I have recovered from my Fabric Adventures this weekend. As you may recall, this summer my mom and I discovered the fashion district in New York City, and all the amazing fabric and trim shops that can be found within a 4 block square. It is amazing and can be quite overwhelming! Well, my dear friend Claudia loves to sew (and is quite amazing at it) and I thought that she would be in heaven. I also had some fabric “needs” so we scheduled a girls weekend. As it turned out, Mom’s hubby was on travel so it really was a girls weekend. Claudia and I drove up on Friday night. It took forever and my GPS had a mind of her own, but it went by pleasantly with all kinds of girl talk. Saturday we had a relaxing morning and then took the train into NYC for our shopping adventure. And what an adventure it was!!!

I was looking for some pretty eyelet to make myself a nice summer shirt, and then fabric for another shirt, 2 kinds of trim for curtains, and some zippers. The eyelet I found was awesome! It is really delicate and beautiful and I’m a little scared to sew with it, but I’m going to be brave. Of course my pattern is packed so it’s going to be awhile before I get to it. I also found some beautiful cotton fabric from Italy, which almost looks like silk (for another shirt). Then, the trims I found were perfect! One is a beaded trim for a curtain that is going in my kitchen, and the other is some fun/funky little pink balls to hang from the curtains in my living room. Plus, I found some other awesome beaded piping that I am going to use for a most elegant pillow.

This is my third fabric/trim shopping trip and I’m starting to get the hang of it. Because it can be so overwhelming, I know that I need a shopping list and a basic idea of what I’m looking for and what I’m going to make with it (and how much I need). That doesn’t prevent me from making impulse purchases (like some amazing silk chiffon that is going to become a skirt or some fun ric rac) but it does help me stay focused.

I think we only went into 4 stores in the course about 4 hours. But we took our time and enjoyed every minute. Of course we worked up an appetite so we got hot dogs from a street vendor in Times Square. It was just enough to tide us over for our delicious pizza dinner back at my mom’s house. We ate while watching Vicky Christina Barcelona which was good. Penelope Cruz was very good in the movie and I can see why she won the Oscar.

Sunday morning we had plans for breakfast before driving home, but it was snowing and we were worried about the big snow storm that was going to hit the East Coast. No sit down breakfast for us, but we made it home before the snow.

I love the picture of me and Claudia. We’re standing in front of Grand Central Station and it looks like everything (including the lights on the station) are moving, except for us. We’re in focus. I think it’s cool.