A day in Berlin (part 2)

As I said in a previous post, I travelled to Berlin for 24 hours with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, who also happens to be a hobby sewer (how convenient, eh?).

We visited three fabric shops while in Berlin, the first one Kumash Stoffe. This is the first fabric shop I’ve been in that’s run only by men. Both friendly and knowledgeable. In fact, we cracked so much jokes that they ended up inviting us to stay a bit longer for a cup of chai tea and cakes but since we were in such a rush, we had to decline. The shop is quite small but well sorted. They have a nice selection of jerseys, tons of printed and embroidered linens (at least at the time), linings, silks and some indian fabrics too. If I lived in Berlin, this is the shop I’d go to find one-of-a-kind fabrics. The prices are not the cheapest but really, considering the unique character of their fabrics, they’re reasonable. Here are some pictures:

overview (the size of the shop doesn’t allow it to be photographed as a whole in one shot… too small)

linens, embroidered linens, linen blends

jerseys

Then we headed to Hüco Stoffe. The ground floor is for fabric leftovers and notions on sale. I got a piece of silk blend for the back bodice of V1175 there:

The first floor has got some fabrics and fashion accessories like handbags and scarves, which we both found dreadful. We swiftly switched to the second floor and oh man… this is like a fabric supermarket. I mean, the alleys are even numbered! Sorted by fiber and then by color.

This shop is too big to be photographed as whole on one shot lol

The employees just as friendly and knowledgeable as at Kumash and man, they can measure and cut fabric fast! And the prices are niiiiice. I could have spent hours (and a lot of money if I were rich) here but I remained reasonable so everything I got here was with a pattern in mind. Nothing for the stash.

Last, we went to the Gebrüder Berger. The size is in Between Kumash and Hüco. Maybe our mistake was to get there last but we were both quite disappointed. None of us fell in love with any fabric there. And we found them quite overpriced, even the ones on sale. We were out of there after 15 minutes or so. I didn’t even shoot pictures.

And that’s the roundup of our day in Berlin. So you know where to fabric shop the next time you’re there :). As for me, I’ll be back there for a business trip in September and I know where I’ll go in the evening…

In the meantime, if you know a nice jersey skirt pattern, please share because that’s what one of the fabric I got in Berlin is screaming to be turned into…