The Fabric Cave, Meadowbank

If you love rummaging for old fabrics, patterns, notions and pre-loved bits + bobs then have I got the shop for you! That said, if you have a a problem of continually adding to your stash (who doesn't) then you might want to click away as The Fabric Cave in Meadowbank is the home of all sewing temptation.

The Fabric Cave is run by Achieve Australia - an organization that supports disadvantaged and disabled people in our community. So if you feel like adding to your sewing stash a place like The Fabric Cave is a great option as proceeds go towards Achieve Australia helping others in our community.

Nearly everything you see here has been donated, either by individuals, sewing shops closing down or other organisations. When we were wandering around a man came in to drop off TEN garbage bags of fabric that belonged to a friend of his wife's. One of the shop volunteers told me that they once received a donation of FOUR HUNDRED GARBAGE BAGS OF FABRIC from a lady who had been a life long sewist but who had to destash as she was moving into a nursing home. FOUR HUNDRED BAGS! WOW!

This place is pretty aptly named...it's a CAVE filled with all manner of crafty and sewing goodies. There must be over 1000 old sewing patterns in here and I found some real gems when I was flicking through them.  Hello 1980s, we've missed you! I was tempted to buy a dress pattern but I do have quite a lot of patterns amassed at this stage so should probably get to sewing some of them before I start buying more...even if they are mostly $1.00 or less!

At first I thought there wasn't a lot of fabric and I felt disappointed. And then I looked down to the back of the store and there were shelves and shelves of neatly stacked fabrics. Oh. My. Goodness! It was going to be REALLY hard to exercise restraint...

I managed to (somehow) be really thoughtful about what I bought and came away with just three fabrics:

• The fabric on the left is 3m of some sort of cotton (or possibly rayon) that I think will either be another #partyPeplumDress or the other April Rhodes Pattern I have for #theStapleDress. It's super soft and seems to have a nice drape to it.
• The fabric is the middle is 2m of some sort of rayon/polyester type stuff.  I'm thinking either a Sorbeto Top or the Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank. I definitely see this fabric in a singlet/tank top though it's a bit slippery so this will be a challenge for me as I've not sewn with this type of fabric before.
• And on the right is 3m of a thick, slightly stretchy material...no idea what the fabric is but I can see a winter weight #partyPeplumDress in this. Again, this will be a challenge as knits and I are NOT friends, but I'm willing to give it another chance.

All this fabric cost me just $23. So cheap!

The store location is 112 Bowden Street, Meadowbank, on the corner of Nancarrow Ave, not far from Constitution Road.