Tasmania is certainly the place to come for anyone into crafty activities. Quilting stores abound and I only visited a small sample, I’m sorry to say.

Hobart city itself has a couple of really nice shops. First is Threads, in Liverpool Street just past Murray Street. This is a lovely shop but its kits seemed a bit pricey. Not that I’d really know as I don’t do quilting.

When I have visited Tasmania before I have been aware that the one and only real clothing fabric shop is in Launceston, a couple of hundred kilometres away (how amazing, one fabric store in the whole state!), so imagine my joy when Mark discovered a brand new fabric shop on Liverpool Street just down the the road from Threads. For reference it is just opposite the currently being rebuilt Myer store. It is called Flash Fabrics, it has only been open a couple of months, and it has some lovely fabric that I haven’t seen elsewhere. I spent money here. I am wearing my black White Russian and Linda pants and a bag made by my friend Thelma.

[Later update: I tried to revisit Flash Fabrics in December, 2016 to find out that they closed their doors permanently in July, 2016, less than two years after they opened. This is very sad news for the sewists of Hobart.]

Next up is the Quilted Crow which is in an old church, next to the Old Parsonage at 160 New Town Road, New Town, not far from Risden Road. This is a delectable shop, not just in terms of the stuff they have, but also the setting. There is stained glass and carved wood everywhere, providing a lovely atmosphere.

I am wearing my modified White Russian and a pair of “jeans” that are based on Vogue 8859, with the knee detail omitted on the front and the bottom flared out slightly. Not that you can see properly!

Easysew is another shop in the heart of Hobart, on the corner of Elizabeth and Melville Streets. It is also known as Eddys Sewing Centre and at the back is Possum Place. They are all the same shop. I found things in this shop I have never seen before, like a seam ripper with a light and magnifying glass – am I the only person in the world who didn’t have one of these? One of the things I often wish for when I am unpicking brilliantly matched thread. They also sell Bernina, Janome and Brother machines. A shop worth visiting.

Just out of Hobart city is Sandy Bay which is the home of Frangipani Fabrics in Queen Street. It’s worth a visit. They have a good range of quilting fabrics and patterns and other interesting things. I bought bag buckles from Canada here. [December 2016 update: Frangipani Fabrics are now in Elizabeth Street in North Hobart].

Moving out of Hobart to Kingston Beach, which is a small town about 12 kms out of Hobart, therefore requiring some form of transport. Wafu Works is a Japanese fabric shop on Beach Road and is an absolutely fascinating shop. It has pieces of silk and cotton kimono in bags, lots of remnants, as well as fabric on rolls, including vintage fabrics, some beautiful braids, and various bits and bobs. This is worth a visit if you can make it. I was wearing my blue White Russian and the jeans mentioned above. Oh, and a strand of course!

Going in the opposite direction to New Norfolk reported on here is Patchwork Cafe. I was wearing my purple cashmere poncho, purple cardigan and blue denim skirt. And a strand. The red shoes are Riekers bought in Uppsala on our recent trip to Sweden.

The shop was closed because it was Sunday, but the cafe was in full swing and they offered to open the shop. I was reluctant to agree as I knew I wouldn’t buy anything, so satisfied myself with a photo through the window.

Those cupcakes at the front left look delicious 🙂

Moving on to the yarn stores now. The Stash Cupboard is also in Liverpool Street opposite Myer, so you can feed lots of obsessions very efficiently! I first discovered this shop on a trip to Hobart a couple of years ago. They had recently opened and had a sale, so I bought lots of sock yarn, which I made into socks for my in-laws. I didn’t buy much this visit, except a book on arm knitting – go figure! You can see this photo was taken on the Black White Russian teamed with Linda fleece pants day.

[December 2016 update: The Stash Cupboard has now moved to 180 Macquarie St]

On a previous visit to Hobart I had been desperate to visit The Wool Shop in Moonah, but the door was locked and the lady inside wouldn’t open it for me. I left in a huff saying I would never go back, but I did…     

If knitting is your thing, this might just be your shop. There are a lot of kits,and spinning, weaving and felting feature quite large in the store. There was a posse of ladies sitting near all the spinning and weaving equipment so I didn’t feel as though I could take a photo. A good knitting store though.

There is a wool shop in Salamanca Place, but this would be my least favourite of the stores. It has a lot of already knitted garments, which are nice, but not for me. They do have wool, but it’s a bit of a pedestrian selection. I am wearing my denim skirt and a Scout tee. You can see that the weather has warmed up. When we arrived there was snow on the mountain and by the time we left it was pretty hot (around 21°C!!).

After all this shopping we were exhausted and had to retire to our favourite coffee shop – Jackman & McRoss just down the road from the Quilted Crow. Their slow cooked beef pie is to die for. You can just see Mark and his Mum in the right hand window clearly hanging out for their coffees.

You might also be interested to know that the op/thrift/charity shops are pretty good in Hobart and they are everywhere. I bought 6 pairs of jeans for $4 the lot (they were reduced to $1 each or 3 for $2). These will be refashioned into a jacket I hope. 

All in all we had a great time trawling round Hobart and are looking forward to coming back. I shall do one more post on some of the landmarks and scenery we saw along the way.