Aaahhh Spain. Great people, beautiful scenery, fabulous food, vino and Patrones at every news stand. What more could a sewist want?
I must be an obsessed fabric shopper as I´ve been taking photos of fabric shops as I´ve been coming across them, although I hadn´t spotted that many. This was on the main shopping strip in San Sebastian.
Time to rectify the situation, so Metro pass in hand, I went on a tour of those Madrid fabric shops I could find. Oh for a Madrid shopping guide who sews! But in his/her absence an internet search made do.
I'm not pretending this was a very successful fabric trip as you will see but I did check out quite a few fabric shops.
The 1st port of call was Cadena at Calle Reina Mercedes, 5. I got mightily lost as soon as I got out of the Metro, but it turned out to be a few minutes walk from the Alvarado Metro stop. I got to the address and thought 'huh?' as this is it.
But continue round the side of the building and along the unsalubrious back and voila - the shop!
I've vaguely heard of Cadena magazine but I have to confess I don't know much about it. Do the magazines just display their fabric range and don't have patterns? Lovely fabrics but woo! Very expensive. I couldn't find anything under 49 euros a metre which was for a jersey knit.
Empty handed I Metro'd my way back to the City centre and Gran Via station and visited Julian Lopez at Gran Via 27. Mercifully easy to find.
It's quite a big shop with very formal looking gentlemen cutting the fabrics. There's a wide array of fabrics with a focus on formal fabrics and brocades. There were some nice blouse weight silks that took my eye but hmmm...still 29 to 40ish euros a metre.
There were some wonderfully wild fabrics too. I wonder what you would do with the third from the left below? It was net with folded strips of studded leather.
I think Julian Lopez has shops in other Spanish cities too. I also came across their shop in Seville.
With the spotty fabric room for flamenco dress fabrics.
But back to Madrid, my next shopping destination was El Cortes Ingles. This department store chain sells everything under the sun, including in the case of the main Madrid store at Puerto del Sol, fabrics and haberdashery.
I managed to leave my camera battery and phone in the hotel so no pics but in a corner of the 2nd floor is a small fabric and knitting wool section. There is a reasonable selection of practical fabrics and a small stash of lovely silks but again - very expensive at 59 euros a metre.
More of my fabric shop expedition in my next post.....
