Oh, I'll admit it's predictable...

Hei!

Let's start today with a quiz:

You are in Stockholm Arlanda Airport, you and your accomplice  need to buy dinner. You go to a Cafe Ritazza and order two teas and two sandwich baguettes. How much does that cost you in total?

Twenty. Three. Quid.

Thanks Sweden, I was worried I'd be stuck with a bunch of unspent SEK at the end of the trip!

ANYWAY...

Travel. There are few things better in life than a good bit of travel.

If you spend your time in a new town hunting for fabric shops and haberdasheries, chances are you're much happier to go off the beaten track, go where the locals go and see a lot more of the actual town than the standard attractions. You can just take an hour though it's normally the home of the friendly, talkative people who will show off their own projects to you. The latter will obviously take a lot longer. The other advantage is the lack of queues, touts and other foreigners in your way ;)

There are also some good recommendations for Stockholm here on Artisan Square and Tripadvisor  though I'm not sure how outdated they are now.

With that in mind, we found a few good stores in Stockholm that are well worth a visit.

First Stop: Yarn Shop
We had an hour to spare, so went hunting (in completely the wrong direction) for a fabric shop and stumbled across Ekens Garn instead. B, being the Crochet Kid, was very keen to take a look. He assures the quality and variety in here is absolutely excellent. I just like the pretty colours.

The owners are absolutely lovely, one is Swedish and the other is South African and is very keen to show off his sample garments and impressive projects. One was a crochet v-neck jumper that is totally reversible and has a different pattern on each side. Impressive does not cover it.

Ekens Garn, Ringvägen 64, 118 61 Stockholm. Tel. +46 (0) 8/642 00 13

The closest underground stop was Skanstulls, but there are buses and trams nearby too. You can follow the shop on Twitter and Facebook too.

We bashfully admitted to the owners that we had no clue where we were going and asked if they knew of any good fabric shops nearby. They in turn asked the other customers in the shop. Boy did they recommend a good'un. And they drew all the directions out on a map so we didn't get lost either, lovely!


Fabric Shops in Stockholm

I. Tygverket
This place is tough to find. Famously described as having an entrance that 'looks like a cave', we nearly gave up hope and missed it.

Don't miss it. The design on the sign looks like a tape measure. You'll spot it.

The shop has damn near everything under the sun. I can only imagine it's the fabric Mecca of Stockholm.

The garment fabrics take up the main area, then upholstery arount the edges and there's a corner dedicated to quilting at the back too. You will find the standard garment fabrics, but a lot of bold in uncommon weaves and textures too. It's fairly easily organised by fabric type, but it does pay to hunt around too. A word of warning: it's quite pricey. It's very nice stuff, possibly even designer ends, but you'll pay accordingly.

Sankt Paulsgatan 19, 118 46 Stockholm. Tel. +46 8 714 99 11

The closest underground stop was Slussen, their website is here but their full range isn't available online.

II. Tygverket Number 2

I didn't get a chance to head in here, but it's stocked to the nines with beautiful Liberty fabrics and fancy notions. Everything is beautifully organised and there may be extra space at the back for garments to be displayed too. I think I caught a glimpse of a few indie patterns through the doors too.

Sankt Paulsgatan 3,  Stockholm

Here's the thing, this shop is either vey new or a branch of Tygverket above. Having tried to find it on Google, it's in the location of the old Crumpler Shop.

The closest stop was also Slussen, this one is handily somewhere between the station and the shop above.

If anyone visits, let me know what you think!

III. Finally, Karmosin

An odd little shop, you'll spot it because of the remnant bins outside. All handily priced at 39SEK/m (the measures are not cut squarely into 1m so the price will vary). The owner, I think also makes custom pieces and there are a few beautiful projects on display. The man is up for a chat, and very keen on having a glass of wine on his balcony.

 

Östgötagatan 83, 116 64 Stockholm, Sweden

The nearest tube stop is Skanstulls as well, I walked away with some summery cottons you'll see soon, and you can see what to expect from Karmosin on its website.

So those are the ones we passed and managed to get to. There might be department stors around too, but if you have limited time in the city these are definitely worth a look!

The Next Challenge

I'll admit Tygverket was a bit overwhelming. Having just completed Q2's fabric stock-up, and knowing we were on a crazy time limit (15 mins), the thought of trawling through Tygverket's whole stock wasn't very inspiring. I really could not be fudged.

And so The Next Challenge was born. 

B and I would choose 1.5m fabric for each other to sew up. Feels a bit like Project Runway.

He's just started sewing, I didn't want to push him totally beyond his budding skillset, so I chose something quirky but fairly easy to handle. This is a soft, pure linen which would be great for tops and summer shorts/trousers. So 1.5m for B!

Of course, my comfort zone can take a bit of bashing and so B has the luxury of throwing anything at me. I was itching to see what was waiting in my bag...

A stripey velvet. OH HELL NO.

I'd better get planning...you know...slowly...

Byeeeeeee,
Katrina