Garment District Info: Where does all of this fabric come from?

All over the place.  I'm sure that comes as no surprise. New York City is one of the hubs of international trade for our country, after all...

In my professional life so far, I have worked for three textile companies.  All of them had mills or production facilities right here in the USA. One was a cotton converter (meaning they printed on cotton) whose main advantage was the artwork created by their designers. The division of that company I worked for no longer exists. The second fabric company I worked for was an elastomeric (stretch) fabric company, who sold to most of the world's best known lingerie, swimsuit, and sportswear companies.  The last one I worked for was a wool, cashmere, and luxury fabrics company, who sold to luxury clothing and home furnishing manufacturers, and also had a clothing division of its own.

While working for these companies, I learned an awful lot about the fabrics they sold, the production process, and how the system works.  Lemme tell you... the process is fraught with potential disasters, scheduling problems, dye problems, overage and/or shortage problems, payment problems, equipment problems, shipping and documentation problems...  you've got to REALLY know what you're doing, on SO many levels, and know who you are dealing with, to stay in business as a textile company.  The amount of effort they put in is admirable.

Which brings me to my bigger point.  The rent these businesses have to pay to maintain a space in the garment district is HUGE!  What an effort a fabric store has to make to even SURVIVE, much less thrive in the district these days.  Seriously Herculean.  One store owner said to me, "If I could just get even three more customers a day, do you know what a big difference that would make for me?"  I mean, really, they are doing their best to offer us great stuff at great prices, and I admire them all for even being willing to try!

So where does all that great fabric come from? There are times when fabrics, produced by textile mills  are rejected by the intended customer for a variety of reasons.  The reason for their rejection does not always render those fabrics status as "second quality goods".  They just weren't suitable for the intended buyer. There can be quality issues, like oil stains from the machines, or dye problems, machine stop marks, streaky colors, thread or weaving issues... the list goes on and on.  However, when you personally need just a few yards for a project, these kinds of problems will likely not matter so much to you, especially if you can cut around them, or don't notice a small imperfection.  This leftover fabric is often taken by whoever will pay for it, and ends up being used by another manufacturer, or in a fabric store.  there can also be production overruns, discontinued colors and styles, and other reasons why the fabric is available to you as a retail customer.

Some fabric is specifically made for the home sewing market and retail customers not buying in large quantities, and is sold directly to the stores.

The fabrics you find are made in many different countries, with quite a variety of fiber content variations, and you won't necessarily know how to launder and care for it. Some stores have knowledgeable staff who will give you care instructions if you ask (New York Elegant, Spandex House, B&J, Mood, and Rosen and Chadick come to mind), but some will have no idea, and offer no assistance at all.  If you are already here in New York, and don't mind making more than one trip to the garment district, you can always get swatches (most stores allow this) and wash test the fabrics yourself for comparison.  You can also do burn tests at home, if desired.  Don't abuse the ability to swatch!  Try to only do it for fabrics you actually intend to buy.  Stores impose limits because of swatch abuse by the indecisive... and students... ahem.

Sometimes you find something so inspiring, you simply MUST take a swatch, and figure it out later.  An example of this is below, from New York Elegant Fabrics.  I saw this puffy, weird, textural fabric, and wanted to squeal with delight.  I asked one of the staffers (who I know was a textile designer before her career at NY Elegant) I regularly chat with, what she thought this fabric could be used for.  She shrugged, and said "Jacket?"  Sounds like that could be pretty cool. I thought about this... until this morning.... when it hit me like a thunderbolt!!!!  In the spare time I don't have, I really want to recover my sofa (messily, on purpose) in an exaggerated, prehistoric animal print.  This is Flintstone cartoon inspired... bear with me here... I am often inspired by cartoons... and the "rock" pillows must be made of THIS FABRIC!   Oh, I just ACHE to make this happen!!!!!  Where oh where will I find the time?????

Secondly, with time I will make, I had to seize this fabric from Metro Textiles.  It is an oversized, blurry purple rose print charmeuse, that I almost hesitated to share with you guys because I love it so, and wish for no one else to have access.  Then, I decided that was silly.  After all, he's probably sold out of it by now... snicker... snicker...

A picture doesn't do it justice.  Had to be a video.

So there ya go.  Find your inspiration.  Go fabric "window shopping", and you'll find things that will haunt your dreams.  And see my previous post if you would like to join me on a garment district tour on November 2nd this year.

There is always SO much to learn... (Part 2 of.... who knows how many?)

