So now that i’ve moved home, you guys know there’s only one thing on my mind right??? That’s right, fabric!
I know I have something of a “habit” when it comes to fabric. I’ve become quite accustomed to shopping online whilst living in the States – and I’m hoping i’ll find lots of great online stores back in Australia too. Until then, I thought I might do a little recap of my favourite fabric stores in Perth.
Fabulous Fabrics – this is the store where my mom bought the fabric for my wedding dress! I LOVE this store – definitely my top recommendation. It is pricey, but they only sell beautiful quality fabrics, and their customer service is fantastic! I remember one of my friends from school used to work there, which made it all the more fun to shop at. Their original store is in Balcatta (right next to my old church!) but my mother in law tells me they just opened a new store in the Perth CBD
Knitwit – this store is actually kind of hard to find. It’s off Stirling Hwy in Claremont, and it’s a great little store specialising just in knit/jersey/stretchy fabrics. They have amazing selection – but once again it is pricey. I also want to put in a good word for the customer service too – when I was learning to sew with stretchy fabrics i had absolutely no idea what i was doing, and was having trouble finding practical resources. The ladies in this store very happily spent time explaining to me exactly what to do, and put up with me coming back later with more questions. Honestly, this kind of service is rare.
Spotlight – I know this is not the store with the best quality or anything, but it is the biggest and the cheapest and sometimes you need that. I’d say it’s like a combination of the American stores JoAnn fabrics and Michaels crafts. You can get pretty much everything here – and the thing i like is that their shoppers club card actually gives you discounts when you shop, not just a stupid catalog in the mail. Many of my favourite designs were made with fabric from spotlight – this top, this top, this skirt (seen here, here, here actually i’ve worn it too much to keep linking) – this dress – so please don’t dismiss this store.
Calico & Ivy – This little store is really so gorgeous. I shopped there a little bit before we moved to the states, and it really has a beautiful selection of good quality fabrics in unique prints (plus the often hard to find Liberty prints). Pricey, but i guess that’s the way with these things. I haven’t been in a while since it’s far from where i currently live – but it really is worth another trip
Materialise – I haven’t personally been in this little store – but my mother in law has bought me some truly gorgeous fabrics from it. They apparently focus on carrying high quality fabrics (such as Liberty of London) – so te prices will obviously be high, but thats the general story when you buy high quality products. I can’t wait to visit this little gem.
Crossways Fabric – This is another little store – and they don’t have a very large stock, and their focus is really more on yarns, but I haven definitely found some good hidden gems here once in while when i pop into Subiaco. Plus they often have a little table of 50% off fabrics, and well i just can’t say no to sales hehe
Textile Traders – eh. I’m not a huge fan. It’s not a bad store – much like Spotlight in quality, but slightly higher priced. I haven’t really had good experiences with them – i guess because their selection is small – and they refused to give me a fabric swatch once (even when i offered to pay for it) and accused me of going around Perth and conning fabric stores out of swatches so i could make a quilt. Seriously??? that’s just insane. I’d like to see what quilt could be made with a 1″ by 3″ strip of fabric. Oh hey, did i just segway into a rant? oops sorry… Maybe i’m biased, but that experience pretty much turned me against them for life.
Did I miss anything awesome?? If you have a good Perth fabric store recommendation let me know – i know I definitely haven’t been to every store in town and after all, you tend to stick to stores in your local area, and it’s been 5 years since i went fabric shopping back home!
Also, I’m going to try and compile a good list of online stores that serve Australia – I’ve already got a couple in mind, but I’d love any good tips!
