More LA garment district fabric

This is another of my finds on my trip to the garment district.  It is nice, mid-weight swimsuit lycra.

I think this is the year I may try my hand at making a swimsuit for me.  I'm thinking Jalie's Tankini pattern .  The bonus will be that I can use the same pattern for my girl's suits although I have 2 TNT swimsuit patterns that I already love for them. 

I wandered into a little hole-in-the-wall store with an entire wall full of laces and trims.  I'm not much of a lace girl, but some of the trims were too cute to pass up, especially since they cost only $.25/yard. 

The top 3 are fold-over elastic, which I've never used, but I want to :) .  The bottom 2 are picot edge elastic.  Isn't the multi-color one fabulous?!  I think I got a whole dollar's worth of that one. . .yep, that's 4 yards. 

And in case you are wondering what happened to that freezer paper stencil, here is the final result.  I had plans to turn the adult size small t-shirt into a night-gown for Allie, but she had other plans.  She wanted a girly cut t-shirt.  I used the Imke pattern and reused the original neckline ribbing and the sleeve hems.  I think it turned out very cute.

I've been busy today working on what will probably end up being Easter dresses, and I can hardly wait to show you.  I'm hoping to get some decent modelled shots tomorrow and get them up. 

I'd also like to hear about your inspirations.  Do you "window shop" in RTW or online catalogs to get inspiration for pieces you ultimately make?  Do you copy a pattern rather than buying it?  Think about it because I will be issuing a challenge related to that tomorrow!