In case you missed yesterday’s post, my mom and I took a quick trip to Pasadena, California this past weekend. As part of the trip, we hit the LA Fashion District.
There was seriously no way to prepare for something like the Fabric District, even with the amazing help of Leanne (who is a pro after living there this past summer, and shared all her tips). Store after store with bolts and bolts of fabric stacked to the ceiling — where do you even start?
Luckily, we had hours to dig, and I ended up scoring several great fabrics for next to nothing.
all their fabrics for $2.50/lb. There are huge boxes full of fabric
scraps, so digging is required, but once you have a stack of fabric you
throw it on the scale and your price is determined. The watercoloresque
fabric on the right is very lightweight, so that probably cost me a few
cents. The other two fabrics are jersey knits and are slightly heavier,
but still only cost a few bucks total.
One of the stores Leanne recommended was Angel Textiles. This was the only fabric I bought there (a girl can only carry so much!), but it was such a cool store with so many great fabrics. In yesterday’s post I have a picture of it — it’s the one with fabric bolts stacked twenty feet tall on both sides of the isle. This is a deep orange jersey knit with a gorgeous metallic gold stripe. There are so many possibilities with this fabric, and it only cost $2/yd.
This was the best find of the day — gold sequined and embellished fabric. We found this in some little random shop, and my mom and I had our first (and last) fabric bartering experience (thankfully, cause I hate bartering). The gold sequined fabric was originally $12/yd, but we convinced them to give us the rest of the bolt (several yards) for $15. The yellow fabric next to it is the lining (the gold fabric is completely sheer) and only cost $3. I have a special project in mind which I will hopefully get started on here in the next few weeks.
We found this beautiful grass green cotton twill at Mood Fabrics, and my mom treated me to it. This was $15/yd (Mood’s fabrics were much more expensive), but I didn’t even get an entire yard, so it still didn’t cost much, and will be the cheapest and most adorable pencil skirt you’ve ever seen when I’m done with it.
And finally, we couldn’t leave the amazing button store without picking up a few fun gems. We spent forever scouring the little boxes full of buttons finding the best ones. Just adding these darling buttons will spice up any top, jacket, or skirt. Oh, the possibilities!
Now all I need is an excuse to go back every six months!
Lovely and fun fabrics and buttons. Can't wait to see your finished projects.
Look, either we all go next time or you have to take orders from the rest of us. Get it? Got it? Good! (If you can tell me what movie that is from I'll forgive you for getting to go to such a wonderful place.) Just teasing, of course!!! But, can you tell I'm still "jealous"? LOL
Sort of Random: When I was in high school (late sixties and early seventies), I lived in a very large city. Besides full floors of fabric in department stores, there were huge warehouse fabric stores*, but they weren't anything like the pictures you posted. (*Huge compared to most of the current ones, because so few people sew garments now.)
Also, my daughter lives in Seoul. There is a four story wholesale fabric and notions "mall" very near her apartment. She said that sometimes she just wanders around there for hours just for fun. And, she doesn't even sew!
Looks like you guys had a blast. I think there's some places like that in downtown Philly. We might have to go next time you visit.
I can't wait to see the green pencil skirt! Found you on pinterest. And my little "lovebug" is 18 mos on Monday.
haha! the fabric district is how I got a custom made wedding dress for under $300. your daughters will be as grateful for you as I am for my mom… 🙂
Wow that looks like so much fun! You are so talented and creative. I'm Jealous of all the cute projects you do. This is a great blog. Very fun to read.