NYC, part 1: a bring your own scissors kind of place

Aaaah. Back to reality. I had a lovely trip to New York, the homeland. Although I always talk about how I really couldn't live there anymore (for so many reasons that I won't bore you with here), I do love having an excuse to go to New York at least twice a year. Oh yeah, and having a free place to stay is great too. This trip was much more low key than many of my other recent trips. I spent lots of quality time with my mom and dad, which was great. We had a small, but wonderful Rosh Hashanah dinner. And I passed up some of my usual spots in favor of testing out some new ones. On the first day in the big city, my mom and I visited B & J Fabrics, which was an experience, to say the least.

The selection was totally overwhelming and I couldn't even buy anything because I couldn't possibly figure out how I would decide what to buy. They had an amazing selection of Liberty and Japanese fabrics among many many others. But, sooo expensive (at least $26/yard!). I decided to just get some samples of some of my favorites in case I changed my mind. When I got back to my mom and dad's house, I took a quick look around Superbuzzy and ReproDepot- and found almost all the same fabrics (the Japanese ones at least) for about $10/yard cheaper! So glad I didn't waste my money.

Well, even though I didn't buy anything, it was certainly an experience to be among the New York designers (or their assistants at least). It seemed like the kind of place that people on Project Runway or something like that would go to shop for the show. I kept expecting to see cameras trailing someone as they were cutting their own samples of all the beautiful fabrics. (I also got scolded for trying to follow the lead of the woman who had brought her own scissors. When I asked an employee if I could borrow some scissors, I was rudely informed that only designers with special passes can cut their own samples. My mom later asked me if I told him that I was a designer-thanks mom!)

We also stopped at M&J Trimmings, and I managed to indulge in just a few of the many vintage ribbons they have. All in all, it was a great day- that's right, I'm not going for a day-to-day recap of my trip, but there is much to report back on. So I'll be debriefing here in stages. Stay tuned for more crafty nyc goodness!