A QUICK GUIDE TO NEW YORK’S GARMENT DISTRICT

27th September 2012

When I was in New York recently I had the pleasure of visiting the Garment District a number of times to sniff out the stores and offerings. If you’ve never been, the garment district is an area in New York where traditionally all the fashion and textile related businesses have clustered. My friend Jenni of I Spy DIY was my amazing guide on my first visit, and she looked after me so well – introducing me her regular haunts and to all the lovely people that work in them. I also managed to get back to the district in the second week of my trip and do some real digging in the side streets and alleyways, I simply started from the Subway stop at 34th street and walked up to 36th street and then zig zagged up between 6th and 9th along 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th and 40th. Definitely a full day of wandering!

From what I could see (correct me if I’m wrong!) the fabric stores appeared to be on 39th and 40th streets between 7th and 8th avenues. There were heaps of different places to visit, some smaller and some larger. I also ended up in a few stores with lots of Indian fabrics like sequins and silks on 38th street and they had lots of fun fabrics at quite affordable prices. For beads and trimmings I found lots of places on 6th Ave between 36th and 39th streets.

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garment district map
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Here are the details of some of the stores I visited:

Mood Fabrics
225 West 37th Floor, 3rd & 4th floors

B&J Fabrics
525 7th Avenue, (corner of 38th street)

Paron Fabrics
257 West 39th Street

Leather Impact
256 West 38th Street

Lace Star
270 West 38th Street

M&J Trimming
1006 6th Avenue (Ave of America)

Bead Centre
989 6th Avenue

Daytona Trim
251 West 39th Street

I had a great time and found it really useful to understand what you guys in the US have at your fingertips when it comes to doing your own projects. I always love to hear – do you find it difficult to access the DIY materials you want in your local area?

Feel free to add any of your other Garment District suggestions as this is by no means a definitive guide and people who go there regularly would probably have lots more to add. Hope I didn’t miss anything amazing but let me know if I did!

A big thanks to Jenni for looking after me!