And it didn't stop there

Nope. Golden Dragon was just the start. The fabric debauchery continued across the road at this place -
Seems innocent enough, right? But look here ... cute Japanese prints:.... adorable Hello Kitty (original Sanrio) prints which my little monkey ADORES:
And then there are these Kokka Russian Doll prints:
On the extreme right, you'll see a grey dotty fabric -- that's Japanese linen and I almost bought some. However, I resisted! And felt pretty proud of myself until these decided to come home with me ....
"She's a lost cause," I hear you say :-) LOL! Jo, who runs the store (and whose family also has a couple of other fabric stores at the same complex), is really sweet, friendly and not pushy. I like her range and think that her prices are pretty decent, especially for the quality you get.

At Jo's shop you know that when she tells you something is Japanese cotton, that it really is from Japan. And if you're looking at the "Japanese Liberty" inside the store, she'll tell you about the other similar ones outside which are on sale (the inside ones are not on sale).

Look out for the cuts of fabric at the back of the store -- ie. the ones not in bolts. These are usually shorter cuts of about 2 - 3 metres at the most (but most are usually about 1 metre) and they're all Japanese, if I'm not mistaken. You'll find linen/cotton blends and some 100% cottons as well.

The elephants are from those tempting piles at the back. And sorry, I think I took them all except maybe one in a blue colourway. But they may still have the cute hippos!

So with Jo being so nice and her fabric being so yummy .... HOW could I resist? Hahahahhahahah!

Malin Textile
Address: Block 32 new market road #02-1122
Tel: 6535 4660

Here's the "culprit" ...

... the delicious cotton gauze that totally broke my resolve to NOT add to the fabric stash. After taking photos of the fabric at Golden Dragon, I decided to just casually glance over the collection and this print stood out. Here is a view of the border on one selvedge: Here's a close-up of the border:And here is the border print on the other selvedge:Close up:

Designer:
There isn't much of this fabric left -- there was maybe about 5 metres left on the bolt. Cost is SGD$21.80 per metre and the minimum cut is half a metre.

I'm planning to sew a simple sun-dress for my darling monkey. I think it would be just nice for a visit to the zoo!

So much for the fabric fast. I think the only way to stick to this "diet" is to totally avoid all the fabric shops. LOL!

Golden goodness

When I first started sewing some years ago, one of my favourite shops to visit was Golden Dragon Store at People's Park Centre (not to be confused with People's Park or People's Park Complex). If you're taking a cab or driving, People's Park Centre is the building opposite Chinatown point ... and also opposite the Subordinate Courts.

Golden Dragon used to be a huge store, but over the years, as interest in sewing and crafting dwindled, they got smaller and smaller and then moved to a quiet corner of the shopping centre.

So I'm happy to report that Golden Dragon has undergone a bit of a facelift AND has expanded, taking over a small neighbouring unit.
Things are much brighter and there is more space to move around. They still have lots of crafty products and they still offer knitting and other craft classes. Their knitting classes are very popular and there is always a happy, crafty buzz during lesson time.
And for those who sew (and knit!), you'll love their wall of Clover products. The last time I checked, the Clover prices at Golden Dragon are lower than at Spotlight and they have a much larger range:
At the back of the store, you'll also find a small but decent selection of fabric from Japan and the US. They stock mainly quilting cotton, some corduroy and a tiny offering of oilcloth (or maybe it's laminated cotton, I didn't really examine them in detail):

If you want to be informed when new fabric stock arrives, just tell one of the "aunties" there and they'll get you to put your name and number in a book.

So why am I writing about Golden Dragon? Welllllllllllll ... let's just say I broke the fabric fast today. AGAIN. And it started at this store. I'll tell you more tomorrow ;-)

Oh and before you give up on me as a total lost fabricaholic cause, I *did* sew something which I'll share as soon as I take some pics. No, Sew Convert, it isn't the Macaron, unfortunately. I needed a quick project to assuage the guilt of buying more fabric and so whipped up the Burda top from the previous project. Again. In black and white. Again. LOL! Notice a trend here?

OK, enough jibber-jabbering. Here is the essential info about Golden Dragon:

Address - #02-251 People's Park Centre, 101 Upper Cross Street
Tel - (+65) 6535 8454
Website - www.goldendragon.com.sg

Foot in mouth disease

I'm generally careful, but sometimes I slip up ... and this time, it all started with some lovely knit fabric.

The other day, I stopped by one of my favourite fabric shops in Chinatown (People's Park), Thye Guan Textile. Henry and his wife Lay Keow had some pretty new cotton jersey fabric and I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over them before finally settling on just one metre of a black and white rose-ish print (SGD$13) .

Now, I must've spent a good half hour just petting the fabric and looking at this and that. But not once did I feel pressured to buy anything. In fact, Lay Keow kept on smiling and chatting about all sorts of other things and didn't seem to mind that after all that time, all I bought was one measily metre.

So I told her (that's Lay Keow in the pic on the left, standing at my favourite knits corner) that I really appreciated their no-pressure atmosphere. And seriously, there is never any pressure to buy anything. Henry and Lay Keow happily show you their fabric or leave you alone to browse if you prefer.

