This was the first time I went to China as a dressmaker and, after kicking myself for not buying any fabric the year I lived there, nothing was going to stop me from trawling and pawing at the fabric now I was back there again. After a quick google I found Muxiyuan was the biggest and most well know fabric market.
When we arrived I felt totally underwhelmed yet overwhelmed at the same time, if that makes sense!?! I was expecting a giant maze of fabric stores, with all the merchandise laid out for you and shining with beauty. The reality was it was like a very organised warehouse, mostly aimed at wholesalers. Plus, I went in through the haberdashery section and there was no fabric in that area. Can you see how confused I looked in that picture!! but once you got into the market everything changed.
If you wanted something it was probably there…and in a variety of colours.
I was in zip heaven. I never knew zips could look so beautiful and with a 10p price tag for each one, no matter the length, I zip shopped like I’ve never zip shopped before.
In total I got 25 zips and my only regret is that I didn’t buy more.
and then we found the fabric! and there was a lot!! There was a box outside most of the shops with remnants which is where I was digging through most of the time. The few shops I went into seemed to be fine with selling smaller amounts.
Fabric wise the visit was pretty much a waste on me. The only fabrics I’m comfortable sewing with are cotton and viscous. For now, I’m no way near confident enough to unleash myself on silk. I am rough with my fabric and my unpicker. Silk would die a violent death at my hands. Which was a pity because as expected there was loads of silk and brocade.
When asking about the fabric everything was supposedly cotton….hmmmmm. The price for silk and brocade isn’t extremely cheap so there’s not going to be any mega bargains but the quality and variety was amazing.
If you’re ever in that part of the world, it is well worth going there. The place has something for every seamstress. No english was spoken, so either go with a Mandarin speaker or try to get to grips with numbers. My husband got bored half way through and went to sit down and I managed fine with my shocking Mandarin.
Now it’s amazing being back with my sewing machine and I’m sewing up a storm for myself and for other people also!!! Getting access to wordpress/instagram/anything fun was almost impossible in China. *Tears of joy* virtual home it’s good to be back 🙂