A Lowlands fabric shop roundup

I’m back! I was away last week in The Netherlands and Germany, hence the radio silence but I’m home and getting back into the swing of real life, which means blogging again! Obviously being away from my sewing machine means no progress on any projects, so this post is just going to be a quick round up of the fabric shops I came across on my travels. I recommend expanding the pictures to get a good peek into each shop!

First stop – Cologne
Cologne was the first stop on our trip and it’s a lovely vibrant little city on the Rhine. Great for museums and galleries as well as shopping, I really liked the buzz of the city, and we stumbled across a fabric shop in the first few hours of being there!

The first shop we came across was Stoffhaus Cologne. Just off the main shopping street (and right opposite the Hard Rock Cafe, where they do
a good cheesecake…), this little shop is packed almost from floor to ceiling with a good range of fabrics and haberdashery supplies. My eagle eyes had spotted the bargain bin outside from 20 paces, and I picked up a great cotton check double-sided gauze for just €2.90 per metre! There was also a big table of good sized remnants inside by the till although I didn’t pick up anything else. Unfortunately they don’t have a website at the moment (hence the Google link) but it’s worth visiting if you’re in the neighbourhood. They have a great range of wools, suiting and denim as well as some upholstery fabric but they didn’t have much in the way of fine silks or cottons. However this might just be due to the changing season so it may be worth visiting in spring. Very reasonable prices too, with pure wool suiting starting at around €13. Bargain.

Next was Stoffmueller (sorry again about the Google link). This was slightly further away from the main shopping streets, but if you’re heading towards the Neumarkt for more shopping it’s on the way as it’s right opposite the Cologne Opera House. This was the biggest shop we found, stretching across 2 large units but I only managed to get a picture of one half! This too was packed with a really good range of materials. Their range was more complete as they had plenty of cottons as well as finer fabrics, although not much haberdashery in this store. They too also had a sale table starting from €5 but I didn’t pick up anything here either. I do regret not buying the sweet floral cotton print at the front of the top picture, and they also don’t have an online shop, which is a shame as their prices were also very reasonable.

Second stop – Utrecht
I’ve visited this city in the centre of The Netherlands a few times now and I really love it there. Great atmosphere, beautiful old buildings and just generally a good vibe. On one of our wanders I stumbled across this great shop, Baars & Van De Kerkhof and their range was fantastic! Just walls of treasure! I fell in love with a woven ribbon with Delft blue windmills on. Why oh why did I make the sensible, adult decision and not buy it?! Regrets. Might just have to go back! Utrecht is also home to a weekly fabric market called the Lapjesmarkt which has been going on for centuries but is only on Saturdays. Definitely want to go back for this one day! However no website again (have they not heard of WordPress?!). Worth a visit if you’re planning on stocking up!

Third stop – Gouda

We visited the town famous for its cheese on Friday for the afternoon. The town, although very pretty, was a bit quiet for us and to top it off it chucked it down with rain! I did however find another great fabric shop on a quiet little side street. Stoffenhuis Anja (woohoo! Website!) had a great range too and they also had some space for classes and teaching in the back. Don’t be put off that it’s in Dutch – Google Translate is a wonderful thing and if you’re really stuck, we found most Dutch people spoke pretty good English so you may have more luck calling the shop to get what you need.

If you would like to see more of last weeks adventures as well as my other day to day ramblings, follow me on Instagram (finally got a link in my sidebar) as I’ll be posting some more of my travel pictures this week! (as well as some pictures of cats and food, probably…)