4th street, philadelphia (also known as fabric row)

I've been back to Fabric Row again! Go here for a past post with a map and directions. I really should come back more often. It reminds me so much of NYC and of Project Runway which is starting it's new season next week. This time I brought my daughter and my sister-in-law, Dana. Emma is going to be the flower girl in Dana's upcoming wedding, so we were on the hunt for occasion fabrics.

Outside Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet, barrels of cheap bolts hint at bargains to be found inside.

It's not all junk inside, though. Though a roundabout series of events that I won't go into, we wound up getting this lovely ivory embroidered border organza that echoes the embellishing on the bodice of Dana's gown. It will be overlaid on ivory bridal satin.

With fabric like this I decided it wasn't necessary to reinvent the wheel with the style. I've made this simple style before. It's got a crinoline underneath for pouf and I'll add a nice fat dupioni sash to match the celery color bridesmaid dresses.

Mission accomplished, we did some wandering just for fun. Emma enjoyed browsing in Albert Zoll, a notions store.

That's a lot o' buttons!

Inside Phuongs. The place to go for tulle and perhaps to have a pageant gown made.

If you ever find yourself on Fabric Row at lunchtime, you must go to the 4th Street Delicatessen. It's been here since 1923, an amazing feat with how quickly businesses come and go.

The interior is all original black and white deco tiles and fixtures.

When in an authentic Jewish deli and you're not a vegetarian... the pastrami reuben. This is the "small".

And if you're a vegetarian... potato pancakes with sour cream & apple sauce. Oh yeah...

The guys next to us asked if we'd like to photograph their balls. Ahem, matzoh balls, that is.

It seems Barack Obama was here too. I wonder if he bought some fabric and ordered the pastrami.

exploring fabric row, philadelphia

One day last week I went exploring on Fabric Row in the Queen Village neighborhood in southeast Philadelphia. Philly is so close to Wilmington, you'd think I'd go there more often than New York City, but so far I haven't. Me thinks that'll have to change.

Fabric Row is like a mini version of the NYC garment district. There are 18 or so shops (listed here) all concentrated on a few blocks of South 4th Street from South Street to Catharine Street.

     green=fabric row   blue=parking   orange= I95

 click on the map to enlarge

Coming from south of Philly, I take 95 north past the airport to the Washington Street exit near Penn's Landing. Follow Washington west to 5th street & turn right. Follow fifth up to Bainbrindge where all the parking is. It's angled metered parking, and on a weekday morning, it wasn't hard to get a spot. I had a finite number of quarters though, so I had to limit my stay to 1 1/2 hours which wasn't enough.

I've had success in the past at B. Wilk Fabrics at 618 4th Street when I was in the market for draperies, but they only do home furnishing fabrics. I wanted to get some classic men's shirtings like maybe some oxford cloth, chambray, or broadcloth. I tried Maxie's Daughter at 724 South 4th Street. Half the store is devoted to apparel fabrics: decent linens, wools and evening fabrics, but no shirtings. Eric, son of the owner, pointed out that "nobody makes their own shirts anymore". I suppose that's true, but I'm gonna make some.

 burn test at Jack B. Fabrics

Jack B. Fabrics at 748 South 4th Street had some shirtings. Yay! I found high quality 100% cotton blue oxford cloth and a sweet cotton lawn covered with tiny flower embroideries. I got the whole bolt of the lawn since I'm sure I'll never see it again. The owner waited on me and did a burn test to make sure the oxford cloth was 100% cotton. She said she's never quite sure since she buys her apparel fabrics from jobbers.

dupionis at Jack B. Fabrics

The majority of the Jack B. store is home furnishing fabrics, but they did have a nice selection of dupioni silks which can go either way.

I went in Kinkus Fabrics at 754 South 4th and didn't find what I needed either, but the kind person who waited on me was ever so knowledgeable and knew right where everything was. They had a lot of men's suitings and a tailor working out of the back. So old school- I love it!

Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet

A peek in Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet revealed a diverse inventory. I found some real camel hair and cashmere towards the back that reminded me I want to make a camel a-line inverted pleat skirt this fall. I didn't get the fabric though, because I'm too busy trying to get the shop ready for fall right now to work on it. Gotta stay disciplined.

 Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet

PA Fabric Outlet also had leather and the biggest selection of buttons on Fabric Row.

On the way back to the car I found some wide 100% cotton ($10/yd) chambray at A & J Fabrics at 757 South 4th Street. It was a clean and organized store compared to most of the others, but not the place to go for bargains necessarily. Most of their cottons were in the $14 range.

Bottom line: if you're looking for something specific, budget for more time and go in every single store on Fabric Row. With patience, you may find it.