I Wouldn't Want To Live There

Where? New York City! I love to visit. There is always something new to discover, but there is way too much noise and way too many people for me.

Each time I make a trip to the garment district, I try to visit a new place- that is, new to me. This week it was B&J Fabrics. Sometimes it's an adventure just to find a store. We first saw it from the sidewalk a half a block away. Into the vestibule of a building and an elevator ride to the 2nd floor brought us to the foyer of this amazing fabric store. Most shops don't have quilting cotton, but there was a nice section with some very interesting fabric there. Of course I had to buy some bicycle fabric and I bought some fabric for a special friend that I know she will like. And they put my purchase in this cute little bag.

And check out this velvet.

Gorgeous Velvet

I made this trip to NYC to buy silk for an upcoming workshop. I went a little overboard, but these dupioni silks are so hard to resist. Each one makes me swoon.

We had a newbie with us, so I had to take her to some of my favorite shops: Daytona Trim, Beads World and M&J Trimmings to see all of the wonderful eye candy.

Ribbons

Ribbon

Beads

Sequins

Home Dec Trim

We went to a new place for lunch too. Ben's is a true Kosher Deli. It's in the middle of the garment district and it will definitely be on my list from now on.

Adorable mini knitted sweaters saying, the right way to knit.

It's always fun to visit. But now I have to go cut up all that silk.

 

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My NYC Hotspots

I needed a New York City fix. 

The Bolt Bus is my preferred mode of transportation from Philly.
I leave the driving to them - with free WiFi!

 

It was a little eerie entering the city, the day after 9/11.

Heading into the Lincoln Tunnel, going under the Hudson River into Manhattan.

 

The first stop was my favorite silk store, Butterfly Fabrics located at 256 W 39th St.

I could take a yard of every single color.

All of their fabric is imported from India.

Next stop, Daytona Trim, which is right across the street.

They must have every color and size of ric rac that was ever made.

 There is always something new to discover.

Today it was a store that sold only zippers.

These colors are just yummy.

 

On my way to meeting my cousins for lunch, I passed a shoe store with a big SALE sign in the window. I doubled back to check it out.  They had the funkiest shoes that I have never seen before.

I came home with this great pair.  I couldn't resist.

 

 

NYC Shopping Trip

I received an e-mail from a friend that I made in my fabric dyeing class.  Did I want to meet in NYC for a garment district exploration?  Does a wild bear poop in the woods?  I needed lots of silk dupioni for my torah poject, so it was perfect timing.   Angela took a bus from CT and I took the train from Philly with my "working girl" friend, June.  Before leaving, I consulted the bible of NYC Garment District Shopping - Paula Nadelstern's website:  http://www.paulanadelstern.com/fabric/guides/index.php  . 
This was not my first time visiting the Garment District.  Over the yeas I have honed down Paula's list to my favorite places, and places that have to be visited. Most of them ae located between 38th St and 40th St and 6th and 7th Aves.
1.  Daytona Trimmings
      251 W. 39th St
Daytona has any type of trim you could possibly want or dream of.  I love all of their rick rack and  velvet   ribbon.  It's like being a kid in a penny candy store.  As you decide what you want, an employee cuts it off the spool and puts it in a plastic bag with the price. 
2.  Butterfly Fabrics
    260 W 39th St
This is THE store for silk dupioni.  All of their fabrics ae from India.  They have every color of silk dupioni and their prices can't be beat.  They ae also willing to make 1/2 yd cuts.

3.  Mood
    225 W 37th St

If you have watched any episodes of Project Runway, you have head of Mood.  It's where the clothing designers have 15 minutes and a certain amount of money to furiously pick out their fabric. You take up one of those old-fashioned elevators with an elevator operator to the 3rd floor.  And you just can't believe what you see.  What's even more amazing is that this is just one of the floors.  This floor has most of the fashion fabric.  Downstairs is Home Dec and upstairs is mainly wool.

Check out their silk dupioni section.  

