Stretch Lace and Crinkle Chiffon

Today wasn't much different from any other day in the office: sewed some stuff, did some excel spreadsheet work, filed a bit, and was asked to go out and look for a few things.  Some of the designers needed stretch lace trim and crinkle chiffon.

I've been asked many times before to out and source stretch lace trim so I knew the best places to go to look.  I'm always a little disappointed when they ask me for white trim because, for whatever reason, there is never a big selection of white stretch trim.  I don't know why, but generally the most stretch lace comes in crazy colors like hot pink or baby blue, neither of which I can think of any use for.  I went to Daytona Braids and Trimmings on 39th street, as they generally have the best selection of lace trims.  I spotted one that was an option, but decided that the edges were not as scalloped as I would like so I moved on to Joyce Buttons and Trims on 38th street and was met with mostly the same selection.  I ended up picking out one with slightly more scalloped edges.

Crinkle chiffon posed an entirely different challenge.  It's not that it's so incredibly hard to find, it's finding a reasonable price for it.  I have yet to find a place that carries polyester crinkle chiffon so I have to stick with silk for the time being.  The first place I always go when I'm asked to source fabrics is Elegant Fabrics, partly because they have a really good selection of most everything, and partly because they have swatches attached to the bolts so you don't have to go around bugging the employees for swatches.  It's also nice because you can kind of take as many as you want.  They actually have a decent selection of crinkle chiffon, and at about $19 per yard, it's about the cheapest you'll find.  I took a bunch of swatches and continued.  I popped into a lot of the smaller stores around 38th street but most of them didn't have what I was looking for.  Then I stopped at Fabrics Garden on 39th street.  I was greeted by one of the guys who works there who I see every single time I go and he always smiles and tells me that he can get me anything I would like... one of the benefits of this place :).  I found out that they have a pretty good selection of crinkle chiffon in some really pretty colors.  I asked about pricing and was pleased when he told me that the general price is $15 per yard, and even more pleased when he told me that he would give me a deal since I'm a regular... another benefit of this store.  I swatched from a few of the bolts and was on my way, pausing to look at the knit selection as I often do, but that's another subject for another day.