Paul and I went on an overseas trip to Melbourne in December. We had a whole week so I planned to visit a number of fabric stores. Because fabric is the best souvenir right?!

On day 1 we visited The Fabric Store and Clear It. In Wellington we live/work close to The Fabric Store in Wellington so I didn’t spend much time here as was very similar.

 

Clear It is almost next door to TFS stocks end of line clothing, shoes, fabric and findings etc from Australian designers. As it’s all ends of lines you really have to dig through to discover the gems. The fabric section of the store closes an hour prior to the rest of the store so allow yourself enough time.

These are the fabrics that we bought home. The ducks will be for jacket lining for both Paul and I. The ballerina fabric will be jacket lining for me. The hearts fabrics has been made into a skirt and the poison fabric turned in a Paxton sweatshirt for Paul. The other cottons will be for men’s shirts for Paul. Most of the fabrics cost between $3 – $5 per meter.  This was my favourite store for bargains during our trip. Most of the fabrics are ex designer rolls so you can find some really unique pieces.

 

The Cloth Shop Ivanhoe

We caught a Uber out to Ivanhoe to meet the lovely Blogless Anna. Paul found some awesome Pac-Man style t shirt fabric.

Darn Cheap Fabrics

 

Anna took us to Darn Cheap Fabrics. I loved all their trims and patches. They have lots of lovely fabrics. I bought some beautiful floral patches and some deep indigo cotton for a summer tunic dress.

 

Tessuti

I didn’t purchase anything at Tessuti (Paul was amazed) the fabric there is too expensive for my budget. I would have splurged I had seen an incredible fabric but nothing jumped out.

Luccello

Tucked away in the first floor of an upstairs arcade is Luccello. It is a gorgeous store which is a visual delight. They stock quilting fabrics, cute findings, beautiful threads and bias bindings. I treated myself to a meter of liberty bias binding and a needle storage booklet both are items which I’ll cherish using.

 

 

 

Right next door as a lovely Kimono store and Button store pictures below

 

Seamstress cocktail bar

Even though it was a Thursday night in December some of the Melbourne sewing bloggers took the time to meet up with me for drinks. After our first plans fell through we moved to Seamstress Cocktail bar and I was glad they did! I loved Seamstresses. The bar is housed in a 120 year old textile factory rich with history. The cocktails were good too 🙂

 

The bar has kimonos hanging from the ceiling and spools full of cotton attached to the walls. Some of the tables are Singer treadle sewing machines.

I’ve heard that Eliza’s and Jimmy’s Buttons are also awesome places to visit.

I hope this list helps if you’re heading to Melbourne.

Thanks for reading !