Clearing my throat... Following my mother's advice on "If you don't have anything nice to say..." I try to avoid reviewing stores whose business practices are questionable. Not wanting to specifically steer anyone away from stores who are clearly struggling to make a buck in this economy, I try to keep those thoughts to myself. I find myself torn as I write this post, because, located just across the street from one another in the garment district, are two stores with WONDERFUL fabric surprises inside... but I'll give you all of the details I feel need to be shared before suggesting you go there. I'll preface my statement by telling you what I am particularly drawn to right now, and why this matters to me. Then, I will tell you why you might love to go to these places, and what to "watch out" for, so you can make your own, informed decision. (Pulling out soapbox and grabbing megaphone...) Living in New York City, I have the incredible luck to be exposed to people of many different nationalities. One of the enormous benefits that comes with living here, is that I am constantly surrounded by a wonderful, swirling, eclectic fashion show on endless parade right in my own neighborhood. The incredible hand embroideries on the clothing from Africa, India, and other exotic points can be simply magical. One thing that has struck me recently, are the textures, colors, and finishes on many of the African fabrics. Specifically, how beautiful they look when sewn up as men's shirts. And, oh... the sari fabrics are gorgeous. The metallic shimmer, the large-scale, boldly confident embroidered motifs... Just to die for. I have lots of Americanized adaptations in mind for such fabrics, and picture incorporating them into my family's wardrobe in the coming months. Having said that, I slither into stores where such fabric is prominently featured, as if lured in by a snake-charmer's flute. Sometimes, the prices for these fabrics are ASTOUNDINGLY low, considering their beauty. And sometimes... "Oooh... so pretty! How much?" "How much you pay?" This exchange can go back and forth for a while, usually culminating in, "Normally, $40 a yard, but for you..." "What fabric is this?" "All silk. 100%. Best quality." Whatever. Guess they didn't consider that an important enough detail to hang a sign over that section of the store. Who cares, right? Well I do. For reasons beyond the obvious desire not to be overcharged, I want to know how to launder, care for, if it will take dye, what to use as lining... basically, what to consider. Now, you can't always be sure what you're getting. I can tell you, however, that the stores I love the most have never steered me wrong. I do think it is important to tell you that it is clear from the purchases dressmaking clients of mine have made, that when they bring me some "special" silk they found, they either heard what they wanted to hear, or were being outright lied to. Luckily for me, one of the stores has already been reviewed by another blogger we all love, so Ill let her make the points I am having a hard time trying to articulate. As for the other store, Yelp does a fine job of telling you what you need to know. I feel kinda dirty, giving you a "You didn't hear it from me..." But hey, you didn't! So here are some ways to know what fabric you're dealing with: Get a swatch for testing. If not possible, start with a smell test. It probably comes as no surprise to you that you can sometimes smell the chemicals in the synthetic fabrics a mile away. So pick it up and smell it. If taking it home, conduct a burn test. I've done this several times to prove to clients that what they bought isn't what they think it is. You can find many burn test guides on the web by Googling "Fabric burn test", but I highly recommend Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide (p. 475) for a complete, thoughtfully arranged chart. This book is absolutely well worth the investment. Claire absolutely knows what she is talking about! If important to you, cut your swatch in half, and test launder with your next load of laundry. (I safety pin a swatch to a garment in the same load, so I can find it later.) Leave the other half of the swatch out as your "control" swatch, and compare it to the one you laundered. That way, you can see what level of shrinkage, pilling and fading to expect. Note: Almost any fabric will last longer and behave better if dry cleaned. So, let's say you've made your purchase, created your masterpiece, and now need to care for your sewn project. Janie Bryant, the costume designer known for her work on "Mad men", has penned a downloadable Fabric Care Guide with the Downy company, giving some good tips to help you consider the care of your garments. A VERY well-respected dry cleaner here in New York City, Madame Paulette, offers what I consider to be the MOST ingenious stain kit ever. Can you believe that there are DRY CLEANING STAIN KITS, which give you the proper solutions for different stain types (protein, earth, oil) in one portable package? I do have some of these myself, and they work! And lastly, but not leastly, you can always put content labels in your garment. Heaven forbid someone else does the laundry or transports your handiwork to a dry cleaner who takes an incorrect guess at fiber content, ruining it completely. Cautionary tale: I was at a designer client's home studio, when a member of her housekeeping staff (yeah, she's pretty wealthy) machine washed a jumpsuit, which needed to be hung to dry. She ended her shift for the day without hanging the jumpsuit, and another staffer arrived and placed it in the dryer. The designer's own handmade design was ruined. No garment care labels were inside. Such a simple addition could have saved the day. Note: Next paragraph is no longer current. I ended the auction described below, because one buyer wanted a significant quantity. Great! Done! I do often put custom care labels on things I create, but if you want to be "official", the best garment labels are sold in bulk. Most of us, not being large scale manufacturers, need manageable quantities, and we want variety, since we sew different fabrics.