My favorite place to shop for notions in NYC is
Fashion Design Books on the FIT campus at 250 West 27th Street. It has a great selection, including muslin in different weights and carbon transfer paper in different colors, and the prices are student-affordable. You'll also find plenty of sewing, fashion, dressmaking and design books here too, though these tend to be textbook-pricey unless you can find a used edition. Combine a trip here with a stop at the
FIT Museum, which currently has an exhibit on Vivienne Westwood, and stops at TrueMart Fabrics just down the street at Seventh and W. 25th and the
City Quilter at 133 W. 25th. Call or visit their web sites for store hours as not all places mentioned here are open every day.
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| Plenty of scissors, plus walls of notions you'd find in Jo-Ann's or Hancock's and then some. |
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| Muslin is reasonably priced here, and there are usually three or four different weights to choose from. |
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| Ooh, fashion books! |
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| Lots of draping and patternmaking books here too. |
I keep meaning to run over to this store and then the day gets away from me! Now that the weather is getting better, I'm definitely going to make time to head over there. Thanks for reminding me about them!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I started reading your post. The headline made me think you would be referring to New Jersey or at least the suburbs. For an out of towner like myself ( even one who reads your column religiously) I would have thought FIT was in the garment district because it is not a long walk. Well I learned something this afternoon. I have been to those stores and they are worth visiting. Mimi
ReplyDeletefairmount:
ReplyDeleteFIT is not technically in the Garment District. The southern border of the GD usually is described as 34th Street.
FIT is in Chelsea. I've taken classes there, and if you actually need something that you can't buy across the street at Fashion Design Books, boy, are you aware that FIT is a longish walk from the GD (at least on a cold, windy, rainy day). That's the day you wish you were at Parsons, which is on 40th Street, across the street from Parons.
Parsons Parons. Interesting.
Fashion Design Books has great variety, and at certain times, usually at the beginning of the FIT semesters, it's open late and on Saturday and Sunday. Always best to call ahead, though.
But if you want to browse lovely sewing books and sit down, you head straight for the FIT Barnes and Noble bookstore. Everyone's nice there (not that they aren't nice at Fashion Design Books). One particularly pleasant fellow is the very slender, white-haired sales assistant whose name I think is David. He sews.
Kofoo around the corner on Eighth Avenue serves tasty Korean food, although a Korean friend of mine called it basic.
New York Sewer
Went there thanks to you! Great tip!!
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