Cloth shopping guide

A few pointers before starting...

Yards
All prices are quoted in yards. If you want a quote in metres ask the shop keepers before they cut the cloth. Mininium quantity: 1/2 yard for prices S$5/yard and above , 1 yard for cloth below S$5/yard. They also accept 1/4 or 3/4 part orders, thereafter. May vary with each shop.

Opening Hours
Operating hours are between 12pm to 7pm. These shops do not have a fixed co-ordinated opening and closing times. So more accurately, they start opening around lunch time as late as 1.30pm and start closing in the evening around 7pm to 9pm. Most are open Tuesday ~ Sunday.

Cost
For those of you who are more comfortable buying clothes off the rack, remember to multiple by the length of the cloth required for the total cost. Eg $12per metre sounds pretty cheap on its own; buying 3m for a dress would set you back by $36. When buying see through material consider cost of lining the piece.

Choosing colour and texture
Hold up fabric against face and skin; look in the mirror before deciding. Make your own judgement don't let that pushy shopkeeper decide for you.

Choose on the occassion
Cotton and silk: workwear for a hot day, for sensitive skin that has heat rashes. Loud prints when you want to seen in a formal function or party, Choose subtle beige or greys to blend in. You know best.

Cloth for a certain pattern
When you have a certain fabric in mind for a particular dress pattern, it can get pretty frustrating when you don't find it. So be ready to use a subsitute. It's a lot easier to let the fabric inspire you to make a piece.

Lost
Iit's a good idea to be in a cool and relaxed state of mind. It is a lot easier to browse and buy when you have a general idea of what you want then to look for a specific print or type of cloth.

People's Park Centre

My favourite cloth shops. Cloth shops can be found around town centers and shopping malls, but for its value and range People's Park is one of the best in town. cottons, polyester, polyester prints, linens, linen blend, batiks, ginghams, suitings, designer prints are just some of the fabrics that are available.

Spotlight
~ #03,Orchard Point Shopping Centre (Orchard Road)
~ #B01, DBS Tampines Centre (Tampines Central 1)

Good range of fabrics especially cotton and cotton blends. Very accessible. However a few encounters with the clearly stressed up staff, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Which is why it's not my favourite shop. Find out for yourself...

Serangoon (Little India)

A good range of Indian fabrics (cottons & silk) for sarees and such. Cloth for sarees usually go for 5m, they don't have it for any lesser lenght. Chiffon sarees are good for soft looking full lenght dress made with lining. I bought a piece for S$16.50 which was good value. The streets are lined with fabric shops, look out for bargains. Mustafa's (serangoon plaza) and Hanifa textiles (104-120 dunlop st) are the 2 larger departmental stalls.

Arab Street

The shops here specialises in silks, laces and designer fabrics which belong to the pricier range, Cloth suitable for evening wear on formal occassions.