Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Where do you get your fix? - Independants

This little shop opened about a year ago and I only found out about it at the Stitches and Craft show earlier in the year. It is situated on Sylvan Road in Toowong and is run by a mother and daughter (I believe). Now this store has wall to wall fabrics - literally - they are everywhere you turn, and not horrible rolls of it either, but the neatly packed rectangles that quilting fabrics come in. Most of the fabrics look to be fairly contemporary quilting patterns with Amy Butler, Heather Bailey etc getting a good showing. They are priced between $22-26 (AUD) per metre and you can purchase as little as 20cm widths (great for crafters). Also they have a billion fat quarters. To be honest my main criticism is that there is so much that it's overwhelming and the fabrics looked to be grouped by designer, not colourway. This is great if you know what you're after - but having things in colour groups can be visually easier to navigate  - but that's just my preference (I'm old and get confused easily). Peppermint Stitches main focus looks to be quilting and cross stitching/embroidery. There are a few patterns for bags, some craft books, and some classes on quilting and cross stitching. All in all - the service was very friendly and I'll definitely be crossing the river often to wade through the huge range of fabulous fabrics.

I remember when Ewan Gardams was on the Queen Street Mall (I told you I've been around a while). It was on several levels and was an Aladdin's cave of fabrics, apparently it's been in operation for over 70 years (no, I'm not that old)! They then moved to Adelaide Street, and for the most part was OK - over the years I have picked up some great fabrics, but things started to slow down, the 50% off sign annoyed the hell out of me and only ever applied to a small section of fabrics - which I think actually never sold so were in fact the same fabrics on sale for the past 5 years. Anyway, I digress, Gardams stocks mainly higher end fine fabrics and recently moved to Indooroopilly (down the road from Spotlight). Staff are always friendly and helpful and will cut small slithers of fabric off rolls, staple them to a card and write the details down for you! Splendid!

Sckafs Fabrics:
Inside Indooroopilly shopping town - bottom floor - Myers end. This place has been around forever it seems. It sells dress making fabrics on rolls, buttons etc, etc, etc. Fondest memory was being taken by a friend (you know who you are) to a special sponsored night that promised secret techniques and unusual stylings, but basically involved showing a lovely group of seated ladies how to embellish a plain T-shirt - by bedazzling the bejesus out of it with rhinestones, lace, sequence etc. We then got to eat cubed cheese and drink weak cordial - awesome. I did manage to buy some lovely cotton fabrics though.

Others that I know of but have not visited:
Patches (Indooroopilly)
Tangled Yarns (Newstead) - wool/knitting
Funky Fabrix (Mitchelton)
plus  heaps of quilting stores that seem to be tucked away in the outer suburbs.

6 comments:

  1. I adore the Gardams of this world! Old fashioned customer service & their wealth of knowledge have you going back for more.

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  2. I remember Gardems – both city stores. And did you know that in late 1980s they had a store in the Southport mall on the Gold Coast. I used to go there in my lunch break for a fix!

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  3. Thanks so much for sharing that information. I am only new to the area and have only so far discovered patches at Indooroopilly. I too am dreaming of one day giving up my day job........

    Thanks again
    Lisa

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  4. Hey Lisa! No probs - it's always tricky moving and trying to search out all the 'essential' places :-)

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  5. Hi! I would highly recommend a visit to funky fabrix in Mitchelton, its like fabric heaven. And its all nicely organised in colours on the quilting rectangles. The store has a sewing and craft focus and some excellent hard to find fabrics, and their online store is great as well. I've spent a lot on money there! They also have a great range of home decor and vintage fabrics. The only downside is that fabric sells out too quickly so buy it when you see it!

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  6. Just to let you know re Gardams, they are opening up again in the city. They will be a little further down Adelaide street from where they were, near post office square. They are still keeping the Idooroopilly store, so there wiil be 2 in Brisbane!!!!!!!!!!!!

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