A fadist’s guide to Stockholm #1: Fabric

Having spent some time on the internet searching for fabric and knitting yarn shops in Stockholm, I thought it might be useful to have a slightly updated and annotated list. I will also say that hunting for shops is a really good way of getting to know a city and I do have to acknowledge Mark’s patience in this endeavour. Most of these discoveries were done within a couple of hours (which is why I am looking increasingly scruffy – we walked for miles!) and all of them are within walking distance of the centre of Stockholm (if you take the railway station as the centre).

The numbers that appear after the street name are the number of the shop on the street (back to front from what we normally do).

Probably my favourite shop (as in the one I spent the most money in!) is Simbra Sidden, which is on Uppslandsgatan 24. This is essentially a silk shop, and as they had a sale, I bought some gorgeous raw silk for a little more than $10/metre as well as some other bits and pieces. I managed to steal a couple of ideas for my next Sorbetto Tank, stay tuned! The handy thing about this shop is that it was on the way back from our conference, so I was able to make a couple of visits. One of the ladies who was working there was wearing a really interesting top (RTW). We had it off her, on the table, photographed inside and out, and she has promised to mail me the pattern which she was going to rub off for me. If she does, that will be the most wonderful customer service.

Probably my next favourite was Tygverket on Sankt Paulgatan 19. There were two of these shops on this street – one seemed to focus on high end fabrics (Liberty, etc) and the other had lots of different fabrics, including upholstery and home decor. They also have vintage patterns, but I resisted these. I did buy Mark some cotton flannel (a Dolce and Gabbana fabric) and some lovely pure wool flannel, both for shirts. There are a couple of shops in Södermalm on Horngatan. One is Textiloutlet. I did not manage to get inside the shop as we found it on Sunday and it was closed, but it looked interesting. Whilst visiting this shop you can duck over the road and have the best coffee in Stockholm at the coffee shop featured in Stieg Larsson’s book – Mikael Blomkvist’s hangout – called the Mellqvist Coffee Bar, Hornsgatan 78.

Back in the city is Sidencarlson on Drottninggatan 80. This is another shop with lovely fabric, but again I resisted buying anything. Moving on to Ohlssens, this one at Sveavagen 34 (there is one in Uppsala as well if you take the short train ride there). This shop is two stories of lovely fabrics. Interestingly, they sell some fabrics by weight. Again, no purchases made here – phew! One of the department stores is Åhlens and they sell Marimekko, but a limited selection and mostly for home decor rather than clothing. This didn’t stop me, however, and I bought a couple of small pieces. There is a Marimekko store in Stockholm but I didn’t find it (ran out of time).

No discussion on fabric would be complete without a review of button and haberdashery shops. Most of the shops mentioned above have buttons and haberdashery, but Mattsons Band, on Kungsgatan 19, is the ultimate. Their range of ribbons, braids and interesting buttons, buckles, etc, was a wonder. I spent money here! So what does my stash look like? This is most of it – I have added another little piece since taking this photograph (but it’s for Mark, so I don’t think that counts?)