NEW YORK CITY - FABRIC, FASHION, FOOD AND ART

I recently returned from a two week trip to New York city. Although I live in London I travel to New York as often as I can and every time I get there I feel the urge to kneel down and kiss the sidewalk - I love, love, love to be there so much! So, here's a few highlights of my trip ....

Of course no trip to New York is complete without a thorough look round the fabric suppliers of the garment district. Unfortunately I have put myself on a very strict fabric regime at the moment - my stash is getting rather overstuffed (more about that at a later date) so I showed unprecedented restraint and only made two fabric purchases, both from Mood Designer Fabrics (I always imagine myself on Project Runway in there!).

The first is a light-weight cotton with a lovely satin finish in a large peachy orange and bright pink print (I've photographed it with the carrier bag so you get an idea of the scale.)

I'm imagining this made up in a caftan type of top - something along the lines of Tory Burch or in the style of Michael Kors' wonderful summer casual wear.

My second purchase was a real find. It's a silk twill and, as you can see from the selvage, was originally produced for the designer Rebecca Taylor -

Aren't these colours just gorgeous? I am planning to make this up into a traditional style party frock. I am considering this pattern, New Look 6723 -

But don't hold me to that because there is a lot on my to-do list and I might have totally different thoughts by the time I get to this!

In New York I have lots of favourite places to go and things I like to do but I always like to add something new to my list. This time I found a wonderful place to have tea - Alice's Tea Cup - which is in three different locations (check them out at http://www.alicesteacup.com/). Their scones are sooooo delicious. Also, and this is a big WOW, was The High Line (the walkway running from the Meatpacking district up to Chelsea alongside the river). What a great stroll and wonderful views. I had heard about it but I actually stumbled on it accidentally after having visited Trina Turk's boutique in Gansevoort Street, which is where the High Line starts (for more about the High Line go to http://www.thehighline.org/).

We also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, as you might expect, went to see their exhibition The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion, which was very inspirational for a humble home sewer like me and even Mr Fabulous, my lovely husband, enjoyed it! We also climbed to the roof to look at Roxy Paine's sculpture, Maelstrom. Here I am entangled in it -

Finally, back to a strictly sewing theme, here I am strolling the New York streets in a top that I made from New Look pattern no. 6892.

This is such a great pattern, I really recommend it - it's easy to fit and quick to make and I love those sleeve flounces. By the way, the fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics. For more info on this one, please take a look at my review on Pattern Review.