Where do I buy the fabrics for the tablecloths my mother makes?
Many of you who follow me on Instagram have asked where I buy the fabrics for the tablecloths my mother makes, so I've decided to compile a list of the places we usually go.
You often ask me how my mother makes tablecloths, and the truth is, I don't know how to sew. When I ask her to explain it to me a little so I can give you some pointers—for those of you who sew—she usually says something like, "It's just a matter of getting started," or "Oh, I don't know how to explain it." So I'm really sorry I can't be of more help. Let's get down to the subject of fabrics.
My mother sews linen tablecloths, usually treated linen, which allows threads to be pulled out for hemstitching. We've been looking for different colors, and they aren't always easy to find, because they're usually only available in natural or white.
We have always shopped at:
When the pandemic forced us into lockdown and we couldn't go to Madrid, we had to look for places in Guadalajara that sold this type of fabric. We only found it in off-white, but my mother needed to sew to keep her mind occupied, so even though we already had some tablecloths in this color, she didn't mind. This shop is called Retales María José and it's located at Plaza José Pradillo Moratilla 6, in Guadalajara.
As the pandemic dragged on and she sews every afternoon, I decided to try buying fabric online. After searching and searching, I found a site I really like: it's called Takoy. We bought two fabrics, this one in a nude color and 170 g/m², and this other one in blue, a bit thicker, at 200 g/m². My mother loved them both. The orders arrived at home within a week, always on the date promised at the time of purchase.
I hope all this passes and we can travel safely again; there are two places I'm really looking forward to going back to for fabric shopping:
And to finish, I want to pay a small tribute to those fabric shops that have disappeared. In my hometown of Cuenca, Tejidos Garmontó was linked to many moments of my childhood and youth; my mother sewed most of the clothes for my sister and me there. Joselete was the person who served us, and I have special memories of those afternoons when we would go to see him to buy some of his wonderful fabrics, and then my mother would buy us something at the Ruiz confectionery shop.
