This morning, bright and early, I went to the Los Angeles fabric district, mostly in search of beads for one of the classes I'm teaching at Costume College. I live roughly twenty-five miles away; if the timing is right, it's a smooth half-hour drive. Beads Factory (formerly Bohemian Crystal) opened at eight, and I was there a little after, snagging street parking with ease. One of the other bead stores, Berger's, is apparently either remodelling or becoming something else entirely. :( I'm sad - Berger's has been there forever! So I had to go back to Beads Factory again to get beading thread for the kits.

Unfortunately, though, almost everything else opens at nine, so I ended up killing a little time before the trims stores opened (I needed drawstrings for the bags) and then treated myself to bin-diving at the Michael Levine Loft. Today's hot in SoCal (and humid here in Anaheim; it's been sprinkling for the last ten minutes), so the big fans running in Michael Levine Loft felt really nice. Didn't get much, but had fun, and that was the important part.

Now back to pinning bag linings together. Yay, slippery lining fabric, so fun to sew....

Have the supplies for the embroidery class almost complete (just need six more packs of needles) and the supplies for the petticoat class... somewhat less complete. For that, I need ten packets of elastic and to actually finish up and copy off the handout.

In partial pursuit of this completeness, I went to the LA fabric district this morning with my mother. I got the ten spools of ribbon I needed for the petticoat class, then dragged my mother through inumberable stores in search of drapery fabric. Didn't find exactly what I was looking for (blue cotton velveteen), so I eventually threw in the metaphorical towel and will go back in a month or so, after Costume College is over, with Wonderful Husband. Of course, before we left I think I shocked my mother by how much linen I got and how much I paid for it. And we went through several of the flower district stores too. If either of us had lighting situations in our homes conducive to orchids.... But, alas, we do not.

We went to Little Tokyo for lunch (Hanaichimonme! spicy ramen!) and, all in all, did more walking today than she would have liked. To be honest, probably more walking than my bone spurs would have liked, too, but their grumbles are dying down now. Spent part of this afternoon and evening doing a layout of pattern pieces for a summer dress. I had just the right amount; the leftovers might make a Barbie dress....

No estate sales this weekend, which was just as well. After my (~2x more cardio than usual) last bellydance class for this term, stitchy and I went to the LA fabric district.

We purchased a lot of fabric, all of it for her costume, and agreed that we were glad we weren't shopping for mine today as well, as we would've been dead from exhaustion. (As opposed to just mostly dead, which we were.) We got into Michael Levine Loft for the first time, and hit up both Bohemian Crystal and Berger Supply Company! And Fabrics Fabrics was open as well, so I got the silk organza I needed. The weather was very pleasant, but it was busy. Very busy. The rooftop parking lot I always use was having drivers leave their keys because the vehicles were being double- and triple-stacked. One of the shopkeepers asked me if there was a holiday or something going on that would explain it. None that I know of....

After we finished four and a half hours there, the pair of us repaired to Little Tokyo nearby and had lunch at Curry House. Yum, omurice! For some weird-ass reason, though, the miso soup came with croutons and raisins in it. -_-;;; Tasted fine once I fished them out. After a quick pop into Kinokuniya and Marukai, we came home, and here I sit, with hurty feet. I should start cutting out fabric tonight, but I doubt I'll feel up to it. Maybe I'll settle for cutting the mockups apart for pattern pieces....