Fabrics from Germany

In my last post, I talked about visiting Germany on my first Eurotrip! I planned most of the things I wanted to do and see before I left but one thing hadn't even crossed my mind. I have been on a "fabric fast" all year so fabric shopping wasn't anywhere near my list of desires, but once I got acclimated into my accommodations in Cologne I started thinking "there might be a fabric store around here".

After typing in "fabric stores near me" in Google Maps, I quickly realized that "stoff" had something to do with "fabric". So I pinpointed some places I wanted to check out in the next couple of days and my friend and I continued our trip as planned.

Our last day in Cologne was the day I had decided I would go by the fabric stores I had taken note of after we finished the site-seeing that we had planned for the day. As we were finishing up site-seeing and were about to head to lunch, out of the corner of my eye I saw a store in a small corner with "stoff" in it's name. It was called "Stoff Schnäppchenmarkt". I looked at my friend and said "I think that might be a fabric store.. let me go check". Sure enough, it was. It was a quaint little shop with lots of notions and trims. I'd like to argue more of those things than actual fabric, but the fabrics that were available were beautiful and diverse.

I knew I was going to another shop so I didn't want to go crazy so I just got one meter of one of the fabrics that caught my eye. It's a cotton-something fabric with a cool print. It will be great as a top. Any pattern ideas??

After lunch, I got ready to make my trek over to Stoff & Stil because when I looked on Google Maps, the name stood out to me as something that I'd heard or read about on a blog in the past. Stoff & Stil seems to be a chain fabric store all over Europe. It was very big and very CLEAN. The branding and aesthetic is VERY consistent and organized. I enjoyed walking around the store and seeing all of the things they had to offer.`

I found myself at the remnant bin which is common for me at brick and mortar fabric stores. There was a HUGE selection of cuts that were awesome quality and quantity. I had about 4 different remnants in my hand at one time but I ended up just keeping one.

The one I kept is this luscious navy textured sweater knit. I fell in love with the color and texture and am really excited to make a sweater out of it when it gets cold later in the year.

I walked around the full store at a minimum of 4 times because I get super overwhelmed when I have too many options and I just end up not making any decisions.I decided on one of the beautiful scuba knits that they were offering. It's a lovely cream color with roses all randomly place. I loved that there wasn't a noticeable repeating pattern to them. It feels amazing and after much contemplation at the cutting table, I decided to go home with 3 meter of it. I plan to keep it for something really dramatic, event-wise and pattern-wise.

sidenote: They didn't accept credit cards in the store; only debit and Euros.

While I was walking back to my hostel, I noticed another "stoff" sign out of the corner of my eye. 

I walked in and there was some AMAZING fabrics in there. A lot of beautiful laces and a HUGE variety of textured and pique fabrics. I wanted so badly to buy some cuts from in there but 1, I didn't know if they took credit card and I had spent almost all of my euros in Stoff&Stil. I was also in a bit of a time constraint so I very reluctantly walked out.

I'm glad I got a few quality pieces and had self-control. I think I would have regretted not looking for fabric at all so I'm glad I made this an experience on my trip. Any other fabric stores you know of in Cologne, Germany? I definitely want to go back because I really enjoyed it.

What do you think about the pieces I got? Any pattern suggestions?!

Talk to me in the comments!

xoxo, Tasha