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The 5 Best Places to Shop for Bridal Fabrics in Sydney

TJW
Jan 11, 2017
4 min read

There are many hurdles that you have to tackle if you go down the path of getting your wedding dress or bridesmaids dresses produced by a dressmaker, one of them is sourcing the fabric. Your dressmaker may be able to help you out with this, if not here are some of my most recommended suppliers plus some other tips and tricks. Some suppliers we used a lot when I was working at Clarissa Grace Bridal Couture, many I frequented in my fashion college days.We used to carpool together with our designs in hand and pile into all the wholesalers asking for samples, most of the wholesalers hated us as we only bought small runs of fabrics and took up a lot of their time, so we used to go in big squads as we found it so intimidating! Ahh great memories.

. Pull the fabric out from the rolls and see how they hang, and make sure you touch everything to see if it feels good against your skin. It is a great trial and error process so do what feels right for you and ask a lot of questions.Before you hit the shops, speak to your dressmaker about how much fabric you need and the width of each fabric. Get her suggestions on what type of fabrics she recommends and write all this down as it might not make much sense to you but you can pass this on to the sales assistant and they will be able to help you out. Take a read through my other blog post before you go to understand the differences between silk and synthetic fabrics. Ensure you bring a picture of the dress you are making, do not forget this. Do some research on the spectrum of white colours, there is white, silk white, off white, ivory, cream, latte, antique etc. Always hold the fabric up to your skin to test if it washes you out or not. If at a loss just ask the sales assistants they are very knowledgeable.

Below are my recommended fabric shops in and around Sydney:

1. Textiles and Lace

Specialise in high quality french lace and bridal silks in all the colours of the white rainbow. Fabric wholesaler located in Rosebery NSW. As this is a wholesaler you will need an account set up with an ABN to purchase and generally have a minimum order quantity. But can pose under the guise of a fashion student to purchase sample lengths (they can get grumpy so be prepared but it's worth it in the choice and savings I promise). Otherwise Lace usually comes in smaller lengths so sometimes if you call and ask they are ok to sell you pieces of lace (5-6 metre lenghts). They source a lot of the lace from Solstiss, the number one french lace manufacturer, so have a beautiful selection and in my opinion the only place to buy lace in Sydney.

2. Tessuti

Is a retailer chain store stocking high end fabrics usually bought from designer off cuts and leftovers. This place is fantastic, it has an amazing selection and is organised by colour (OCD people unite!) but be prepared to spend some money; for any nice lace you will be paying a minimum of $100/metre upwards of $2000/metre. They have a fantastic bridal lace cupboard that you can spend hours exploring and great friendly and knowledgeable staff who are happy to answer all your questions.Located in Surry Hills, NSW.

3. The Fabric Store

Discount retailer specialising in high end fabrics usually ex designer. Very similar set up to tessuti but their range is very limited, it is like an op shop you have to be there at the right time to find what you are after and often they will only have small runs left. Good for those looking for something unique and one off and happy to spend the time searching for it. Not god for base fabrics in white colours.Located in Surry Hills, NSW.

4. Elsegood

Long standing Sydney business that has a 10 metre minimum order. They supply to the public but you still have to purchase 10m. You used to be able to purchase under 10metres and they would just charge you a cutting fee, not sure if this is still available. Good selection of quality silk fabrics, small selection of lace. great prices. Located in Rosebery NSW.

5. My Hung Fabrics

If you haven't been to Cabramatta, you must visit. Not just for the fabric stores but for the great food, culture and amazingly gorgeous children's formal wear stores. You can pick up a size 0 three piece tux for $40. Cabramatta has a few small fabric stores so you can definitely just go there and shop the mall. For specialist bridal wear fabric try Van Hung, they stock a lot of ex designer fabrics at decent prices. Prepare to be bombarded by pushing sales staff so ensure you know what you want, how many metres and what you want to pay before entering the store. There are no labels on most of the fabric rolls so the prices seem to be flexible. Multiple locations, I usually shop at the Cabramatta store as they are a few other smaller fabric retailers on John st.

Just some other retailers...

Silk Trader

Based in Melbourne have a fantastic selection of bridal fabrics organised in the one area. Abundance of silk and synthetic fabrics and for those that can't get to Melbourne you can also order samples so you can feel the fabric before purchase. Great prices on silk organza at $28/m but up to $100/m for some of the heavier silk satins.

Online

You can try hunting Etsy stores and Ebay but it is a lot of hard work unless you know what you are looking for. Often times they only have off cuts ( a few metres). You can try your luck but I think your time is much better spent in store, you want to be able to touch the fabric and see how it drapes, you will never get a good idea of this over the internet unless you are very familiar with what you want.