All about Spandex

And no... I'm not (necessarily) talking about the jazzercise, 90's aerobics outfits type of spandex.  But sometimes there is an occasion when you want to make a t-shirt, or a bathing suit, or a sweet pair of leggings and you need to find a place to go in order to get the best spandex or spandex blend.  Before I moved to New York, I shopped pretty much exclusively at Jo-ann Fabrics for any fabric I needed.  They had a modest selection of knits and stretch fabrics.  When I did move to New York, I discovered that there are actually stores that ONLY sell spandex blends, and 100% spandex fabrics.  At first, it was slightly comical to me to hear about people talking about stores called 'Spandex House' or 'Spandex World'.  All I could think about was a 'Saved by the Bell' era scene, with people walking around with teased hair, blue eyeshadow and those atrocious thong leotard things with the bike shorts underneath.  However, when I actually went to these stores, there were no people wearing spandex and no teased hair.  I was met with a seemingly endless variety of knit fabrics.  Being a huge fan of anything made out of knit, I was blown away.

image: www.shopthegarmentdistrict.com

First and foremost, I would recommend going to Spandex House (on 38th street, between 7th and 8th Avenues).  A two-story spandex heaven.  They have pleather, metallic, sequin, velvet, printed, chiffon, mesh... name it, they have it in a stretchy version.  It can be a little overwhelming if you don't really know where anything is, but it is easy to get your bearings, as everything is organized pretty well.  Downstairs is all novelty: bathing suit material, sequin and sparkles, knit denim, and wacky prints.  Upstairs is the more basic stuff like cotton, polyester, rayon, lace and velvet.  One of the best things about the store is that they give you nice sized swatches, which makes it easier to visualize the garment you want to make.  The price range in the store is huge.  Anything from $6 per yard for basic cotton or polyester stretch, to $40 and more per yard for something heavily embellished.  I'm not going to sugar coat it: if you need stretch fabric, GO HERE!

image: itshisandhers.blogspot.com

Another decent alternative is Spandex World (also on 38th street, between 7th and 8th Avenues).  The store kind of looks like a circus, from both the inside and the outside.  It is a good deal smaller than Spandex House, but occasionally you will be able to find some awesome fabric at Spandex World.  The price range is pretty comparable to that of Spandex House, so on that basis, they are equal.  However, I do have a couple of grievances regarding Spandex World: the main one being that they do not give swatches of all fabrics.  They have some fabrics hanging in bunches around the store and those are the only fabrics you may have swatches of.  I mostly understand them not wanting to give out tons of swatches to everyone, but this still annoys me when I have to settle for a swatch of cotton in yellow when I really want to make something in blue.  I also have problems with the layout of the first floor.  Being kind of a personal space freak, I try to avoid stores that are overly crowded, and this is one of them.  There is so much merchandise, that sometimes it feels like you need a GPS to get around the store.  The real reason I go continue to subject myself to these minor annoyances, is the fact that they have great novelty knits.  If you like sparkles and shine, this is THE place to go.

But, if you are looking for an everyday knit, I would always suggest checking out any old fabric store.  They will, very rarely, have something amazing that a spandex store won't have and they are worth popping into every so often.  I will say though, that they are almost always more expensive than either one of the spandex stores.  A basic rayon spandex blend can even run you up to $18 per yard, whereas at the other stores, you will be paying more like $6 - $8 per yard.  I think if I had to name one basic fabric store to look for knits, I would say Fabrics Garden (on 39th street between 7th and 8th Avenues).  It's in the middle of the street up a few stairs.  The knit fabrics are toward the back of the store.  They have a good selection, considering they aren't a specialty knit fabric store.  When I had to source knit polka dot fabric, this was one of the only stores that I could find it in.  The absolute best thing about this store, is that if you get the right salesperson to help you, they will sometimes give you a better price than the one listed.  The prices are maybe a couple of dollars more the expensive than the spandex stores, but it's worth a look if you're in the area anyway.

Perhaps it's just my love of pretty much any garment made of knit fabrics, but I am a huge lover of spandex stores!  Definitely check them out if you're in the market.