Montréal Fabrics Scene!

Bon après-midi,

I've became quite obsessed with 4 ply silk lately... I've seen projects by fellow bloggers (Sunni's Seafoam Silk Ginger skirt and Gertie's Homage to Elizabeth slip and Pink Sencha blouse in particular) and the description of this fabric make me wanna roll myself in yards of it!

4 ply silk

This is considered the "Cadillac" of silks. It is "heavy" for silk, has a beautiful luster to it even in pastel colors and drapes beautifully. It hangs like glass when you are standing still and it resists wrinkling in a very real way. This silk is generally used for very fine business suits, formal evening wear, bridal gowns and simply constructed dresses that you can wear during the day and by adding embellishments carry into an evening situation. The quality of this silk varies from supplier to supplier. Because it is a crepe it has a stretch to it and if you don't get a good quality, you will have a lot of stretching that is difficult to control while sewing. It makes up into beautiful bias cut gowns in the wider width. Source: Anjoorian Silks

Hence started my quest of fine fabrics stores in my hometown Montréal, Québec, Canada! But I haven't found 4 ply silk yet... Meanwhile, I would like to share with all Montréalers and visitors fabricaholics alike my findings.

• Fabricville: This is the biggest fabric stores chain I know, Its probably the equivalent of the American's Jo-Ann. You can find a lot of these around town, I usually go to the one in Lasalle near my place. But when I was younger I used to go to the one in Place Versailles... They usually do not offer a lot of specialized notions nor fine fabrics like silks...
• Tissus Hajaly - 3332 Ontario E., 8100 St-Denis, 2810 Masson: A small chain of stores. IThe one on Ontario Street is where my mother and grand-mother used to buy their sewing supplies when I was young...
• Emeline and Annabelle: I found a crafting and sewing café on the web that is supposed to be in Notre-Dame de Grâce (NDG) ; it's not too far from my place and I'm going to check it out soon...

Note that in Montréal, we have our own "Garment Districts" and it is paired with the wedding gowns shops on St-Hubert Street. La plaza St-Hubert is a covered promenade with shops and restaurants between Beaubien and Jean-Talon. Note that most fabrics stores are north of Jean-Talon Street and not part of the Plaza.

La rue St-Hubert, Montréal

Fabrics Shops on St-Hubert:

• Effiloché - 6260 St-Hubert: They have the cutest designer's quilting cotton by the meter or fat quarters and lots of knitting supply. They also offer classes and you can pay per hour to sew with their serger and equipment.
  
• Tissus Regent - 6580 St-Hubert: It is my bargain place for all sort of mixed up fabrics rolls (2, 3 or 4$/m) and they have a lot of fabrics for dance/skating costume in Lycra... But you need some patience to go through the place!
• Fine Fabrics Shop: I found a gem of a store with all sort of silk (velour, chiffon, etc) and wools at 7195 St-Hubert, north of Jean-Talon, on the east side. A good plus for me, everything is well organized and labelled - a rare thing on St-Hubert Street! As soon as I'm more confident with my fitting skills, I'm going to treat myself there!
• Notions Shop: There is a notions shop on St-Hubert, on the West side of the street just north of Jean-Talon ; They sell laces, ribbons, trims, belts notions, feathers, etc.

That's it for now! If you have been fabrics shopping in Montréal, where did you went? Do you ever go fabrics hunting while in vacation abroad?

P.S.: I will update this entry next time I will set foot on St-Hubert, with the names and addresses of the shops...