For a city parking in the fabric district wasn't really that hard, especially on a weekday in winter. We found a pretty empty lot on Cameron street. I liked that it was close enough that we could return with bags during the day (of course leaving them in the trunk, it seemed safe but why tempt people?).
The fabric district in Toronto is really near Chinatown, so we decided to start with an early lunch.
This is the crazy sheltered midwesterner pointing to the food in the window. I'd seen chickens and ducks and pigs hanging before, but never squid!
We ended up at this awesome dumpling place called Dumpling House. Everything was a-la-carte, so we picked up a bit of some good stuff and ate our fill!
Dawn and I are totally happy about our yummies and ready to get some fabric!
The shop has people making dumplings in the window, you can watch them make your food!
On our way back to Queen St. (where most of the stores are) we stopped off at the Leather and Sewing Supply Depot on Spadina. They have tons of leather and hardware. I picked up some awesome buckles that I will use for Costume Con costumes!
Leo's Textiles at 400 Queen has yummy laces! Brocades and furs too!
Next up is Sussman's Bridal Supplies at 420. Don't confuse it with Sussman's Bridal at 428, they're totally different stores. This one is full of lots of shiny things including feathers, beads, and accessories like gloves! There's an awesome wall of laces and trims!
And my favorite, the sequins! Sliding displays of tons of sequins of every color, shape, and size imaginable!
They have a wall of trimmy bits and sequined and beaded appliques.
Happy to depart with my money for shinies!
Skipping over to Sussman's main Bridal store at 428. This store is mostly overpriced, but you can find some awesome gems in amongst the stuff.
The selection of shiny brooches here is awesome, and some are really cheap too!
Trendy Fabrics at 422. A store jam-packed with a little of everything.
I picked up a remnant of gorgeous blue wool for cheap! Not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it will be great for something.
The fur selection has samples hanging so you can get the one you want without digging.
This is our first bead store stop, Fancy Gems and Findings at 438. It has tons of chunky natural beads as well as some neat sparklies.
My favorite part of this store was the chain wall. I picked up some chain for the Costume Con project.
This is the awesome wools at Downtown Fabrics at 436. They've got an amazing variety of prints, linen, lace, alpaca, and silks too.
This is Chu Shing Textiles at 440. They've got nice displays of fabric that's accessible and gorgeous for a pretty good price. Check them out if you're looking for colorful wools, silks, brocades, and fabulous beaded fabric. There's also stretch spandex and jersey here, the best variety in the city!
Next up is Queen Textiles at 444. This is one of those stores that's just piled FULL of fabric. So full there's not a lot of room to walk. They've got a ton of variety of stuff, though, and it's all yummy!
Fabric is stacked so high, but they do this awesome thing where they attach samples to the end of the bolt so you don't need to pull out the one on the bottom to see what it's really like! I picked up some great green upholstery brocade for Costume Con here.
The cutting table. See how cramped? Worth it, though. They're cutting some yummy green shot dupioni for Dawn.
Next up is The Beadery at 446. It's got lots of tribal and ethnic looking stuff.
This is Bling Bling at 448. It's another bead store that has a really awesome variety.
Shinies!
And found rock-stuff too!
Fabric by Designers is this great downstairs find. It's got tons of variety, including silks, wools, furs, prints, and brocades.
The last place of real note on this side of the street is The Wool House at 454. Salim is awesome and really nice, and the rows and rows of wool are so tempting! It was fairly priced for an in-person buy, too.
If you're into yarn and knitting there's a store next to The Wool House, but we didn't go in.
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