Aloha, By-The-Yard
- fabman556
- Feb 22, 2018
- 3 min read
Fabric Shop Travelogue
A few weeks ago Mrs. DTFM and I had the opportunity to spend a week on O'ahu. We had a great time, and as we always do when traveling, we checked out the local fabric shops. Trust me when I tell you there is no need for big fabric chains here; the market is well-covered by local fabric shops!
Fabric Mart
Our first stop was Fabric Mart, a small local chain of fabric shops. They specialize in Hawaiian print fabrics. The main store in downtown Honolulu is huge and has a great selection of fabrics.
In the front of the shop is an incredible selection of top-quality reasonably-priced Hawaiian prints in 100% plain cotton and cotton barkcloth ($4.99-6.49/yd), 65% poly/35% cotton ($3.99/yd), 100% polyester ($3.99/yd) and 100% rayon challis ($6.99/yd). The assortment includes allover prints and borders and just about every color or print style you could imagine.
Along one wall, there is a collection of home-decor-weight tropical prints, including some outdoor fabrics.
There is a decent assortment of special occasion fabrics, too.
There is a small assortment of notion items, and Simplicity and Butterick patterns.
There is more fabric on the second floor! At the top of the steps is a long wall of calico fabrics for quilting. It's not a big selection, but it's adequate. Next is the largest assortment of character fabrics I've seen ($8.45/yd...unbelievably low price), including most of the licensed character fabrics produced by my employer, Springs Creative. They also have a large collection of low-priced batik fabrics ($6.95/yd).
There are other fabrics upstairs, too, including knits and even a little bit of fleece.
Overall, their selection of fabrics was an unexpected treat and the staff was very friendly. (We visited a second, smaller location later in the week, and were just as impressed with the service and selection.) They really are a go-to source for most any kind of fabric at a reasonable prices, and you can buy online, too! https://hawaiifabricmart.com/
Kaimuki Dry Goods
Near Waikiki is this small fabric shop with a basic assortment of apparel fabrics and a surprisingly comprehensive high-end-quality inventory of quilting fabrics at mainland prices.
The apparel fabric assortment is appropriate for Hawaii, as most people are dressed casually and many wear traditional Hawaiian prints.
The quilting fabric assortment is stellar, with famous brands and deep selection. There is a juvenile fabric section where I found a great collection of character fabrics, including a lot of current styles from Springs Creative.
This shop was a nice surprise, and they also sell online:
On our last afternoon on the island, we visited a very small quilt shop in the Kaimuki neighborhood called the Calico Cat. When I say "small," I mean it...700 square feet. And they have classes, although those may have to be held out front on the sidewalk, for all I know! (Maybe they have classroom space upstairs.)
The place is loaded! There was a tiny woman, likely the owner, behind the counter (not much room there) and a customer on the other side of the counter, having fabric cut. The owner had about 24" of visible counter space to cut fabric, but she was making it work.
We squeezed around the customer and walked down the side aisle into the rows of fabric. The fabric is stacked and crammed on wall units and around the floor in layers. I'm sure the owner knows exactly what she has there and where it is, but it was overwhelming to shop. I did spot a few bolts of Springs licensed character fabric here and there.
We noticed familiar brands and mainland pricing, but we also noticed a Japanese brand, Kokka, that was unfamiliar. Turns out it's a modern quilting fabric. It had a beautiful hand and distinctive designs. Learn about it here: http://english.kokkafabric.com/
While we were out and about, we did stop in at a Walmart, and they had a fabric department there that was neater than most (wouldn't take much). Their selection included some of the same Hawaiian cottons we saw at Fabric Mart at similar pricing.
It was fun to visit the local fabric shops on the island, and we brought home six pieces of fabric from Fabric Mart. I'll tell you about those at another time.
Until then, keep those sewing machines humming, and check out local fabric shops when you're on the road! You might find something interesting!
DTFM
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