Replies

1. 
   sewelegant | Jun 13, 2008 08:08pm | #1

   I just had to send you this blog.  Cathy just spent a couple weeks in Germany visiting the family of a former exchange student they hosted and she was in Bavaria and Austria, not Berlin, but you might find it interesting reading about her quest for some fabric.

   http://sewingforlife.wordpress.com/

1. 
   kathlann | Jun 13, 2008 09:21pm | #2

   Thank you so much for that. It reminded me so much of my first trip to Berlin - nobody seemed to understand the word 'fabric/material' It is so frustrating especially when you know they must have fabric shops!!

1. 
   sewelegant | Jun 14, 2008 07:16am | #5

   My ancestry is German, Austrian for the most part and I was taken way back to my early days when fabric was called "stuff" by my mother and her family.  I never thought much about it but now I see it comes from the German word for fabric... stoffe.

2. 
   woodruff | Jun 13, 2008 10:45pm | #3

   I haven't shopped in Berlin, but here's a link to several fabric stores there, each with ratings and opinions:http://www.qype.com/de300-berlin/tag/stoffeFrau Tulpe sounds especially good for garment fabrics and pretty things:http://www.qype.com/place/45187-Frau-Tulpe-BerlinThe store named Kumasch at Greifswalder Straße 80 is apparently somewhat hard to find, but is described as a giant warehouse kind of place with tons of stuff, so you either need to set aside some time to explore or you have to find an employee to direct you to the area you are interested in.The word nähen (roughly pronounced nay-en) means "sew," and "Stoffe" is "fabrics," and just typing those two words into the google search box gives quite a bit of info. In Germany, saying those two words with a question mark at the end should also get you some suggestions.If you're interested in specific fabrics, Samt is velvet, Seide is silk, "Möbelstoffe" or "Stoffe für die Wohnung" is home-dec fabric.

3. 
   katina | Jun 14, 2008 06:39am | #4

   Hello

   A friend took me around fabric stores in Berlin a couple of years ago. The variety of shops is amazing - from the most incredible holes-in-the-wall to dazzlingly expensive department stores. Some of the most interesting ones were in the former East Berlin. I suggest you do what he did - he armed himself with a list of shops from the telephone directory and drove to the nearest one. There he discussed options with the staff and edited his list. We spent a whole day at this. I have to say the fabrics were very expensive and I imagine that will be worse now given the exchange rate.

   If you're staying at a hotel, you could ask the concierge to help you locate stores and then find a taxi or see if you can use public transport. It's been my experience that the right taxi driver can be extremely helpful, often entering into the spirit of the quest. I've also learnt to let hotel staff get me a taxi - they have a list of good ones.

   Let us know how it goes.

   Katina

4. 
   jatman | Jun 14, 2008 09:40am | #6

   Hi Kathlann,

   When are you heading to Berlin?  Because I've found that in Europe in the summer there are certain months where things may or may not be open.  Some of the smaller shops (of all kinds) may be closed throughout July and August.  I was in Berlin last year and tried to do a bit of fabric shopping and remember that one of the little places I wanted to go was closed and that wasn't the first time I'd had that happen.  If I can locate any of the info from that trip I'll post it here.  There was also a textile/costume museum that was setting up for what looked like a fantastic future display but they were closed to set up for it while I was there (bad timing!).  If you're interested I'll find out what museum that was.

   JT

1. 
   kathlann | Jun 14, 2008 04:27pm | #7

   Thanks to jatman/woodruff/katina/sewelegant for all your very helpful suggestions. I'll let you know how I get on. I'm going there next Tuesday.

1. 
   katina | Jun 14, 2008 07:00pm | #8

   You're sure to have a good time and come back with all sorts of ideas.

   Good luck!