During the first week of October, I visited New York City for a week. The first day that my sisters and I were there, we visited the garment district. The fabric shops in the garment district are mostly on 39th and 40th Streets, between 7th and 8th Avenues. There are also all kinds of trims, buttons, beads, and thread stores in those blocks. So you can wander through all kinds of goodies in a few blocks.
I didn’t take the photo above, but found it online at http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/ This area was under construction while we were there so you couldn’t even see this guy in the foreground of the photo. The fabric stores are amazing because there are rows and rows of all different types, colors and styles of fabric. Most of the store don’t want you to take photos inside so any inside photos were found on Yelp.
Many of the stores are on the second floor so you have to look up to see where they are. We visited New York Elegant Fabrics and B&J Fabrics. It was actually overwhelming to see the rows and rows of fabric bolts all piled on top of each other in a rainbow of colors.
I did take the photos above in the hallway before going inside B&J Fabrics. These are made from either swatches of fabric or larger pieces. They aren’t sewn together as far as I could tell so that they could be changed out to a different fabric.
The other fun thing as you walked along was the Fashion Walk of Fame That told a story about many different fashion designers. I didn’t even come close to taking photos of all of them.
And then there was Mood. Any of you who watch Project Runway, know about Mood. This is the store where the designers rush around trying to find just the right fabric for their upcoming project in half an hour or some other limited time period. You would really have to know what you wanted in advance, because there is so much to from which to choose.
From any kind of silk to every color of leather, the aisles are overflowing with fabric, trim, feathers, buttons and more.
And a trip to Mood can’t be had without seeing Swatch, the dog.
So what did I buy? Can you believe it? Only this bag from Mood. I didn’t buy any fabric at all. It was just too overwhelming to even consider choosing much less paying those prices!