Between sewing for myself, my boys, my husband and our home, I buy a LOT of fabric. I tend to spread myself out across the fabric retailers within the city and inner norther suburbs. So I thought over the next few months I would do reviews of my main fabric and sewing supplies retailers.
Early one morning I dragged my boys down to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy to The Fabric Store. My mum had recently been to their Brisbane store and told me there was heaps of wool suiting and merino knits. I was in search of some fabric for a few Renfrew tops and a black wool crepe for a pair of work Clover pants.
The shop is full of fabric organised predominantly in colours, with some fibre content organisation as well. The service was friendly but not pushy. I did find that they weren't really eager to assist with fabric selection even though I'd asked for some help. I had two kids and a list, so a bit of assistance would have gone down a treat. I also didn't feel like they really sewed a lot.
Besides that, it is a wonderful shop full of ex-designer fabrics, lots of wool knits and linens and a good turnover of stock. You need to be careful when they cut the fabric, as there are often flaws in the fabric. Two of the pieces I bought had holes in the middle but the assistant happily gave me extra fabric to enable me to easily cut around the flaw.
Store Details
Store: The Fabric Store, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (there are also stores in Sydney, Brisbane & NZ)
Opening Hours: Monday - Friday: 9.30am - 5.30pm & Saturday - Sunday: 10am - 4pm
Parking: Street parking right out front
Access: Street level, easy access for prams, lots of room
Extras: Friendly staff, couches for the onlookers, great coffee shop just a few shops away.
Here are some of my purchases. You can see my plans for these in my Autumn Winter 2012 sewing list.
After about 30 minutes I had one bored little boy...
Thankfully the museum is close and is a great bribery tool!
L x
It's great to hear someone else's experience of The Fabric Store. I really like the Fitzroy store as I find it easy to get to on public transport when in Melbourne. The ever changing mix of fabric is wonderful as it becomes a bit like a treasure hunt. Although i find if I am looking for a particular type of fabric the organising by colour can make it more difficult to track down all the crepes or such like. The wall of merino knit Is so much like a lolly shop. But without the calories. I took a non-sewing friend there and suggested she bring a book and she happily read on on the couch. Looking forward to your other reviews.
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