I’m in Downtown LA now. And I’m excited to report back what goodies I got. First up…

Fabrics of course!

I did read Pattern Review’s post about shopping in LA Fabric District. And I did check out some of the stores mentioned. But it’s terribly hot in LA (compared to London). And I’m not a decisive person at the best of time. So faced with a sea of cheap but loud fabrics, I came back with nothing.

What I did get are a bunch of fabrics from FIDM’s Scholarship Store on W 9th St & S Grand Ave. All safe neutral browns of one sort or another. But at $1 per yard for more basic fabrics or $5 per yard for more interesting fabrics, you can’t complain. I got a bunch of nice stretchy knits at $1/yd (left picture below), and a couple at $5/yd (right picture below). The fabric section is in a little room somewhat hidden in the back. Rest of the store are RTW. I almost walked out thinking PR’s advice was out of date. Glad I poked around until I found the fabrics.

Another exciting and surprising fabric find was some lovely jacquard lining fabrics from B Black & Sons on S Los Angeles St between W 5th & 6th St. The stores looks like mostly men’s tailoring fabrics and supplies – they even have pre-assembled hair canvas jacket front interfacings in the back, and waxed finishing thread skeins in a range of lovely suit colors.

Again, I almost missed the prize. I was just about to pay for some zippers when I noticed the linings behind the counter. I’ve been looking for more interesting lining fabrics like forever. True, I could have just bought nice silky fashion fabrics to use as lining like everyone else. But I don’t know. I just don’t have the heart to hide them inside when they’d happily parade outside. So I’m pretty chaffed with this find. We shall see if I don’t then decide they too are too nice to hide inside.

And last but not least – this time not in Downtown – a couple more pieces from Mood Fabrics in the middle of nowhere (W Pico Blvd actually, but “nowhere” to my NYC shaped mind).

I originally wasn’t going to visit Mood this time, just because it’s such a pain to get to without a car. But then I happen to pass by it while sightseeing with my brother and his family in their rental car. Since my brother is also a fan of Project Runway and therefore well aware of Mood, we decided to stop by.

This silk panel print is my most expensive purchase during this trip. I think it’s a designer fabric – Just Cavelli – which I don’t usually go for. But the Chinese looking print is just so lovely…and I’ve been looking for something like this, even considering taking up the brush myself if I can’t find any. So this was just perfect!

This eyelet / Broderie Anglaise I’m hoping to turn into something vaguely inspired by the Louis Vuitton Spring / Summer 2012 collection. It’s not quite the right pattern or color, but it’s the closest I can find.

And that’s about it for fabrics. I was uncharacteristically restrained for a fabricholic because there are other stuff I got and my baggage is only so big. Plus I’m seriously running out of shelf space what with piles of new stretch fabrics I’ve been getting from Tia Knight aka Tissu online fabric store recently.

Coming up tomorrow: Books Books Books!