Wholesale Fabric Show & Sale

Tuesday, Dec 6, 5-6:30 pm

Portland Sewing

2111 NE 43rd

Park on the street or in our lot north of our blue building

If you've never been to a textile show, here's a way to start. If you're looking for fabrics for your clothing line or fabrics you can't find in the local fabric stores, this is the place to be.

Rimmon and Co is a textile wholesaler and jobber, but sells low minimum yardage requirements -- typically 7-10 yards.

As a jobber, Dan Rimmon sells overstock fabric and leather from designers such as Calvin Klein, Anna Sui, Nanette LePore, Monique Lhuillier, Frankie B and others.

As a wholesaler, he has unlimited yardage of Spring and Fall 2012 cottons from Liberty Art Fabrics (formerly Liberty of London), Pickering International organics and sustainable fabrics, Blue Star Silks and Pineapple Silk sustainable, handmade from pineapple fibers and natural dyes.

Bring a friend and split yardage if you like. We'll be there to help you learn how to work a textile show.

Job and West Coast 2012 textile show schedule posted

Just posted: A list of the major textile shows on the West Coast for 2012.

To attend, you'll need a business license. And you'll need to be ready to buy wholesale. For more on how to get ready for a textile show, sign up for our next How to Start an Apparel Business class.

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Job opening: Cintas is looking production sewer with industrial sewing machine experience. Interested? Send a note to info@portlandsewing.com

Where to buy fabric & labor: Sourcing 101 class

at Portland Sewing, 2111 NE 43rd, Portland Oregon -- in the heart of the Hollywood District

• Saturday, Nov 19, 2-5 pm, $48
• with Rachel Ancliffe, product developer for Nike,
  Where will you get your fabric, trims and labor? Overseas or in the United States? Class will answer your questions about how to both, the possibilities, the process and the pros and cons. Other topics include: Duty, Quota, Agents and Agency Fees, Customs, NAFTA/CAFTA/WTO and going to textile markets.
• Register at:
• http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-business-classes/where-to-buy-fabriclabo-sourcing-101-for-the-apparel-industry/
• 
  

Fabric shopping in Paris

Rue D'Orsel -- the main street through the fabric district of Marche St. Pierre

Let's be blunt. Fabric shopping in Paris sucks.

Count your lucky stars if you live in Portland. There you can get quality fabric at good prices at so many stores: Fabric Depot, Mill End, Josephine’s, Rose City Textiles.

By the end of our stay in Paris, we were begging for a JoAnn’s. I kid you not. Thanks to previous stays, I have a list of fabric stores. Here’s a rundown.

Red alert! Don't touch this fabric! You'll be sorry!

Marche St. Pierre is the main drag for fabric. This is in Montmartre district right below Sacre Couer. Its looks match that of the fabric district in Los Angeles: Sidewalks lined with polyester so rough that it sands off your fingerprints if you touch it.

Two high points:

-- Tissus Reine, a full line of products and quality, though overpriced, products. (Solde=Sale)

-- Tissus Paris, a good variety of silks, also overpriced. For example, a meter of silk habotai (called “pongee” here) sells for 16 euros or $26 versus $10 a yard in the U.S.

Two lesser points:

-- Over-promoted Dreyfus. Five floors of so-so fabric.

-- Maison Blanc where they sell remnants (“coupons” here), 3 meters for 10 euros.

There are smaller stores in the Sentier near the Bourse, Paris’ equivalent of Wall Street. These are supposed to be wholesale, but don’t have wholesale prices. Here we found hat supplies at Ultramod, knitting and embroidering supplies at Le Droguerie and a great variety of interesting ribbons at Mokuba.

To get the best fabrics, we had to go to TissusEdre in Passy. We also went to Janssens & Janssens near rue Faubourg St. Honore.

Let’s not forget Les Perles d’Anton, a small treasure in the Marche Malassis section of Clingancourt. Flora, the owner, sells lovely buttons, appliques and authentic Chanel trims. Her husband and father-in-law worked for Chanel.

Some of these fabric are milled in Italy. But, sadly, most are made in China, as are most fabrics across the world these days.