One of the most common questions I get on social media and via email is about where to source beautiful fabrics like the ones I use for Cotton & Flax. I’ve been lucky to live in cities that had vibrant craft and sewing communities, and so I’ve been able to visit lots of great fabric shops. Today I’m going to give you the scoop on my favorites, including a list of my all-time favorite fabric stores.
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If you love a good fabric store, today I have a treat for you: a guide to my favorite fabric shops in LA!
After moving to Los Angeles in 2010, I spent a lot of time driving around the city, visiting all the fabric stores I could find. I was experimenting heavily with printing on locally sourced fabric, experiments that would eventually lead to founding Cotton & Flax. At the time, I was just beginning to get to know LA (let’s be honest, I’m still getting to know LA), and all the awesome creative resources it had to offer.
I take pride in the fact that I still source the majority of my materials for Cotton & Flax from local shops and fabric distributors. I’d love to share some of my favorite LA fabric stores, so that locals and visitors alike can enjoy these fantastic shops!
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I spent a couple days recharging after shipping out my largest wholesale order ever on Friday. It was great to step away from work for a moment, work/life balance is something I’m trying to recalibrate in a thoughtful way this year. For me, that means more time spent with friends, and reading more of 1/3 of all the books I check out from the library… working on it!
Yesterday felt like a continuation of my fun-filled weekend: I had the opportunity to speak to the LA Modern Quilt Guild about how I run my business, and what it’s like to print and sew textile home goods from a cozy 10 x 6 foot studio space. The members were so welcoming, and it was a pleasure to chat with everyone about their own textile projects. Plus, the meeting was held at Sew Modern in West LA, a great little shop with a lovely selection of quilting cottons. I hope to return to the shop soon to add them to my ongoing series of favorite fabric shops in LA!
Don’t forget: I’m hosting a giveaway over on the Cotton & Flax Facebook page this week! Enter by 2/6 to win a pair of pillows from the shop!
In my ongoing effort to highlight the best fabric and craft shops in Los Angeles, and Southern California as a whole, I am excited to share my visit to Momen+! My friend Nichole had been telling me about the great selection of Japanese fabrics at Momen+, so we took a trip down to Torrence to see what they had on the shelves.
Momen+ had a great selection of notions and specialty crafting supplies that I haven’t seen elsewhere. These beautiful threads, meant for hand stitching, were some of my favorites.
I loved all the different indigo fabrics, can’t get enough of that color.
This shop was filled to the brim with beautiful fabrics, and lots of color! From the bright Echino fabrics in the first photo, to the colorful ric-rac and cotton webbing in the last, there was no shortage of color in this shop. If you live nearby, visit Momen+, you’ll find fabrics there that are hard to find, even in bigger cities!
Check out the other fabric shops I’ve visited, and if you know of a store I should visit, let me know in the comments!
In my continuing effort to highlight the best fabric and craft shops in LA, I am excited to introduce you to Common Thread Studio! This unique little shop in South Pasadena is part fabric store, part sewing and screenprinting studio, and part gift shop. Even if you don’t know how to sew, this shop is a great place to pick up a gift for your best lady friend, or just to grab a few rolls of washi tape for yourself.
If you do enjoy sewing, you’re in for a treat, because Common Thread stocks a well curated assortment of fabrics. Jin, the owner, has a great eye for patterns, and always carries a great selection of fun prints. The shop also has sells all the sewing accessories you’d expect – thread, needles, and even a fun assortment of imported buttons and harder to find sewing patterns.
Common Thread offers a range of sewing classes, and if you’d prefer to learn at your own pace, they offer private lessons, as well. Their workshop space offers both regular sewing machines for beginners, and professional tools and industrial equipment for professionals.
Common Thread turns four this month! Help them celebrate by stopping by and checking out this great independent fabric store.
Looking for more great sewing resources and fabric stores in Los Angeles? Check out my visit to Sew LA, or my first and second posts about the Fabric District in Downtown LA!
Sew LA is one of my favorite local fabric stores, and I’ve been visiting them a lot more often since they moved to their Atwater Village location. The shop is small, but they carry a great selection of designer fabrics, and some fun Japanese imports that feature really unique patterns and colors. They carry one of my favorite fabric designers, Naomi Ito, so it’s always a treat to see what they have in stock.
They offer classes, too, and their studio space in the back is pretty dreamy. The classes range from beginner (learn to use your sewing machine!) to advanced (fitting and patternmaking). I envy their giant worktables, I’d love to have a big, open workspace like that to use every day while I’m making work for Cotton & Flax.
For any of you LA readers, have you been to Sew LA? Taken any classes? I’d love to hear what you made with fabric you bought there!
