NY Fabric Mission a Success!

Saturday was perfect weather in Manhattan.  Light clouds that kept pretending like they were going to rain, just keepin all of us on our toes.  A perfect day for long walks...through the garment district!  Surprisingly enough i have never walked the NY Garment/Fabric district.  I am not usually here over the weekends and fabric shops are closed by the time i get out of work.  The trip had one main mission...to procure fabric for the walking skirt.  This mission was slightly complicated as i had a swatch of *georgeous* fabric that i really wanted to find 6 more yards of, needle in a whole barn thing.  Side missions included: 1) Finding a trim for the Black/Green Hat for the Crown/Brim   2) Finding Black Satin for the Bows on the Polonaise   3) Procuring other random must haves as i found them.

The walk started at 8th Ave & 40th Street wher i found Parons Fabrics West.  Lots of different Satin based fabrics in various weights and finishings.  After 30 minutes and my tea turning cold i have looked at *every* black satin in a medium to heavy weight steering towards the Shantungs and Taffetas and had not found what i thought i needed.  I did how ever find the perfect under garments fabric, a light weight black cotton with a shadow stripe.  Perfect to be under all of the glorious blacks/greys/purples/blues/greens that all of my garments are in.  Under garments project to comense once the Polonaise and walking skirt are complete.  Sneek Peak...here's the pattern i'm starting from...Edwardian Underthings by Folkwear Patterns #203.

  

The walk snaked through all of the Streets from 40th to 36th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue.  Lots of amazing trim shops, where they wouldn't let me take any pictures ;p  While inside one tiny trim shop looking at beaded nightmares i found a small plastic box with a bunch of beaded items all wound up made out of what looked like crochet thread.  After a bit of detangling i had discovered the perfect shawl!  I've been wracking my brain where to find one and here it jumped out at me, and for only $10!  That was defeinitly the *cheap* buy of the day.

  

After a few more shops i landed at Mood, where the georgeous (not enough) fabric came from in the first place.  A sweet woman looked and looked with no luck.  I began to persue the goods, asking for swatches here and there of things i thought could be comperable.  Evertually i gave up on comperable and decided to look for something i liked, i came to terms that the fabric swatch i was holding from before was hiding somewhere in their giant 3 floor store and that i needed to fall in love with something else.  So i did!  I found a medium weave Cotton Pique, and it was only $10 a yard which is super nice when you need 6 yards for one silly skirt.  Fabric was purchased and lots of other swatches came home with me.  There was a beautiful light weight black and burgandy stripe cotton that would be perfect for more under garments...but i need to fit and sew up on set before i'm allowed to buy fabric for another.  It will be incentive to get going on them so i can come back and get the fabric before it disappears on me!

All in all a good take.  Main goal accomplished, some side goals i didn't remember completed, and lots of exercise.  Now to get sewing and finish my corest before the Girl Genius on Saturday!