My first textile show!

On Wednesday I took a day off work to attend the La International Textile show in downtown LA. I went with designer and owner Amber Pratt of City Girl Aprons. She designs her own line of stylish aprons that are sold in boutiques across the U.S. If you are looking for a great Christmas present these would be perfect. She has been so nice to give me advice for starting my own swimwear line. She invited me to go along with her under her company name to the textiles show.

It was a great experience! At first I felt like a fish out of water. Everyone speaks in fashion lingo. I learned that I pretty much don't know anything about the fashion industry. It is OK though...I can learn. Amber described fabrics with adjectives like "Peruvian", "Shabby Chic", etc. I would nod obliviously. Once I felt a little more confident in approaching vendors it became more fun.

I met a great contact who has her own successful swimwear line for children. She gave me the contact name of a pattern maker in the area. When she emailed me her phone number I was so excited to find out that her area code is right in the area we live!! What are the odds?! I found two or three companies that had cute fabrics. I was also given names of three other major active wear companies in the LA area.

Afterwords I went with Amber to her fabric cutter's warehouse. I got to meet the owner of the business. She said that she also cuts swimwear fabrics and would be willing to cut for me! She was very nice and it was great to meet her!

I am so excited that I now have a contact for a pattern maker and a textile cutter. Now I just need to get my hands on some amazing prints and get the designs going. Cross my fingers that the pattern maker is accepting new clients:/

This is all really exciting for me but at the same time I want to make sure that this is the right thing for me to do. I am taking things slowly and getting my feet wet before I go full throttle. Whoo-hoo!