Garment District

These are some of my favorite and most dependable places I go to get my stuff done: fabric, labels, irons, hook n eyes, thread, zippers galore and more! (ok, enough with the rhyming). The garment district is not a pretty place. It's a few blocks of psychics and adult video stores. Above the smut, working very long hours, are the seamstresses, pattern makers, sewing machine repair shops, and workshops. Lining the street are wholesale button stores, stores for trimming like squiggly sequin or elastic. I can only get to these places after work, so this whole world is mostly undiscovered for me. But I have my favorites...

Mood Fabrics

Snuggled in at 230 W. 37th (or accessed at W. 38th Street) on the third floor, this gigantic fabric store specializes in reselling designer fabric. Most of their purchases are considered 'close outs,' which means that they buy the last of a really cool Ralph Lauren or Marc Jacobs. You will find floor to very tall ceiling rolls of satin, raw silk, taffeta, velvet, cotton, the list goes on. One of my first custom 'katelettes' is done in denim and lined in a moss green polka Marc Jacobs for a Marc Jacobs fanatic, NYCM herself.

Panda

This is where I got my pink labels with green writing. I would put a picture, but the computer is dying. It's the place to go for dress forms, thread, velcro, piping, any random your little heart desires, they probably got tucked away on their shelves.

Next post: my potential new manufacturer. Yes, they are Chinese, and yes they don't speak any English except for "(insert name here) not here." I can ask for the boss, and get a "XX not here." I can tell them that Katie's calling, and I get "Katie not here." Best of luck to me.