She received her bachelors of art degree from the University of Oregon.

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