About Us
At the Fabric Store we are simply lovers of fabric. We are a destination point for the sewing and creative community, offering a curated range of designer dress fabrics and mill overruns coupled with an exceptional in-store experience and dedicated, passionate service. Our aim is to provide an alternative option within a fast-fashion society where fine craft and high quality fabrics are often undervalued. We are huge supporters of home sewing and the #memade movement, and appreciate the time and care that goes into creating garments by hand. We believe that creative endeavours like home sewing and crafts can also have a profound impact on our well-being.
Community
We are a New Zealand owned and operated business that began in 1995 as Global Fabrics with just a single store! We’ve grown organically into 8 retail stores across New Zealand and Australia, as our customers have convinced us to expand! Our New Zealand stores have been embedded in the local sewing and design community firmly since its inception and are located in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
We opened our first Australian store in Sydney in 2008, followed by stores in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. A personal connection and the local film industry led us to open a store in West Hollywood, LA in 2013 but soaring rental costs and the logistics of shipping across the world meant we sadly had to close that location in 2018. The LA store created a lot of international interest in our unique offering of fabrics – especially in our range of Merino Jersey and once again we were convinced to expand into the online world, opening our International Online Store in 2016.
Our store staff are a friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic bunch, who have either studied fashion or been self-taught in the industry and we pride ourselves in being able to provide a high level of customer service because of this.
Circularity
We are proud to be actively engaged with in our local communities through charitable donations to a wide variety of causes. We’ve established these channels as an ideal means to mitigate fabric wastage by sorting and donating offcuts and even our smallest scraps to a diverse range of community groups including animal rescue operations, kindergartens and many non-profit groups such as those sewing for children’s hospitals. If you are located close to one of our stores and are involved in a community group that may have need or use for fabric offcuts or scraps please get in touch with us here to make an enquiry.
Sourcing
We believe that there are already far too many mass manufactured, ethically questionable fabrics and garments in existence. We made a conscious decision early on to rework the traditional textile supply model of purchasing entirely new or custom milled fabrics, allowing us to avoid the damaging and contradictory cycle of waste that it creates. We believe that it is important to us to run our business in a mindful way with thought and concern for the future of our world and environment.
The stock we offer in stores and online is predominantly sourced as deadstock, meaning our fabrics are end-of-line, mill overruns, cancelled orders or designer excess. These fabrics are typically deemed a waste product in the fashion industry and would usually end up as landfill. Over the years we have formed close relationships with some of the best designer-end suppliers, both internationally and locally, in order to bring you a wonderfully unique range of high quality stock without the waste or ethical implications of constant mass-manufacture.
Each of our stores offer an extensive range of these types of fabrics, with a strong focus on natural fibres, including linens, cottons, woollen suitings and coatings as well as a variety of merino jerseys, silk crepe de chines, chiffons, satins and georgettes and rayons plus specialty pieces like jacquards, brocades, laces and leather hides. We also stock a large range of Liberty of London Fabrics including Tana Lawn, Lantana, Rossmore Cord, Clifton Jersey and Bloomsbury Silk Crinkle Chiffon. Read more about how we source fabric here.
Exclusive Fabrics
We produce two small ranges of exclusive fabrics to sit alongside these designer ends in stores – exclusive ZQ Premium Merino and Vintage Finish Linen and Heavyweight Linen. We’re careful not to produce or hold excessive amounts of inventory and we have selected manufacturers that follow and meet international standards in key areas of environmental and social impact. Read more about how we source our Exclusive Linen and Premium Merino here
Sewing Extras
Alongside our collection of fabrics, we offer a carefully curated range of additional extras for the keen sewist, such as ready-made bias bindings, interfacings, zips and Gütermann threads as well as a small range of sewing books and patterns. If you're in need of matching threads, a new pair of shears or perhaps a gift for a special friend, pop into your nearest store and check out what is available.
We encourage you to join our mailing list to receive regular updates on our exciting new arrivals and exclusive VIP offers, as well as new pattern reviews, DIY projects and staff creations posted on our blog