Fabrications Ottawa

Great local fabric store with great and helpful staff. Excellent selection of fabrics and other sewing projects. Great selection various level sewing classes!

Lovely little shop; but I think I suffered from having too high expectations.

I went in to buy some fabric for a dress I was cloning — I had the original dress with me I would use as a pattern. Offhand, I decided to ask the employee what length-ish she would guess this dress might require to confirm my guess (while holding the dress up to show her), and her reply was:

Employee: “Sorry, but I’ve only ever worked with purchased patterns, so I can only tell you what you need if you have a proper pattern to show me.”

I responded, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I was just looking for your best guess on length, to compare with what I’m guessing I need.” .... she said sorry again, and the interaction ended, until I was ready to have fabric cut / pay / leave.

The website for this shop led me to believe that all employees were experienced sewers, and quite frankly, that assumption is what brought me to the store. It wasn’t a negative interaction, she was a lovely young woman and very courteous.

It was very surprising to me: If I had a proper purchased pattern, then there would be no need for a second opinion.

I’m sorry to say, but it is not helpful to tell a customer all you can do is read instructions off a page. I would think almost anyone who has made a dress before, even once with a proper pattern, should be capable of thinking: ‘well, with the floor-length dress I made that one time, instructions called for 3m, and the dress this customer wants to make is knee length, so maybe about 2.5m’.

Took a fabric dying class which was a ton of fun. They also have great fabric selections and friendly staff. Knowledgeable about their fabrics. Will definitely be shopping there again!

Great staff and wonderful selection! I
love getting to talk about sewing projects with the staff and I never feel rushed when perusing or trying to decide between fabrics. The fabric selections have been well curated and I always find something beautiful and exciting. Only problem is I go with one project in mind and find myself inspired to take on three new ones!

Cute store. The owner is VERY knowledgeable. The carry a lot of sewing and bead items. Even embroidery needles and such. Some of the beads are the same price I would see on Etsy or Amazon, so that is great. The owner also provided me with contacts for some unique lace ribbon I was looking for too. They also offer classes in beading. Great store. Worth a visit.