New York: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made of [Fabric! And trimmings!]
Jay-Z’s anthem isn’t the only thing getting me pumped about my beloved Metropolis lately. Last week, I had the pleasure of spending the day on a quest for fabric and fiber with one old friend and one new friend who came to NYC from Boston for a few days of research and shopping. Since the Boston-area lost The Fabric Place, Beantown fabric shoppers don’t have too many options, so, Diane and Jess were eager to shop and we covered a lot of ground. We started with some coffee and catching up at Le Pain Quotidien off of Bryant Park, near a great few blocks of Garment District fabric stores (also near the Kinokuniya Bookstore, which has a great selection of Japanese craft books… watch out, Big A, now that I know you can make a Fried Egg Tawashi…).
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Mood Fabric [225 W 37th St] The ladies found Mood the day before I met up with them and spent a good while in this fabric mecca. Yes, you know it from Project Runway, but this place is bigger than TV, and… dangerous. I avoid it because the temptation to buy when I’m there is just too strong. I mean, tell me where else I can get Marc Jacobs fabric… that doesn’t involve me, a pair of scissors, and an angry woman with a hole in the back of her shirt running after me… so how can I go in there and leave without it? - Paron Fabrics [206 W 40th St] Our day started here. Paron does orders through their website the old fashioned way. You tell them what you need, they mail you some swatches, you pick what you like, and they send it. Diane does this all the time, and she loves it. Great customer service. They don’t have the selection Mood or some other places have, but their Annex has “deal” potential, and for a smaller shop, the people are really nice. Some of the little shops you see around here are the real-deal, rip-off schemers you’d expect Guiliani to have kicked out years ago. But they’re still here! Listen, if a guy in one of these places ever tells you he’s giving you that price because he can “tell from your face” that he likes you, he’s ripping you off. Offer him half. That won’t happen at Paron. They’re nice.
- NY Elegant Fabrics [222 W 40th St] Even though it’s only two doors down from Paron, I didn’t know this place was there. But Paula Nadelstern (who recently had a fantastic show of quilts at the American Folk Art Museum) has a Garment District fabric shopping guide, and we followed her advice to stop in. I have to say, I was impressed. They actually might have had Marc Jacobs fabric and I just didn’t see it because I was too busy looking at beautiful shirtings and touching all the giant bolts of cashmere. Big selection, well organized. No great deals anywhere, but if you need to easily and quickly find something (anything!) this place is definitely a good bet.
B & J [525 7th Ave] This place is great if you’re sourcing fabric for big projects, but it’s not the kind of place to just hunt for a few yards. So it was an in-and-out for us.- Pacific Trimming [218 W 38th St] This is a real all-in-one trim house. If you want something trendy or out of the ordinary, go to M&J, but if you’re looking for anything else, I’d go here. Jess found some nice metal purse frames that she could only find for sale on overseas websites. Prices are good, selection is huge.
After weaving through some zipper shops nearby, we stopped for lunch before heading to the east side of Broadway, with three important stops in mind:
M&J Trim [1008 6th Ave] I don’t think I need to say much more than “5 different kinds of sequined tiger appliques.” And maybe “ball fringe.” Prices are high, but, hey, sometimes you just have to treat yourself nice.- Tinsel Trading Co [1 W 37th St] I’ve known for years that there was something special about this store, but in finding the address to post here, I may have found out exactly what it is. Guess who’s declared this her “favorite store in all the world”? … give up?? It’s Martha!!! I should have known… I should have recognized her presence… I guess I’ve just been too distracted by all the shiny, beautiful things in this place! This is literally a shop where everything for sale sparkles. Read about their history, or just walk in, and you’ll have a whole new appreciation for shiny things. (Oooooooo….)
- The Magazine Place Next Door [W 37th St] I don’t know what this place is called, but it’s next to Tinsel Trading, and they have like every magazine in the world. And not so good coffee. Jess needed to see a copy of Selvedge (my favorite magazine ever!) before deciding to lay out the big bucks for a subscription, as well as a few other hard-to-find publications, so it was a perfect inspiration pit-stop before we left the Garment District.
New York’s a big place, and though you can spend all day in one neighborhood, sometimes it’s good to switch it up. We hopped the train down to the Lower East Side for some of my downtown favorite spots and a nice walk.
- Zarin Fabrics [314 Grand St] If it’s home furnishing fabric you seek, and you can’t shop in the D&D building, one of the best places to start is the Zarin Warehouse, upstairs from the Zarin showroom. Good selection, good prices, good fabrics. Sometimes a good remnants pile. And it’s the same Zarin as Jill Zarin, from the Real Housewives of NYC. And she’s not one of the ones who punched any of the other housewives, right?
At this point, we had covered everything except yarn, so we grabbed a coffee and took a walk to the nearest yarn shop, which was a few neighborhoods over in SoHo, which has a sister fabric store down the block.
- Purl + Purl Patchwork [137 + 147 Sullivan Street, respectively] Though small, these two spots have a very well-selected inventory and a nice, helpful staff. Jess found some nice organic cotton to knit with. I seriously contemplated my love for Alexander Henry Fabrics and how I could turn graphic art like that of Charley Harper into needlepoint, without spending $150 (…I think I can eye-ball it).
