Fabric Shopping in London: Raystitch

Okay this is my final post about fabric shopping in London I promise (well at least for this trip anyway). I had heard about Raystich a few times through various blogs (here, here, and here to mention a few), and also when Janet told me in the comments that I needed to go there. I am so glad that I did because it's basically one of the coolest shops I have ever been to. I love everything about it. Even John commented on how cool it was. (Also, they have a fantastic website, and they seem to ship worldwide.)

Raystitch is located in Islington, kind of near the Camden area, I think. We took the tube there (the Northern line to Angel station), and then the bus about three stops. You could probably walk from the tube station, but it was pouring rain so we took the bus.

This shop has pretty much anything and everything you could wish for in a sewing shop. I have this totally unrealistic dream of opening my own fabric store/haberdashery and Raystitch is pretty much exactly how I would want it to be. It is absolutely stunning!

Totally gorgeous right? Then you go downstairs where they have a nice class area, with a little kitchen and really nice bathrooms. There is even have a back garden!! I could totally live in this shop LOL.

This charming little shop is filled to the brim with exquisite fabrics (tons of amazing apparel fabrics), patterns, books, zippers, buttons, knitting needles, crochet hooks, fabric dyes, tons of notions and pretty much anything you could ever need to sew, knit, crochet, or quilt a stunning project. There is fabric everywhere, but everything is super organized and beautifully displayed, so it doesn't seem overwhelming and it's easy to pick things out. I really loved that they had actual garment samples of patterns they sell. There were also lots of quilting notions and some gorgeous quilting fabrics. The staff was extremely sweet and very helpful too. I could have spent pretty much the whole day there. If I lived nearby, you'd probably find me hanging out everyday and taking all the classes they offer. I so, so, so wish there was something like this in Calgary. I can only imagine the community you could build around it.

By the time we got to Raystitch, I had pretty much blown through my fabric budget, but I wanted to pick up some patterns. Specifically a couple of By Hand London patterns, and some Merchant Mills patterns to save on the shipping. I ended up coming out with a bit more than planned, but I am super happy with my picks. John also picked me out two fabrics that I couldn't leave without too.

I'm not entirely convinced that I'm going to actually make the Holly Jumpsuit, but I've seen a number of cute dress hacks and I love the wide leg pant, so it was an impulse buy.

I also may have picked up a couple more unplanned things:

I have been lusting after this coat pattern since seeing in on Sunni's blog (and then she made her Mom and sister coats too!), but I noticed that it is rated Advanced so I'm a little nervous about it now. But how cool does it look?

So, there you go, now have enough fabric and patterns to keep me going for months on end. Who am I kidding, you can never have too much fabric, am I right?

Anyway, if you ever go to London, I would definitely recommend a visit to this shop. I absolutely loved it! Totally worth checking out!

Fabric Shopping in Montreal

So along with doing a lot of sewing, I have also been reading a lot about sewing. There are a ton of great sewing blogs out there, some have tutorials, some have inspiring ideas, and most of them share projects and a love of sewing. It’s great! Anyway, one of the blogs I stumbled upon features a seamstress who lives in Montreal, and she alluded to the fabric district. Of course I had to look it up, and it turns out that there are all kinds of delicious fabric stores along Rue St. Hubert, and John knew exactly how to get there. Even more importantly, he said he would be happy to take me! I have the best husband ever, what can I say.

Anyway we drove down St. Hubert and found a great parking spot in front of this lovely store:

And inside, we found all these lovely rolls and bolts of fabric. I have never seen anything so nice. At home, there is pretty much only Fabricland, and they don’t even come close to having anything as nice as the cheapest thing in this store.

The man (I am thinking he is the owner) inside, was very nice and very accommodating. The service was impeccable, and while we didn’t, I think this gentleman would have loved to haggle. He did end up giving us a discount on everything we picked out. I pretty much spent my whole budget! But I got some beautiful dress fabrics and a couple of gorgeous Alpaca fabric for a winter coat. My only problem now is that I am afraid to cut into any of the beauties. It’s a little more intimidating than sewing with the fabrics I’ve been buying out of the clearance section at Fabricland.

Montreal also has a fabric store chain, called Fabricville, and we spotted one a few blocks away from Matt’s place, so we went in. It is very much like Fabricland, but it seemed a bit nicer and cleaner, and they had a better selection. The staff was also very nice. I’m not sure what it’s like where you live, but the staff of the Fabriclands in Calgary, are notorious for being rude and very unhelpful. I’ve been lucky and mostly been able to bond with one or two of the girls at the location that I frequent. But I have heard over and over just how awful people have been treated there, and if you don’t believe me, just Google “Fabricland Calgary” and have a look at the reviews. It’s actually a bit funny.

Anyway, I managed to pick up some really cute jersey knits, and some denim which were all on sale, for a steal, so I am a happy camper. I can hardly wait to get home and get sewing!

Do you like to sew? Are you even interested in hearing about my sewing adventures? I have been debating starting a separate blog for sewing, but I'm not sure if that is necessary what do you think?