Only recently I have discovered the lovely podcast of Love to Sew and have almost listened to all episodes in the last two weeks.
During one of their episodes, I heard about Sewrendipity's Local Fabric Shopping on tour. It is a list of fabric shops from different places of various seamstresses around the world.
I have left my home country about 10 years ago and lived & traveled to different countries. Travelling has broaden my horizon in many ways. Now I am sewing since 2 and a half years. When I first started sewing I lived on a tiny island in Malaysia. There are local fabric shops but the quality wasn't as good as on the mainland and also the selection was intended for locals with their beautiful traditional colorful dresses.
Most of my fabric shopping I did in Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore. Both countries have the Australian stores of Spotlight.
In regards to local shops in Kuala Lumpur, I can recommend Harisons. It is located within the Golden Triangle to be precise in the local area, called Masjid Jamek. You can take the LRT and walk the rest. As it is on the main road, it is very easy to find. Here is the pin to find it.
The shop has fabrics over 3 stories; from local prints to cottons and silks. The staff is very knowledgeable about the fabrics they stock and helpful if you need any advice. The prices are definitely on the higher end in comparisons to the stores around. If you like to haggle, no negotiations are possible there but you can try your luck further down the road.
I picked up one of my favorite fabrics from there and sewed it into a beautiful dress.
While living in Malaysia, we have also managed to visit Hong Kong and I found this tiny little road which was packed with people and the heat & humidity made it so unbearable that you had to go inside shops to cool down. Here is the pin to find it.
This alley connecting two main streets are lined with various vendors for inexpensive clothing and bags. Behind them are some fabric stores with assorted fabrics from gingham to silk varieties.
I picked up some lace and eye-lit cotton, both of these fabrics were definitely an impulse purchase as I still haven't used them. At that time, I was still new to sewing and especially fabrics. So anything different to regular cotton, I wanted to try out.
During a business trip, I managed to see a little bit of Yangon in Myanmar. And while working abroad is great, I managed to find some time to explore & find some fabric shops. There are quite a few in the same area called Bogyoke Market. The shop I went to was behind the covered market space. The prints and colors in each shop are so beautiful and also very very affordable. I remember buying 4.5m of the softest Rayon for only USD 10. I still have some of the fabric left, and still not sure which pattern to use. I guess the experience of the culture and travelling, makes this fabric more special.
Here in Dubai, I have so many more choices. My go to store is Regal Stores (they have multiples stores here in the Gulf region). Although, they might be a bit more expensive at times but the range of different colors for your basic lawns and quality (for suiting fabrics) is very good. Recently, I bought some tafetta for my night dress of the #dayandnightdresschallenge hosted by Elizabeth Made This.
These are my favourite stories of Fabric shopping around the world. I have also visited:
The Fabric Store in Brisbane
Landfee in Pirna (my home town)
Holm Sown in Castle Douglas (my partners home town)
And propably some other stores which I may not remember because I bought a lot of fabric in the past :D.
I hope you find this useful and if ever you travel to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong or Yangon you know where to go to take a special souvenir home with you.
Where have you travelled and took some specialy fabric home with you?
If you need any more tips regarding the stores listed or even just tips for travelling, don't be shy to contact me. Happy to help.
Thanks for hanging out with me.