Having realised that my four-year-old is mostly interested in shredding things craft supplies (take her to a toy shop and she will come home with a jewellery making kit) I have started mapping out craft shops and DIY shops in Malaysia.
The old favourites for craft supplies are the small shops in Chinatown, Mr. DIY for unbeatable prices and in emergencies the fancier art shops in malls like Art Friend in the Curve and Gardens and Craft Haven in 1Utama. Cziplee has a great selection in Bangsar, and Fun N Cheer outlets have the cheap and cheerful stuff from China that may not fulfill all the quality criteria but may occasionally have just what you need.
The Australian Spotlight is a good one-stop-shop for all craft supplies needs. It has stores in Ampang Point and Ikano Power Centre (IPC). I’ve always found the word haberdashery cute but obscure – but now I think it may be a synonym for Spotlight.
Finding cotton and linen has been a bit tricky in KL. Kamdar and the shops around Masjid India have a mind-boggling selection but often don’t serve the person who is looking for some plain cloth for an everyday dress or the latest ID update. Whereas if you are looking for outfits for any of the different festivals in Malaysia, you will find them there. Spotlight is a bit pricier for crafts supplies, with prices starting from about 20 RM/metre (by a quick glance) but there are some great fabrics here:
They have loads of small things that you didn’t even realise you absolutely need, as well as a great selection of fancy dress stuff and party decorations. And they even do craft courses and sell sewing machines.
On-line shops selling craft supplies
Other than the major retail outlets, there are loads of great and affordable on-line shops selling bits and bobs. I’ve ordered from JaJa craft and AniWasabi. The latter can be found in Kenanga Wholesale Mall and has nicely priced ribbons and beads. Crafty Cabin has a good online selection of craft supplies, too. Crativiti with an online shop has also been recommended.
Lazada is an easy option for most craft supplies.
A good list of where to buy craft supplies in Malaysia collected by a fellow blogger can be found here – the list is old but will be updated if and when she find new places to shop. And of course an on-line favourite, Etsy – a treasure trove for supplies and finished hand-made products.
Always wanted to create a cool house for the kids? Have a look here!
If you have great tips on haberdashery shopping leave them under comments!
9 Responses
Thank you for mentioning our shop Ani Wasabi Craft Supplies. We look for to seeing you again.
Spotlight is my go to place these days. I am sewholic craft addict SAHM and Spotlight provides me all the supplies that I dreamt of, to create my couture line of kids wear and accessories. Oh yes my daughter is addicted to rainbow loom and has the eye for crafts using ribbons …Yee Button in PJ also stock a good range of haberdershery and also fabric fanatics in summit USJ stock some awesome fabrics, i had been visitng both of the before spotlight arrived in July. I found your blog today and I am hooked. Tomorrow is my daughters birthday and I was on the lookout for some nice but less crowded picnic spots to have a private evening of just three of us family. Your post on keeping and ttdi gave me options. Thanks. Would be thrilled if you could visit my sewing anecdotes at adithisammasews.com or facebook.com/adithiscouture
I’m glad you got some ideas from the blog, your lovely comment made my day! And thanks for the additional tips for crafty stuff! Have a great birthday and a lovely picnic! I popped over to your blog and your sewing looks fantastic!
For all linens and plain cotton cloth, check out Jakel mall at Jalan Munshi Abdullah area. It’s a 5-6 storey mall selling just fabrics for all kinds of uses.
Thanks, this is a great tip – didn’t know about this place, it looks huge!
Hi, may i know where can I find the block letters decor that shown on your page? Kindly advise , thanks
Hi! The photo is from Spotlight. It was taken a while back but at least the IPC shop still had these letters when I visited last week.
I went to Spotlight a few days ago and they don’t have this anymore.
Sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for. The pictures in the post are from 2014 so the selection must have changed!