Fabric shopping

One of the reasons for going to Bali was to research locations for the Australian Sewing Summit. . Or that's what I told the others hoping they'd send me research money. Going to have to work on that story....

I did a little research on fabric shopping in Bali and the concensus was that Jalan Sulawesi in downtown Denpasar, where few tourists ever bother to go was the place for cheap fabric. A little further research found an Indonesian patchworker who recommened shop number 19, which goes by the name of Madju (Progress).

I had the taxi driver from hell - aside from his driving, I got the following shot at me for half an hour:
"You want man? toyboy? husband? land? villa? you can buy land and villa in my name. I take you souvenier shopping?"
As I speak Indonesian he was able to wax lyrical on all those topics - ad nauseum - and as I'd seen no taxis around the area, I had to let him wait for me or risk waiting hours for another taxi.

So I rushed in and out. This shop had exclusively batik - mostly cotton, - Hoffman style Bali Batiks. I asked in Indonesian - they told me 22 000 rupiah per meter (that's about $2.50 Australian). I didn't even bother bargaining. They obviously weren't trying to rip me off!

I could have spent hours at all the different shops along Jalan Sulawesi, but I just didn't have the time. There were heavy silks from India going at $12.50/meter (I would have bargained there) and pretty much everything under the sun in dress making fabrics. The term 'shot cotton' didn't seem to mean anything to anyone, but I'm sure with a bit more hunting...

This is what I ended up with - 8m of batiks. Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for rainbows, so I couldn't resist those.

 I had to wash the darker ones a few times and soak them in salt and vinegar, but they've come up fine. The final rinse I used a square of white homespun in the wash to check that the colour wasn't going to impregnate anything else - success!

 I also grabbed a meter of a satiny pink at less than $2/metre.

 The girls approve my choices!

 I mentioned Australian Sewing Summit. It's a definite possibility for Bali - Australia is so wide that it would be cheaper for all of us to fly to Bali than meet somewhere in Oz, and there's fabulous shopping massages cocktails fabric to be bought. If you're interested, hop on over and put your name down. No committment, just seeing what interest is out there at the moment!