Craft Tuesdays: My Favorite Craft Shops and New Discoveries!

I haven't picked up a needle in over two weeks now. I thought the t-shirt memory quilt would be finished by now. There's so much going on I haven't had the time to sit and stay in my maker/craft room. I could probably finish the blanket in two days. Prioritizing the boys for now. All my energy is focused on nursing them back to health at a distance. I'm grateful for all the help I'm getting from friends and family. 

In the past few months I've had to research on getting materials I need for my hobby. I have most of what I need, but had to buy for some special projects like making curtains. I was overjoyed to discover that favorite craft material haunts are accessible online! Here's a list of places, online and offline, where you can buy materials:

1. Shopee/Lazada - ahh, you can practically get everything you need from Shopee and Lazada. I found some shops from Divisoria in the app. You just need to be a bit discerning in choosing the shop because some obviously are just resellers. For my quilt projects I only normally buy the backing fabric from Lazada/Shopee. You can find patchwork/quilting fabric also, but they're not as nice as those from specialty shops. If you're looking for fat quarters or other cut fabric, there's a lot of choices but most of them are from China. 

In case you need thread, Makati Supermart has a lot!

2. National Bookstore and Makati Supermart - they carry some basic sewing materials like needle,  thread, velcro, and scissors (if you're not fussy about scissors). You can also buy materials for making patterns like cintra board/illustration board/Manila paper and fabric markers. I could spend hours just going through the tools they're selling. 

3. Carolina's Lace Shoppe - I know about Carolina's from their shop in Glorietta. It closed though before the pandemic, but they have branches in Makati (Gil Puyat) and Market Market. I've also ordered some items online through their FB account. I still miss walking around their shop though. 

At Carolina's

Good thing I still have a lot of fabric for my projects, but in case I run out or need something else I can always order*.

Spotlight with Mom.

1. Joann (https://www.joann.com/ph/) - I purchased some fabric from them last year when I was still in Singapore. They have a lot more variety, just a bummer that there are some licensed fabric you cannot purchase when overseas. Their selection of wadding is also much more affordable and that's what I use for the big quilt blankets. 

2. Spotlight (http://www.spotlight.com.sg/) - I used to go to Spotlight at least once a month when I was still in Singapore. The aunties actually know me already and I miss just walking around the store looking for good finds. Well, Spotlight does not deliver internationally so if there's something I really need a friend can help send a balikbayan box to me hehe. 

3. Amazon - you can buy anything on Amazon and they have a nice selection of patchwork fabric, but it's usually much more expensive. I discovered Joann's from quilt groups I joined. I use Amazon just to look at items and then I try to find them elsewhere. 

I miss those days I could go to Tomato and Yuzawaya (in Tokyo), Lincraft (in Sydney), Michael's (the US) and Yongle Fabric Market (in Taiwan). I just realized what a rare opportunity that was for me. Now since I'm back home it's time for me to discover what we have locally and see what's feasible for my hobby. That would be a fun new thing to discover.  :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

*Wishful thinking - with currency exchange going crazy, I cannot justify buying anything for now.