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A Visit to Waechter's Fine Fabrics in Asheville, NC

June 12th, 2009 in sewing, design, fabric, online extras

Mary Ray, contributor

10 users recommend

The store is both elegant and hip with something for everyone.

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Great fabric stores these days are few and far between and I feel fortunate to live not far from one of the best. Waechter’s Fine Fabrics, formerly known as Waechter’s Silk Shop, is the oldest fabric store in the Southeast, established in 1929. But don’t let its age fool you. It has the elegance of a grand institution that has stood the test of time – but, it’s current, chic, and very hip.

This past weekend Waechters held a Grand Re-Opening to celebrate its new digs in an old textile mill in the Biltmore Village section of Asheville. The exposed brick walls and glass partitions offer a perfect back drop, but it’s the fabulous selection of fabrics, buttons, patterns and other notions that make this shop so much fun for any fabriholic. Fashion fabrics abound from sumptuous silks, wools, and linens to Liberty of London cottons, rayon prints, and soft knits. There’s an array of those wonderful “quilter’s cotton” prints, fabrics perfect for heirloom sewing, and samples of fabrics that can be special ordered for home dec. And if that’s not enough, there’s the button wall where one could get lost for hours!
The store is filled with model garments. How often do you find almost every pattern made up so you can see how the styles actually look? But, best of all, the staff at Waechters can really help you when you need it – whether you’re wanting to make an outfit or just find a replacement button. It’s a place to find excellent classes and seminars, too.

Asheville, NC is a pretty grand place to visit in and of itself, with lots of outdoor activities. It’s the home of the Biltmore Estate with its elegant historic home (the largest privately owned home in the country), its beautiful gardens with hiking and biking trails, and a lovely winery and tasting room. But, of course, we sewers know that it’s an extraordinary fabric store that makes any city great and worth the visit.

If you can’t make it to Asheville, however, you can visit Waechters on the web and, new on the horizon and coming soon is an e-zine you can subscribe to. It will be dedicated to sewing children’s clothes and offer tips, how-to’s, and kits to dress your kids and grand kids in some of the neatest little duds I’ve ever seen.

Can you tell how much I love this store? You will, too, So add it to your list of top fabric shops in the country to visit.

posted in: sewing, design, fabric, online extras

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Comments (3)

Ali_Bakar writes: Nice to share this Ray.It is really very difficult to find such a big store where u buy all type of garments and clothing.If some body wants to buy Colombian Pants ,then can u help in this regard.
Posted: 6:53 am on October 8th

lilah writes: Waechter's is my favorite fabric store. I live about 2 hours away from Asheville and visit Weachter's anytime we are in the area. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful and they carry a variety of patterns, not just the usual Simplicity, McCall's and other big names. The samples are awesome, too, but the selection of high quality dress-making (or tailoring) fabrics is fantastic. With all of that you'd think their prices would be high but the prices are very reasonable, considering the quality of the fabrics. Yeaaaa, Weachter's!!! Posted: 11:16 am on July 6th

msbyrdt writes: Talk about a "kid in the candy store!", I'd feel as though, I died and went to Heaven in Waechters shop. It's a good thing that the store isn't close by, although, because of the marvels of technology, I can visit daily. My hope is to plan a trip, just to be in the midst of that wonderland!
WOW! Posted: 10:14 am on June 16th

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