So by the time you all read this, it will be a couple days later than I would have liked to have posted this, but I didn't have wireless internet access in my grandparents apartment.
I finally made a thorough trip to New York's famous garment district today! For me, it marks a couple milestones - first is that it was the first time I got to actually explore the garment district and go to all the stores I wanted to. A couple weeks before my trip, I followed the advice of a very informative garment district blog and made a google map of all the stores they suggested which I later followed in order to find some of the coolest stores. The second landmark is that I navigated the city of New York all by myself. Surprisingly, I have never had the guts to travel to the city and walk around it all by myself, so this was a very exciting trip for me. I managed to get myself on a train from my grandparents apartment and walk from Grand Central Terminal to 39th street at 7th ave with minimal interference (especially considering the streets were packed with too many St. Pattys day celebrators). Step one to adulthood is now in gear!
Anyway, I made this trip to the district because I was looking for fabric for a couple projects I've been considering for a while (a cinderella costume, a summer shirtwaist dress, a summery skirt, and a bathing suit). I only managed to purchase some fabric for my cinderella costume, even though I highly considered a blue polka dot spandex for a new swimsuit (and am still considering ordering when I arrive home).
During my trip, I started in the massive Spandex House on 38th (and nearly drowned in the massive amount of shiny, stretchy, swirly, and sequiny rolls that lined the two floors). I then (after a couple times circling) made it to the Project Runway famous Mood Fabrics. I'll admit that I even though I have an interest in sewing, clothing, and design, I'm not a huge Project Runway watcher. I have seen a few episodes and watched a couple series finales, yet I still found the prospect of being inside of Mood very exciting. When I got there, it was pretty close to closing and I felt a bit overwhelmed - the store has at least 2 stories and has nearly every type of fabric imaginable. It's pretty cool because you can create nearly any garment you could ever want (especially if you had an unlimited budget). I poked around at the sheer cottons for a bit before getting back on the elevator with other fashionistas.
After Mood, I made my way up to 39th street and poked around in the new Paron Fabrics (a couple years ago my mom and I purchased six yards of a Nick and Nora cotton print from their sale annex). I then walked a couple stores down to A&K fabrics (flaunted as a store for affordable fashion basics) where I made my only fabric purchase of the day. After poking around, I found a reversible blue poly taffeta with the backside being the perfect color for a cinderella costume. Bingo! I purchased 5 yards of this (with about a half yard extra from the generous cuts of the store owner and a large dirt smudge that he gave me the extra fabric for free) as well as 3 yards of an off white poly satin for the sleeves and skirt puffs. It cost a little more than I had anticipated, but it will definitely be worth it for a nice costume.
Satisfied, I started working my way back to Grand Central, but got a bit sidetracked (as usual) and made a stop in the mecca that is M&J trim. I purchased a pack of headbands, a length of blue polka dot ribbon and a pair of plastic blue cameos to make into earring studs from some metal posts I bought next door at NY Bead, finally completing my shopping trip.
So it was a long 3 and a half hours, but it was fun to get some items I've been looking for for a while. Hopefully I'll have time to start work over break, otherwise I'll try to make progress after I finish my classes in the spring.
My haul - reversible taffeta, off-white satin, ribbon, cameos, studs, glue, and headbands
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