If you’ve been around for any of last year’s sewing projects, you may have noticed that I kept “shopping my stash” and trying to avoid buying fabric. The fabric buying ban (self-imposed I should add) was at times annoying but I really got to appreciate the fabric that I had and it posed certain challenges which I enjoyed overcoming. On a recent trip to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in November 2022, I went to the fabric district and took myself off my fabric-buying ban and went a little nuts. I have written all about where to shop for fabric in KL here so check that out if you’re interested. Today however, I will be sharing all the glorious fabric I found on my fabric adventures. I will note that I don’t normally buy this much fabric and I admit this amount is a little excessive but this isn’t something I do often, I saved up for a while to really treat myself and due to the currency exchange, I really got some great bang for my buck.

**Please note: I have been having some camera issues so these photos are not of the highest quality and don’t show all the stunning details that these fabrics have. Many of the colours look off and these fabrics are simply gorgeous in real life. My apologies for this; I will be getting my camera fixed ASAP.

From Kamdar, I found some great bargain fabrics for less than 8RM ($2.70AUD) a meter. I found some sweet navy cotton with a small clover print that I plan to make a Zimmerman-inspired dress and some 70s vibing floral fabric which I love the colour combination of. I got 4 meters of each fabric and will certainly be sewing these fabrics up sometime this year.

From Alfaro, I found some very pretty crepe silk fabric which is pre-cut to 4 meters and decorated in a way that makes it easy to sew and style in the traditional Malaysian way. I plan to turn this fabric into a simple dress and use the fabrics natural flow to create some layering, gathers and hopefully gain some skills in draping. This fabric was around 35RM for the whole lot of 4 meters ($11.70 AUD).

From Galati’s I got a wonderful selection of Swiss cotton silk which I have purchased and used for sewing before (see this project for an example). I got mainly florals and am particularly keen on the white/brown floral combination which I plan to make a Pretty Woman inspired dress. I got 4 meters of each type of floral and I think each meter was about 35RM per meter($11.70 AUD). Besides the florals, I also purchased 4 meters of some bright summer-coloured tartan which I will turn into a vintage dress inspired by a dress I was unable to purchase.

One of my favourite stores in the KL fabric district is Nagoya which had a fantastic range of cotton (amongst many many floors of other fabrics) and I was spoilt for choice. I went for aggressively floral fabrics and purchased a few rose floral prints which were only 8RM per meter ($2.70 AUD). I really wanted to get more of the rose floral prints but decided to just pick these three in the end. I did also fall in love with some traditional Malaysian batik-style fabrics, which I got two styles of. These were recommended by the store owner and I’m so glad I listened because the colours of these fabrics is incredible and were also at the 8RM price per meter.

The fabric district is the place to buy silk and every second (or even more) store in the area just specialises in silk, so you really are spoilt for choice. As I plan on challenging myself with my sewing and trying different fabrics to improve my skills, I wanted to get some silk so I went into one store, Osman. I really restricted myself to only buying what I needed for specific projects so I got 7 meters of green silk for around 39RM a meter ($13 AUD), and some silver-toned silk for 45RM a meter ($15 AUD). Now, this is the store you go to if you want specially embroidered fabric and especially if you sew wedding-style gowns. I had to purchase this stunning dark green embellished tulle fabric and I will definitely be turning it into an evening gown later in the year.
I am very excited to share the projects I have in mind for the green and silver silk I purchased here. One of which I have been working on since last August and I hope to share it with you soon.

The rest of the fabric I purchased came from the most iconic store in the whole fabric district, Jakel. This store is something like 12 stories of fabric with something for absolutely everyone. I mainly got cotton but also treated myself to a few embroidered and embellished tulles which excited me very much. I got 4 meters of most fabrics and the prices ranged from 4RM ($1.30 AUD) to about 40RM ($13.40 AUD).

I am excited to turn these floral prints into some sweet summer-style dresses which will be a fun way to try new patterns. These were very cheap, as Jakel just happened to be having a sale on top of their already great prices and the staff gave me an even further discount. I was very grateful.

I found some stunning striped silk fabrics which I have projects already in mind for. I wanted something summery but also something to suit the autumn season. One will be hopefully for a vintage replica and the other is for a stunning pattern I recently picked up.
The tartan will also be turned into dresses but I am tempted to turn one into a two piece set.

I love embroidery (it’s the Eastern European in me) so I tend to lean towards cotton with floral embroidery. I found these three cotton fabrics all featuring detailed embroidery in a range of colours. I have used similar fabrics for projects before (such as this one) and I have learnt from my previous attempts and made sure to get at least 4 meters of each.

As much as I love printed fabric, I figured I should try to get at least some plain fabric so I found this gorgeous mustard cotton silk blend which I hope to turn into something special. Oh, and of course, more cotton with embroidery which I want to turn into a milkmaid-style dress.

The last pieces of fabric I got from Jakel were some stunning embroidered tulles which I will be turning into (hopefully) stunning dresses. I haven’t really worked with such fabric so I figured it’ll help me grow my skills. I love the soft pastel rose fabric which I paired with a light pastel green lining which will be very romantic and sweet once done. The second tulle is a heavily embellished tulle feature dark florals that I paired with a cream toned lining. I wanted to make the florals stand out so I chose the lighter lining instead of a darker fabric. I want this dress to be dramatic but also still romantic. I am yet to find a pattern for either dress so I am open to suggestions.

This is my amazing haul and I feel very lucky to have had such an amazing experience and a chance to even partake in such a haul. I think I travelled in a very lucky time as so much was discounted ontop of already being cheap. If you’d like more information on the stores I visited or where else to shop for fabric in KL, I have all that in this blog. I am going straight back on my fabric buying ban as after this haul, I shouldn’t need to buy fabric anytime soon. This haul will take me well over a year (or two) to get through and I am very excited to start sewing up some pretty things. If you have what you think is the perfect patten for a certain piece of fabric, please feel free to share it with me as I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.