Shops: Designer Fabrics

1360 Queen Street West, Toronto
416.531.2810, Mon – Thurs 9:30 am – 6 pm, Fri 9:30 am – 9 pm, Sat 9:30 am – 6:30 pm

Fabric stores can be overwhelming, especially when they’re as big as Designer Fabrics. Spread over several thousand square feet and two floors, Designer Fabrics is a Toronto institution, the first place many decorators–both amateur and professional–head when faced with a re-upholstery job. Sarah Richardson often shoots segments of her TV shows here and this Parkdale bastion is Project Runway Canada’s favorite place to “pull,” the hogtown equivalent of NYC’s Mood.

While not exactly warm and fuzzy, Designer Fabrics staffers are happy to help and can usually track down what you’re after. Pictured above is Shawn Edwards who’s been digging bolts out of the back for 14 years. I was there last weekend looking for a fabric to compliment a tile sample and the first staffer I approached led me straight to some excellent options. Ask and you will receive.

Upholstery fabric is downstairs, along with notions, trims, even a drapery hardware section; clothing fabrics, including silks and linens, are upstairs. Despite its name, Designer Fabrics doesn’t stock designer names like Lee Jofa, Kravet and Scalamandre; for those you’ll have to head uptown to Designers Walk with your own designer in tow. But rest assured, if you’re doing it yourself DF will have something suitable and at far lower prices–the store carries Toronto’s largest selection of double-width fabrics, which can cut your material costs in half!

My favorite thing about Designer Fabrics is the discount section where you can get mill-ends and remnants for as low as $6.99 per yard. Mike and I reupholstered our dining room chairs with some bargain bin velvet and the remnant I used to dress up my office cubicle cost me a whopping $5 at DF.