button, button, who's got the button?

First, for those of you who asked, the first place we stopped at and bought from was Metro Textiles 265 W. 37th St. between 7th & 8th Aves -take elevator to 9th fl. After we burned out on fabric, we headed East and uptown to Julie Artisan's Gallery on Madison Ave. She carries wearable art and jewelry - Carter Smith and Tim Harding were well represented. But either we are jaded or they have gone totally commercial: Tim Harding's jackets, at $1680, looked like production items. The shop had some interesting things, but - uh - not for us. By then, we had taken the subway too far uptown and were hot and tired from walking. However, Julie had said that no matter how we felt, we absolutely had to go to Tender Buttons. Ok. We walked another 5 blocks and found this tiny gem of a shop, where we spent the next hour. You cannot believe the array of vintage buttons lining the walls of this shop! You want it/they have it - especially if it is no longer made. Horn, ivory, mother-of-pearl, coral, bone, metal: plain or fancy. Every color, size, shape, motif.

Buttons and more buttons.

This tiny store was jumping! Some brought their coats with missing buttons to try and match them; others were looking for the perfect buttons for that gorgeous jacket they were about to make or for the handmade sweater they had just finished. Dinner at a lovely Italian bistro (is there such a thing?) - subway to Penn Station and the train back to New Brunswick. When we got there it was late and we needed a taxi. The taxi stand office looked like a set from a 1940's gangster movie. Can you believe this relic??? We did get a taxi quickly and spent what was left of the evening hanging out in the lobby, drinking wine and shooting the breeze with friends. The big R is for Rutgers and this was not only a hotel, it was an overflow dorm. Don't we look like we belong? This afternoon I was back in my studio cleaning up and printing.