Fabric shopping in Kuala Lumpur

A bit of lighter reading today. Thank you for your kind comments and thoughts on my last post, I appreciate this very much. I’ll save the drama that is my life for another day.

During my work trip to Kuala Lumpur, I had two days of leave, which I used to explore the city on foot and by cab. This was Monday and Tuesday. Some of my free time I used for my second favourite hobby, fabric shopping.

I had high hopes for fabric shopping in Kuala Lumpur. I had done some reading on traditional fabrics produced in Malaysia and was keen to see some, and maybe even buy some. To learn more, I visited the National Textile Museum, a small but well curated museum with four galleries. I learned about Songket (handwoven silk/cotton with silver or gold threads) and Batik (wax-resist dyed fabric). I also learned about Tenun Pahang Diraja, a woven silk fabric. All are different and all are beautiful. I was quite keen to bring home a length of a Batik fabric but I was disappointed. None of the fabric shops I visited stocked any traditional fabrics. I learned that I would have to travel to where these are produced if I wanted to buy some. Disappointing but not the end of the world. 

There is an entire fabric district, some shops were huge. Before travelling, I did a bit of YouTube fabric shopping in Kuala Lumpur and I knew there was lots to see. Imagine having the energy to make a running commentary of your fabric shopping! I am too embarrassed to take a photo… I didn’t seek out the fabric district on that first day of my visit but just so happened upon it after a morning of exploring the EcoPark in the city centre, with its tree top canopy walk, the Central Market. The selection of fabrics was overwhelming and the prices were astonishingly low but I soon realised that a large proportion of fabrics were polyesters, essentially plastic, made from petroleum. I can’t stand the stuff. I’ve never seen so many exuberant florals before either. I felt a bit hot and tired and decided that I needed to calm my hot feet down.

On Tuesday, after spending several hours in the Botanic Gardens and a butterfly sanctuary, I booked a Grab to take me to Jakel Mall, a massive multi-storey clothing and fabric empire. I had read about this and was curious. I worked my way up the escalators, feeling a bit daunted by hundreds of rolls of fabric. There were some beautiful silks but I resisted because silk is delicate, often dry clean only. Having said that, I just hand washed a silk scarf that I was gifted and it turned out just fine. But let me tell you, life is too short for handwashing. Also, dry cleaning is not a very good for the environment. I like my garments to be practical and washable. I was keen to see some plain linens and was sent to the men’s fabric department, where I found just that and also simple shirting cottons. These were considerably pricier than the polyesters but still good value when compared to the UK. I found two Italian linens (the irony!) that I liked, pink and orange. They’ll make nice summer trousers. 

I also chanced upon a place called Syarikat Isetan while wandering around China Town. The photo above from the shop floor was taken there (with permission). This was a delightful place, just one floor and not overwhelming. The floral polyesters were very prominent but they did have a good selection of linens, embroidered cottons and rayon. The latter were on sale. I bought a green linen, and three rayons, one with wide navy and white stripes and two simple florals. I can see some shirts in my near future. After that, I needed to add up my purchases and check my suitcase to work out if I could visit another shop. I also had two full days of work.

On Friday, I was able to take a day in lieu because I had an all day symposium scheduled on Saturday. I met with a friend who lives in Kuala Lumpur and then took a Grab to a fabric shop I had read about somewhere. This was People Textile, also in China Town and just around the corner from the previous shop. This was a funny little shop, all fabric bolts were wrapped in plastic but they had samples of each for a good feel. This was by far my favourite shop, the two women helping me were so knowledgeable and most of their stock was natural fibres. By then, my funds were limited, although not depleted. I was looking for a fabric to make a a new blouse pattern by Fabric Godmother.  It was so enjoyable to share my pattern plans with the shop owner and let her help me find a suitable cotton. I ended up getting two, a blue shirting chambray and a green embroidered cotton. I was careful to get just enough. 

At the end, I had about £20 left in my budget and stopped by the Syarikat Isetan on my way back to the hotel. I was thinking of that table with discounted rayons, each eight Ringgit per metre, which is ~£1.50. I bought a light grey discounted Chambray cotton instead, for a shirt dress. 4 meth

I know I bought a lot of fabric but it makes me happy to have fabric and make garments. Finding and buying nice fabric is a bit like comfort eating, with the advantage that it doesn't predispose me to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. I am careful with my pocket money and with long planning times, there is always opportunity to save my spending money ahead of time. I don’t even know why I feel the need to justify my shopping habit! 

I’ll show you some photos of my adventures next time. Thanks for visiting 😊