And that took us straight to dinner time, after which I had to say goodbye. But, even for the fabric-hungry this is the city that never sleeps, so I sent the ladies to the Strand for some late evening book shopping. The Strand has a great selection of new and used fashion, craft, textile, art, and (oh, yeah) everything books. The place is huge, and they have books you’ll never see in Barnes & Noble, sometimes at prices better than Amazon. It’s hard to leave without buying anything. In fact, it’s just hard to leave. Luckily, they close. Maybe because they know, like Jay-Z, when they “better slip you a’ Ambien…”
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Tawashi? Or not Tawashi.
Just what is tawashi?? The Japanese translation is “a traditional scrubbing brush to wash off the dirt”, and it’s also the latest craze among knitters and crocheters. Made of acrylic yarn, these little scrubbies are said to be eco-friendly because they are reusable and require use of little or no soap.
The patterns seen here are available free online and all, except the apple slice, came from Ravelry. I used some stash cotton and acrylic yarns. They worked up very quickly, and it was a great way to use up leftovers! Many of the patterns are written in Japanese, but graphs are provided that correspond to English symbols. Still not easy, but Little A ( who, by the way, does not crochet) insisted that I give the Japanese pattern for a fried egg tawashi a try. Nope…too hard.
You win, Little A. Still not too easy, but some help from Tawashi Town at Ravelry made a huge difference.
If you have little or no inclination to knit or crochet Tawashi, they are available for purchase on Etsy. Or, if you’re my friend or relative, you can have your pick. Just steer clear of the egg…or she’ll have me make another.
“A”
Banana Bread Bliss
My favorite fruit: banana. My favorite candy: banana Laffy Taffy (true). My favorite ice cream: Chunky Monkey. My favorite quick bread? Whenever I see a golden bunch ripening in the fruit basket, I’m thinking banana bread. The yummy aroma that fills the kitchen while it’s baking is heavenly, and I think it tastes great with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And its perfect with a 3 p.m. pick-me-up cup of coffee. And it’s especially delicious with a small glass of ice cold milk before bedtime. Really, there is no bad time to eat banana bread.
The Better Homes and Gardens Banana Bread recipe happens to be my favorite. It has an optional streusel topping that isn’t optional for me at all. I know I have the tendency to “gild the lily”, but I can’t imagine this banana bread without the sweet and crunchy, nutty topping.
I do wrap it in plastic wrap while it’s warm and let it set a few hours, but there’s no way I can let it set a day before I slice it. Life’s too short.
COOKS NOTE: The recipe calls for 5 medium bananas. I used 3 medium-to-large bananas, and they mashed to be about 1 1/2 cups.
“A”
Knit for Baby – Cotton Cardigan
I went to a baby shower today! The daughter of a very special friend is expecting her first child in February and, keeping true to the trend, the expectant parents are choosing to be surprised. Wonderful, really. Unless, like me, you like to knit baby sweaters in pink or blue…so, white it is.
Debbie Bliss “Pure Cotton” worsted weight yarn is super soft and 100% all natural. I found a pattern in Precious Layettes to Knit, by Leisure Arts. I knitted the yoke, but when I got to the sleeve and had to work the pattern, I discovered that I did not like the pattern stitch at all. I was ready to “frog” the whole thing, when I felt a jolt of inspiration. Maybe I could keep the yoke, and simply substitute another stitch pattern. Experienced knitters do this all the time and, although I am experienced, I’m usually too insecure to stray from the printed pattern. Not this time. I whipped out my copy of The New Knitting Stitch Library and chose the pattern you see here.
The baby’s paternal Grandma presented a norwegian-style baby sweater that she knitted on size 0 and size 1 needles. It was truly a work of art, and her hand was so steady that I would have sworn it was knitted on a machine. Amazing. For a fleeting moment, I thought I might try this. Then I envisioned those size 0 needles and thought “nah”.
“A”
“Mustache Pins are THE Stocking Stuffer of the Year”
I had tons of fun at the booth Kait and I shared at Artists & Fleas yesterday! When the lights stayed on, our display and our stuff looked pretty great. When they went out… well, we were in the back corner, so you couldn’t see anything… Kait’s Dad took some pro pics, but here are a few I snapped with the iPhone.
So, we literally used furniture and things from our my apartment to dress up the space. I brought some tins that I keep sewing supplies in to hold merchandise and my picture of a classy chap with a great handlebar mustache (you know, just to keep the table looking classy). From the top left, going clockwise above, you have: Hipster Pins 3 Ways, Crocheted Birds (thanks, Big A!), iPhone cozies, really cute Owl ornaments that Kait made, Kait’s Pot Holder sets, and my Pillow Huggers Pillowcases (shown is a set – both have the girl on one side, the heart on the other, and her arms reaching all the way around on the hem).
I was really pushing the Hipster Pins. There’s the Mustache, the Cheeseburger, and My Cold Black Heart.
And I kept telling people that the Mustache Pin was THE stocking stuffer of the year. I think I declared it so much, that it just might become true (come on, The Secret!). Get your hands on them now, people! Stuff those sequined stocking with something awesome. They went over pretty well amongst both mustached and non-mustached shoppers.
Kait’s aprons also got a lot of attention. People loved her fabrics, and the kids aprons I think might have inspired shoppers to do a little baby-making… They’re just so cute, you want a kid to put in one. And above those, I embroidered some new drawings from Kendra into pieces of wall art.
I’ll be putting what didn’t sell at the market onto Etsy. And hopefully, it won’t land me a spot on Regretsy… PS : Did you see she got a book deal already???
Dear Whoever Goes Around Reading Blogs Giving Out Book Deals,
… Hi!
Sincerely,
Big A and Little A
Anyway, I hope to do Artists and Fleas again soon, and I hope people bring more Mermen to sell.
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