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| Forget the soup commercial, this is real num yummy. |
We rode the subway from SoHo to Times Square, walked around
Times Square gawking at the giant LED billboards, took a little detour through
Bryant Park and the NYC Public Library (beautiful!), then headed to the garment
district. The district is organized more or less by types of products. Most of
the fixtures stores are in one clump, mannequin stores, sparkly evening wear
fabric stores, trim stores, etc. There are various kinds of fabric stores
scattered throughout. I was determined to visit Gray Line Linen, a fabric store
that sells, guess what!! Linen!!! They do have a few bolts of beautiful Thai
silks, but everything else is my favorite fiber. I was in HEAVEN!!! Gray Line
shipped my purchases to me and now all twenty-seven pounds of fabric are
washed, dried, and ready to be made into a gloriously cool and rumpled summer
wardrobe pour moi.
Next we found a shop called Daytona Trimmings. The shop was
tiny but packed with every kind of ribbon, rick-rack, elastic, button, lace,
cording, etc. you can imagine…and lots, lots more! (I sound like an
infomercial.) I bought some beautifully ornate ribbon and took a business card
to order more from them later. Next, around the corner, was M&J Trimming.
M&J is a huge store by NYC standards and is filled floor-to-ceiling with
buttons, crystals, ribbons, etc. My
daughter went a little crazy in there with supplies to make headbands and
earrings.
On to Mood Fabrics, which has become really famous due to
the television show “Project Runway.” It is a SMASHING store with three floors
crammed with rolls of fabric. We were so overwhelmed that we ended up just
buying a t-shirt that says “Thank You Mood,” which is what Tim Gunn of “Project
Runway” says every time he leaves there with his group of contestants in tow. We also picked up a business card, since Mood takes
online orders, too. (YAY!)
Speaking of Tim Gunn, he was my daughter’s quite literal
brush with celebrity. If you are not interested in fashion and have never
watched “Project Runway,” you probably have no idea who Tim Gunn is, but my
daughter knows and was thrilled to see him in person. This is why it was a
literal brush: She was standing in line to pay admission at the Met when Tim
Gunn said, in his incredibly urbane way, “Pardon me,” and brushed past
her. It made her whole trip.
There were many more wonderfully crafty places we visited,
but the newspaper does limit my word count! I will post this column along with
links and pictures on my blog: springcreekartsguild.blogspot.com. As always, I
welcome your comments at springcreekartsguild@gmail.com.
Blog Extras!!!
Some other crafty places we visited (and shopped) and loved:
The City Quilter--They have their own lines of NYC fabrics including the spectacular new Grand Central Terminal line.
The Loopy Mango--Our host, Albert, told us about this interesting little shop in SoHo that carries yarn among other things.
Purl SoHo--Most any younger fiber crafter knows about this place. It is a small shop, but beautiful, and has an interesting array of fabrics, yarns, patterns, gadgets, etc.
The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology--This is a small museum at the FIT campus in Chelsea. The main exhibit we saw was called RetroSpective and showed how themes and silhouettes are interpreted across different periods of time. Very interesting for anyone who enjoys fashion history (that would be me).
The Museum of Art and Design--specializes in "contemporary handmade items." Also has a GREAT gift shop. A very, very interesting little museum.
The Gift Shop at the NYC Public Library--Proclaimed by my daughter to be "the bangingest gift shop in New York." That means it's really good, I think.
The Museum of Art and Design--specializes in "contemporary handmade items." Also has a GREAT gift shop. A very, very interesting little museum.
The Gift Shop at the NYC Public Library--Proclaimed by my daughter to be "the bangingest gift shop in New York." That means it's really good, I think.
