Fabric Finds Me

As Skirt Week was getting rolling in June, my husband returned from his year-long work assignment for an R & R.  We wanted to take a family trip, and the thought of taking a train rather than driving anywhere sounded fun to all four of us. We decided that the Big Apple would be great-- maybe not the same trip we'd take as a couple, but fun for all of us to do some NYC family tourist-y stuff.

Traveling with a 2 and 4 year old has its high points. As we were on our way home, I asked K what her favorite part of the trip was. The train? FAO Schwartz? Times Square Toys R Us? The huuuuuuge whale at the Museum of Natural History? The petting zoo at Central Park? Riding in a pedicab? No, "the snow cone" she told me.  Umm, of course. That was actually one of my favorite parts, too. M was so excited about hers she screamed "Gank oooo!" at the vendor from her stroller for about five minutes straight.

Since we took the train, I wanted to find a hotel close to the train station so that when we arrived we could get right to it without worrying about taxis. We ended up at the New Yorker Hotel, about a block away from Penn Station. It was built in 1929 and our room had been renovated to include two bathrooms. Cool, right? Except that my husband and I each dropped children and gear and went to separate bathrooms and about 60 seconds later heard K yelling "M is in the hallway!" at the top of her lungs. Ooops, now we know. M is tall and coordinated enough to open the lock and the door and escape.

In the flurry of school ending, visitors leaving, skirt week planning and husband coming home, I had not even CONSIDERED the location of the hotel as related to fabric. And didn't think I'd have time to explore anyway. But after we arrived, I started seeing signs. Like, actual signs. That said "Fashion District". Hard to miss this:

As it turns out, I was already there, "A" being the hotel and "B" being the Fashion District.

After our first morning of busy touristy stuff, I looked at my patient, helpful, sweet husband and said "you can handle naptime, right?" And I was off. Kicking myself for not doing any reading about where to go, you know, just in case I ever ended up in this situation. So I started at M & J trimmings. Adrianna had told me about it and it sounded fun to me. Talk about overwhelming! 

Every kind of trim of notion you could think of, in any color you could want. This is not the kind of place I can shop without a project in mind, so I was just an enthusiastic browser.

I loved the display of different types of lace.

From there I went to Mood, since some google searching on my phone told me how close it was. How could I not? Again, overwhelmed. But fabric is something I can shop for without a game plan. No problem. I never made it to the top floor! I was happy enough on the lower level, and knew before I even got there that this is more of a planning trip for a future trip than a trip in and of itself.

I spent most of my time here and looking at cotton lawn. 

It was amusing to imagine the Project Runway peeps scrambling around for their goods.

That was a lot for one naptime. I toted my loot back to the hotel to rejoin the family trip. On the walk back I saw this Spandex-only shop. A whole store full of just spandex. Next to firefighters and the NYC home of Batman, apparently.

But the next morning we were allll up early. That's the fun part of a family in one hotel room, right? We're all in this together! Hip Hip Hoor... ugh. One of the four of us likes to get up long before the other three. So we were all up, dressed and fed by 8:30. And museums don't open until 10. But you know what opens at 8? Fabric stores! And there was one more place I wanted to check out since I'd done some review reading on my phone. B & J Fabrics is higher-end than Mood, and the people shopping there this day seemed to be more of the professional variety than hobbyists. 

 The store was a lot lighter, brighter and cleaner.

They had large samples of the whole Liberty of London line and all of it in stock for the asking.

Quilting cottons that were on rolls rather than bolts, in case that center fold is problematic? Fun to browse this way, though, as opposed to bolt edges.

I could have spent days and days here. But there was this guy with a stroller and two kids calling me Mom. Back to the family vacay.

I can't wait to go back. Can't wait! Hopefully a trip some time this fall, with some fabric-loving girlfriends. So... fill me in. Have you been? What can't I miss next time?