And I should have left it at that, but was feeling wicked that day and complained about another store around the corner which also had pretty knits but whose high-pressure sales tactics I didn't like.

"No" is never enough for the other store. The response to my "no, not today" is always "Why? Buy today!".

So anyway, Lay Keow just smiled and nodded. And I CONTINUED TO COMPLAIN, telling her about what happened the last time I was at the other store, blah, blah, blah, whinge, whinge .... No big deal right?

WELL.
It turns out that the shop I was complaining about belongs to Henry's brother. So in effect, I was complaining to Lay Keow about her in-laws.

Talk about opening one's mouth and shoving both feet in! She took it all in good spirit, though, and said that the older man at that shop is "a character". Of course I apologised profusely and wished that a huge hole would open up and swallow me up ..... aaaaaaaahhhh! So embarassing.

Lesson learned!

Anyway, here's important info on Thye Guan Textile:
Address -Blk 32 New Market Road, #02-1006 People's Park
Opening hrs - 11.30am to about 8pm; Closed on Sundays
Good for - Cotton lycra/cotton jersey (about SGD$13 a metre), Irish linen, cotton/linen, denim. Prices are pretty reasonable and they have quality stuff. Many of their fabrics are from Japan or Europe.

Pretty little things

Isn't this pretty:
It's a chiffon rosette attached to some tulle backing and these things are sold by the yard. I paid SGD$4 for half a yard (minimum cut) and got four large black/cream polkadot rosettes.

You just hand-sew the rosette to an article of clothing (or bag or whatever) of your choice, trim away the tulle ... and voila, you're done!

The rosettes and other pretties can be found at Brighton Accessories House in Chinatown. Brighton started out as one store about maybe a year or so ago and has since grown into two units diagonally across from each other.


Brighton is the place to go for trimming by the yard, lace, ribbon, buttons, needles, wooden yardsticks (SGD$5), zippers (including fancy, decorative exposed zippers), pins, covered button kits (SGD$6.50), tracing paper and other doo-dads. Prices are pretty reasonable although I do think they've gone up a little since the store opened last year.

It's a place you can easily go nuts in, so if you're anything like me, it's best to step in with a PLAN or you'll end up with a bunch of lovelies that you have no idea what to do with. Hahahahah!

At my last visit recently, I was extremely restrained and bought half a yard of these pretties below (SGD$7/yd) and got six rosettes which I'm going to use to dress up a plain tee for my darling little monkey. I don't think I need so many for her, and so will probably do a mommy-daughter matching tee thing. The colours are so sweet, aren't they?


Good thing is, Brighton is open every day. But if you're planning on shopping at the other stores too, don't bother visiting till closer to lunch time as most stores in the complex start to open at about 11.30am only.

And if you're wondering where Blk 32 New Market Road is, it's the building between OG and People's Park Complex. There is a hawker centre on the ground floor and, confusingly, is also called "People's Park". Why are there so many buildings in Chinatown, all in close proximity to each other, with "People's Park" in their names???

Happy shopping!

Chanel fabric at Nicole Xavier

UPDATE (1st July): The Chanel fabric is still available! But I need to let you know that NicoleXavier may not necessarily be open every day. They're always closed on Sundays, but sometimes, take a day off during the week too. So if you're intending to visit, give them a call first (+65 532-7856)

I love Saturdays because that's the only day I get a few hours to myself as there is no work that day and my darling monkey spends some quality time with one set of grandparents.

Saturday is usually the day I get to do all the "me" things that get neglected during the week. It's the day for housework (hahaha! as if), getting a hair cut or sewing. Most Saturdays, though, I somehow end up at Chinatown.
These terrible taxi drivers, I tell you ... always taking me to Chinatown. Hahahahhaha! A few of my favourite fabric stores are located in Chinatown.

Anyway, this past Saturday, the decision to go to Chinatown was made easier when I received an sms from Nicole of NicoleXavier, one of my all-time fave fabric stores in Singapore and Chinatown.

For months, I had been bugging Nicole to bring in Chanel-esque boucles. Well, my wish came true and she brought in four bolts of yummy Chanel boucles AND some trim too!

They're not inexpensive -- expect to pay upwards of SGD$75 per metre for the fabric and SGD$25 a metre for the trim. But, you know, they are beeeyoootiful and hard to resist, especially if you consider that a real Chanel jacket costs in the region of SGD$10,000.

So some of the fabric and a lot of the trim leaped into my bag, all ready for my Chanel jacket project. Now to get the time and mojo to actually embark on that adventure! I'll post a pic of the fabrics when I get a chance.

Other sources of Chanel fabric that I have tried:

Alta Moda @ Arab Street. Prices are close to SGD$100 a metre and they have a very limited supply. Alta Moda is also where you'll find Pucci, Cavalli, Valentino, etc.

Linton Direct (http://www.lintondirect.co.uk/) -- they will send you free samples! These are the people who supply to the house of Chanel. Cost is between GBP20-40 a metre. Shipping is the killer, though, at about GBP35-40 for three metres of fabric.

Gorgeous Fabrics (http://www.gorgeousfabrics.com/shop/index.php) sometimes has Chanel too. I bought a lovely beige piece and another black/blue beauty. Prices are about USD$50 a metre.