I bought some very cool drapery fabric for my guest room.  When checking out, I decided to act like a total Project Runway fan, which is a bit out of character.  I asked if they were casting the next season, since the last one had just ended.  It tuns out that the next season is "already in the can" and they are actually stating the season after.  I also found out that they now close the store when the designers come to shop.  Originally, they did not.


4.  Beads World
     1384 Broadway

There are tons of beads and findings, but my favorite section is the one with all the different shapes and colors of sequins - great for embellishing.

5.  M and J Trims
    1008 6th Ave

This store is pure and unadulterated eye candy.  I have to be honest - I hardly ever buy anything here.  It is so overwhelming with so much to look at.  I just leave happy!  It is definitely a must visit.

6.  Habu Textiles

     135 W 29th St

This stop was for Angela.  She's a weaver and this is a showroom for Japanese fibers for weaving. On the 8th floor of an office building, you enter and the room was filled with these baskets.  Most of the fiber was silk, with the occasional paper and wire.  I know it is a mecca for weavers, but it is not on my must visit list.

7.  Purl Soho

     459 Broome St

This is one of 2 shops in Manhattan that is know for its quilting fabric.  (We did not make it to the other - City Quilter.) We were pretty exhausted at this point and it was raining quite heavily, so we cabbed it.  Soho is an area known for its at galleries and cute upscale shops.  This is a new location for Purl Soho.  It is a large store for the city, but quite minimalist.  The front of the store is filled with yarn.  The quilting fabric is located in the rear.  Their fabric is quite unique.  They do not carry the ordinary.  There is Liberty of London,  lots of solids, imports and lots of fabric by what I call the contemporary young designers.  It was a busy shop. 

After meeting up with "the working girl" at Purl, we rewarded ourselves for a rough day of shopping with dinner at Perilla. Opened by the winner of the first Top Chef TV show, Harold Dieterle , it was delicious.  And we even had dessert.  We earned it, with all of the calories we burned walking all over NYC!

The Wonders of Rick Rack

A little while ago, our quilt guild ran a bus trip to NYC. The plan was to go to the garment district and The Americna Folk Art Museum. We used Paula Nadelstern's website, http://www.paulanadelstern.com/, for our shopping plan. We pretty much stuck with her abbreviated 3 hour version and walked our feet off. With side trips to the folk art museum, The City Quilter (http://www.cityquilter.com/), lunch and Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes (http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/), featured on Sex And The City, our day was packed.

Our favorite stop was Daytona Trims (http://www.daytonatrim.com/) on 39th St. Kelly Meanix, queen of rick rack turned us (Christine Kamon and me) on to this wonderful and fun trim. Daytona had yards and yards and yards of rick rack in teeny tiny widths to giant widths in every single color you could think of. You would tell the store employee which one and how much you wanted and they would measure it right off the spool, cut it and stuff it in a plastic bag and record the price on the outside of the bag. It was intoxicating - 5yds/$1, 3yds/$1, up to $2/yd. We bought an assortment of colrs and sizes. We were giddy with joy! (I know, we need a real life.) Between the 3 of us, we sepnt over $150 on this old - but new to us - embellishment.

Our brains were working a mile a minute. Where could we use our new discovery and did we buy enough? Oh there's always mail order, if we run out! The wonderful thing about this rick rack is that it's cotton. It's got a nice soft feel to it. And it's behavior is bias-like. It curves nicely. Check out the swirls you can make. I can't wait until I can find the time to try it with other circular/wavey applications I have used it in a quilt that I am working on. And guess what? I did run out. And I had to call Daytona Trims to send me more. This is a block of the quilt called "Bubblegum Kisses".

Christine had a ball using many of the colors she bought on a quilt she made. I have posted a cropped image so you can get a feeling for the variety of rick rack she used. The quilt is called "Buttons, Beads and Rick Rack". The rick rack really curves nicely around the circle.

You can buy packaged rick rack at JoAnn's. They do have it in a variety of sizes and colors, but it is polyester and is a little stufffer.