I went to Australia. . . and squeezed in a bit of fabric shopping
When I travel, I love to check out the local fabric shopping scene. In some cities like NYC and Paris, there is a definitive garment district with clusters of fabric and notion stores that make the shopping easy. When I was in Morocco, I didn’t quite find this in Marrakech or Essaouira. I recently went to Australia and found a small cluster of shops in the Fitzroy section of Melbourne but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a garment or fashion district. The main purpose of this particular trip was to go to the Australian Open, so the textiles took a back seat due to time contraints. In this post, I’ll talk a little bit about my shopping experience but I’ll cover my Australia trip in general in some upcoming posts.
First Stop: Melbourne. . .
While I was in Melbourne, I ventured to the Fitzroy district where there were 4 stores that were in fairly close proximity:
I started out at Darn Cheap Fabrics (Darncheapfabrics.com.au). . .
Now, I don’t know that I necessarily agree with the name. Were there some cheap fabrics? Yes. But there were fabric at a wide variety of price points. They ranged from a whole table of fabrics that was $2.95AUD/metre to brocades/jacquards that were $29.95/metre to amazingly gorgeous laces that were $40-50/metre. I had been looking for an orange knit fabric for quite some time and found a beautiful double knit that is perfect for the project I have in mind. I got 2.5 metres for about $7USD (definitely darn cheap!).
I walked a few blocks and ended up on Brunswick street which is where I found Draper’s Fabrics, The Fabric Lab and The Fabric Store.
Drapers Fabrics (https://drapersfabrics.com/)
Drapers is a smaller shop with a wonderful assortment of fabrics. I was particularly drawn to their selection of silks. They had beautifully unique silk prints. The plaid was probably my favorite. Though it may seem like a small touch, I definitely appreciated the labels having the fabric care instructions in addition to the content and price.
The Fabric Lab
Just down the street from Drapers is the Fabric Lab. Here, I was surrounded by a myriad of inspirations for formal dresses and special occasion clothing. I loved the variety of textures and colors they had. I was particularly enthralled by the woven textured fabric below. It’s probably designed for home décor but I would wear it ;-).
And last up in Melbourne was The Fabric Store…
The Fabric Store
Still on Brunswick Street but on the side opposite of the Fabric Lab and Drapers was The Fabric Store (https://wearethefabricstore.com/). I soooooo loved this store that I went two days in a row.
First and foremost, I love the fact that the Fabric Store’s selection is entirely deadstock. Textile waste is a huge environmental problem so I tend to gravitate toward stores with an emphasis on sustainability. As if that wasn’t enough, they were having a 50% sale on most fabrics. Now, one of my favorite things is a sale and BAYYY BEEEE were they having a sale!!!! By the time the 50% off and the currency conversion (0.6 USD) were done, some of the leather hides were $60USD. They had a beautiful selection of Merino wools. They also had some amazing, showstopping silks. I got a piece of beautiful rose colored checked sheer silk which will eventually be a blouse. If I wasn’t restricted by the checked luggage weight requirements and my overflowing fabric stash, I probably would have bought the entire store.
Hot tip: they do ship across the world!!!
Next up, Sydney. . .
As I moved through Melbourne and other destinations in Australia, I explored multiple art galleries with Indigenous art and fell in love with the dot painting technique that is their signature. The symbols and the dots all tell a story. I wanted to be able to wear the art and became obsessed with finding fabric with Indigenous art prints. I searched high and low in Uluru, Kuranda, and Cairns for the fabric to no avail. There was one store that I found called the Remnant Warehouse (https://theremnantwarehouse.com) in Sydney that does sell Indigenous fabric but between my schedule, Australia Day closings and the luck of the draw, I just couldn’t make it in person.
I had given up finding the fabric but then serendipity struck during a visit to the Spirit Gallery in Sydney. This was purely kismet because their website made no mention of selling fabric. Now, I will say that the markup was quite a bit compared to other fabrics and the Remnant Warehouse and the fabric cost way more than I usually spend but I did it anyway. Who knows when I’ll be able to travel across the world to Australia again? The print that I chose is called “the walkabout”.
I didn’t get to all of the stores that I had hoped to while I was in Australia. If you are heading to Australia and want a more comprehensive guide, check out https://duckcloth.com.au/fabric-stores-melbourne/