Our New Neighborhood - Atwater Village!

We are COMPLETELY PSYCHED to be moving this weekend to our new space at 3153 Glendale Boulevard, 90039. It has been a lot of work, but you can see we have made some pretty big strides and we are almost done with all the construction!

Before:

After!

We are so excited about our new neighbors, I wanted to take a moment to introduce some of the businesses on our street. I have been hanging out in Atwater Village for years (and found myself over there much more since ALIAS Bookstore and JACKNIFE Records opened), and have always loved the small-shop feel of it - it's owners like me running their own stores day-to-day.

A huge motivator for considering this area was the fact that our friends at THE LITTLE KNITTERY will be just a block away!

Here's Julie amidst all the splendor - with a bunny! They sell amazing yarns and have a ton of classes for knitting, crochet, macrame... they compliment our sewing classes perfectly and make our block a one-stop crafty destination!

Super-cute critters

I'm such a sucker for colors!

Right across the street from us is a new boutique called INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, and they have fantastic vibe, cool stuff and super-nice owners. Monica (pictured below) has been so welcoming, and even gave us the name of the folks that did their decal sign (who were also a dream to work with). Gifts, fun little knick knacks, GREAT men's clothing!

I am quite fond of teepees. And in this corner they have little embroidered dolls and art - beautiful!

Caffeine addicts, never fear! We would not relocate anywhere that does not have a neighborhood coffee shop. KALDI Coffee has coffee, tea, smoothies, pastries from LaBrea, local art, actual people hanging out in an actual coffee shop, free WiFi and they roast their own beans! Mmmm...

And of course there is chocolate, amazing chocolate. Lilly is the owner of SWEETS FOR THE SOUL, and she comes up with the most amazing handmade creations, using organic ingredients. My favorite - and I must have eaten enough to pay their rent by now - are the Brownie Shots. Bite size brownies in different flavors! I love the sea salt caramel one, and also the 'hotter shot' which has cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon & ginger. Bliss! 

If you have looked into our back room and seen my sewing book collection, then you know I have a problem with books. As in I can't say no to them. ALIAS Bookstore has not really helped - their design section always has something I'm drooling over, and the art & photography section is out of this world! Patrick (pictured below) is a lovely person to talk shop with, and can help out if you are looking for a specific item. Highly recommended!

After all the coffee & chocolate, I should probably head over to HEARTBEAT HOUSE for some booty shaking dance classes. The 'Awesome 80's Dance Party' class sounds perfect! Puppies can only watch, however.

JACKNIFE Records & Tapes is all one could ask for in a local record shop. Great used vinyl, great new vinyl, cassette tapes!, posters and more - this is the most dangerous shop on the street for me. Maybe I'll end up installing our extra turntable in the new shop...

Okay! So as you can see, we are surrounded by good peeps and great local culture. There are plenty of places that I didn't take a picture of as well - Viet Noodle Bar, Baracoa Cuban Cafe, Jill's Paint (where we found our no VOC paint), Create, 55 Degree Wine, Indochine Restaurant, Club Tee Gee (our local punk rock bar!), Canele Restaurant, Crystal Matrix - the list goes on. 

Sew L.A. will be re-opening on Friday May 4th and we are planning an open house from 6 - 9pm. Make an evening of it and stop by one of the fantastic restaurants before you come to see our great space!