Los Angeles Garment District

I spent yesterday with Gena and Diane in the Garment District of LA. It spans several city blocks and is pretty much packed with shops, merchandise, and things to look at. I didn’t know quite what to expect going there, but now I know that we saw just a small fraction of what was offered – we definitely could have spent another few days checking everything out! We stayed mostly in the textiles area, but there are all kinds of beads and notions, as well as shoes and clothing and almost anything else you can imagine…all at pretty decent prices.

Gena also researched some other shops for us to visit outside of the Garment District. We headed downtown to Mood Fabrics on W. Pico Blvd. Mood provides very high-end textiles – silks, wools, and leathers, many of them from Europe. They also had a selection of designer fabrics. I saw prints from Roberto Cavalli, Oscar de la Renta, and Ralph Lauren. While most of it exceeded my price range, it was still nice to see some of the fabrics that make up the garments you see on the runways, and to feel the quality of the fabrics with your own hands. I found a remnant for $5 and also purchased patternmaking paper. (I used to get it for free at school, but now I have to provide my own!)

Next we found F&S Fabrics further down W. Pico Blvd. They had a lot of cute cotton print choices, and are currently offering 50% off on their silk prints. Their remnant bins were decent, and I found a good fabric on clearance in the back room.

We headed back to the Garment District once more before starting back home. After two more purchases, I had to stop myself! I ended up coming home with seven different fabrics and that will keep my busy for a long time.

I won’t get the chance to visit Los Angeles again before I return home to the Bay Area, but I definitely will have to make a shopping trip down here sometime. It’s a world of beautiful items and a million crafty ideas!

So many choices!