Post Punk Kitchen Forum

You are veg*n. You like to sew or occasionally do crafts. Do you like apparel sewing? Are you looking for good vegan alternatives? Maybe a vegan pressing ham (pressing sham).

Thank you!

Good quality non wool felt, or something that does a similar sort of thing. (I'd also love to be able to get pretty fabrics which are organic and/or fair trade, but I realise that's not strictly a vegan issue).

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I think of my idea as "incidentally vegan." There is enough variety in fabric and notions to avoid animal products easily. Not to mention, wool is simply not an option for many people and obnoxious to care for yet so common. There simply needs to be another outlet for an alternative.

don't forget about the additional customers that might like to shop there because they are allergic to wool (like myself)

Nice, sophisticated prints for blouses and dresses. Those are so hard to find in non-silk fabrics. Some of the liberty prints work, but liberty is so expensive.

Nice quality non-wool suiting (cotton tweeds!) and not too shiny ponte knits would also be welcome.

Organic and fair trade also sound great.

Seconded! That's pretty much exactly what I'd like to see.

If you were traveling, would you go a little bit off the highway to visit a specifically vegan (but fully stocked as well) fabric store?

Thanks again, my super friends!

opening a shop?

I am in the research phase right now. I hope to launch a fun campaign to raise funds on kickstarter but I really want to get the big plans down. I'm pretty stinkin' excited.

Everything people have already said. I find wool horribley itchy against my skin (or with too thin a layer between it and my skin) so sensible, hard wearing fabrics that aren't wool should hopefully sell to non-vegans as well.

Oh, and fine knits (like t-shirt material) that are all or nearly all cotton, not all synthetic. I was looking for fun printed fabric to make knickers out of but almost everything was synthetic.

You could have a small section of vegan yarns as well. My local fabric shop has some knitting and crochet stuff.

I want to go and hang out in a fabric shop now. Let us know how your plans develop!

Hey, I asked but never answered! So, high quality apparel fabrics - for lots of people they only have joanne's or hancock fabrics which cater to quilters. I live for large florals and print that look like Formica counters from an era gone by. Patterns by more esoteric brands besides the big 3 of mccall's, vogue, and butterrick. pattern paper, hard to find in smaller places. Really wacky notions they are awesome but not too tacky. like buttons that look like leaves or roses but are less preschooly and more antropologie. That's just for me... Really nice scissors! I am a sucker for those. Stock cool books about haute couture and higher end sewing, i feel like lots of shops only have books that focus on the basics, one can always grow! Is that at all helpful? I know erika went to school for this stuff maybe you can pick her brain...

I'd like to see lots of rayon alternatives to silk. Then again, I'm a dyer, and oftentimes it's a big pain in the butt for me to find simple things like white rayon chiffon. I'd also like to see cotton lace. I'm particularity Venetian lace. And cheap muslin is always great to have...

For other things... maybe stock industrial sewing machine needles? Whenever I run out I have to order them online, which is a pain in the butt. Also, a good selection of sewing books would be wonderful. Not project-based "this is how you make a scarf" sort of books, but more basic ones. The Sewing, Stitch, and Textile Bible is a good one, as is Singer Sewing For Style. I like nosing through books like those.

Another thing to stock could be good dyes, like procion or acid dyes.

Yuh huh!

Also, thanks again for the replies. This has been super helpful. Also, I will be looking into good pleathers. There are some that aren't pure petrol products, I'm finding.

I've been searching for a good alternative to wool for sewing coats like pea coats and would really like to see that - there are lots of brands that sell acrylic coats mimicking wool very nicely, but the fabric itself is hard to come by.

Can I just say that this shop sounds awesome??

Organic and fair trade would be great. I also second the stuff that's hard to find if you only have a big box store (e.g., patterns other than things from Butterick et al., etc.). And nice non-wool stuff. Just because I don't use wool doesn't mean I wan't to use cheap stuff made out of plastic.

I was worried that my cross stitching stuff wasn't vegan, because I love to cross stitch, but I checked and it's all okay. And my polymer clays, I know it's not fabric but it matters to me.

I'm kind of lucky, my local haberdashery department stocks polyester felt, not made from wool.

in addition to what everyone else has said for sewing, i would love to be able to easily find embroider-able things: napkins, tablecloths, pillowcases, and whatnot in a variety of colors. i can only ever find plain white cotton. it'd be nice to get some other things sometimes.

What about some really nice macrame supplies/books? That's coming back in style for the more alternative DIY types I think.

As for the off-the-highway question; yes, I would, but only if it was in a cute little town where there might be a couple other things for me to look at.