NYC Fabric Store Review: Mood Fabrics

Address: 225 W. 37th St., 3rd floor (about the middle of the block; no sign outside what looks like an office building, go into the lobby and ride the ancient elevator [with an elevator operator] to the 3rd floor), New York, NYC
Phone: 212-730-5003
Hours: Monday - Friday 9 am -7 pm, Saturday 10 am - 4 pm
Online store: Mood Fabrics
Best for: Mood is the sewist's equivalent of a favorite department store that always has everything you need

Here are the three things I love most about Mood Fabrics:

1. If you have a very specific fabric or look in mind, Mood will have it. With three floors of fabric, Mood has just about everything. The main reason to come here.
2. It's fun to eavesdrop on FIT and Parsons students and young designers-in-training as they ponder their fabric choices. And this is the store Project Runway sends its designer contestants to: You could be fondling the same silk that Christian Siriano touched!
3. Mood has restrooms. Usually by the time I get to Mood, after a morning or afternoon of shopping in the Garment Distict, finding a restroom is priority number one. (Mood's restrooms are located on its main level, toward the back of the store by the velvets.)

I love everything I buy at Mood because it is usually exactly what I wanted: the right color, the right texture, the right fabric content. Normally when I shop for fabric with a pattern in mind, I am always compromising because I can't find specifically what I envisioned. At Mood you can actually create the garment that's in your head because they have such a wide selection of quality fabrics.

Italian sweater knits at Mood.

Speaking of quality fabrics, this is the place to go if you're looking for designer stuff. Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and many more designers are represented here. The main floor (3rd floor) with the designer bolts seems to attract the most shoppers but I love the less-crowded fourth floor with its tweeds and bouclés. If you're looking to make that Chanel-style jacket you've always wanted, Mood's your store. The last time I looked they had several bolts of Chanel bouclés. (Note: Mood also carries home decor fabrics on its lowest level.)

This is just a small portion of the many bolts of bouclés and tweeds you'll find. Yummy!

(Here's a tip to make shopping at Mood a little less overwhelming: Print out one of their store floor plans and take it with you. Mood's signage is excellent but this will help you strategize a plan of attack.)

Service at Mood can range from cheerful and helpful to "I'm too cool to make eye contact with you." Fortunately my experience has largely been the former. My daughter needed some fabric swatches for her FIT class, so I told a Mood employee what the specific assignment was and asked for help. She grabbed her scissors and swatched her way through the store for me. Another time I visited the store wearing the bouclé jacket I made and the man who cut the fabric for me recognized me and made a big fuss over my jacket. The last time I was there the woman who was cutting some white piqué for me and she noticed a smudge on it—which I could tell would wash right out—but insisted on giving me 10 percent off. But it goes without saying though that the less crowded the store is, the better customer service you'll receive.

Mood's signage makes finding the type of fabric you're looking for much easier—important because there is so much to see here.

The hub on the main floor. 

STORE UPDATES:

5/26/10: Mood is now selling Vogue Patterns! 15% off the retail price.

6/20/09: Mood has expanded its trim department. An employee told me trims were selling well at the store so they moved them into the nook where leather used to be and relocated leather downstairs to the home dec department. I think their button and trim prices are good, often better than Pacific.