Saturday, February 01, 2014

Goodbye Arthur Toye

So Friday was a rather sad day for all of us sewing/crafty type people in Wellington as it was the FINAL DAY EVER for our beloved Arthur Toye Fabrics.
It seems that Arthur Toye Fabrics has been around for about a million years - I remember advertising for Arthur Toye being on TV when I was a kid.
When I first started sewing a couple of years ago I loved going to Arthur Toye and not just because it was ten minutes from my apartment. I just loved the selection of fabric they had, especially all the fun quilting cotton. I know some people say don't sew clothing from quilting cotton - whatever, if I like something I'm going to sew with it somehow. 
The other great thing about Arthur Toye was that the people that worked there were genuinely interested in fabric and sewing and I felt like I could ask them questions and they would be able to answer them with some level of knowledge.Unlike other "mega" craft/fabric stores - you all know what I'm talking about.

I also loved the fact that Arthur Toye was near not only my apartment, but also my office! So if I was having a rough day and needed to get get out of the office and do something I would often go to Arthur Toye. Sometimes I would buy things, but other times I would just look at all the lovely fabric - it just made me feel better about things. 

But now the dream is over and last Friday I went to Arthur Toye with some of the Wellington Sewing Bloggers, for the final time, to hunt out some final bargains and say bye bye to one of our favourite stores.

I think most of us wore something that we had made from Arthur Toye Fabrics - I wore my most recent make, my Laurel Mask Dress. Here's a group shot with our final purchases.
Then a shot of extreme sadness...
We are so not impressed! I know, you may be wondering what I bought, but there have been a number of purchases over the past month (if you follow me on instagram, you would have seen recent pattern hauls) which  I will share over time. To be honest, I feel like everything I make over the next six months will be from fabric or a pattern from Arthur Toye!

Thanks to Mel from The Curious Kiwi for these photos.

10 comments:

Vintage Bird Girl said...

What a shame to see such an iconic store close down. It's hard to compete with the Mega chains. Xx

Curtise said...

Oh that IS sad. I always regret that smaller independent stores struggle to compete with big multi-store chains, which are so impersonal. Nice to have a chance to meet up with some blogger friends, but shame about the circumstances. xxx

Monsterchen said...

argh :( i feel you. here they closed almost all fabric stores we ever had. it is really sad. i mean of course you can buy fabrics online but it´s not the same, i miss to touch and feel the fabric, and also it can be quite disappointing what you get with only seeing it on a photo...

BellaBean Vintage said...

I remember Arthur Toye - I'm sure they had an outlet in Christchurch years ago....what a bummer it's closed in Wellington. Hope you got some lovely bargains though!

Sandra said...

It is definitely the end of an era. Before I moved to Wellington I would go to Arthur Toye everytime I came for a visit - always a great selection of fabric. I got some real bargains on Friday :-)

JuanitaTortilla said...

It's a sad moment for me too! Why did it close down? Where are the lot of you sewists going to get your retail therapy and expert advice from now on? :(

Indigo Violet said...

This is sad. They closed their Dunedin branch over 10 years ago. One of our last fabric shops also closed the other day. The upside is I got some great bargains, but that's no consolation.

Camelia Crinoline said...

That's so sad that Arthur Toye has closed. I always go there when I'm in Welly. They had such great fabrics. I hope you got some good stuff at least.

Helga said...

O, bugger! That's the end of an era. I blame shitty Spotlight and Lincraft for the demise of the decent fabric store.
XXX

alicia said...

extreme sadness!!! i hate when fun, independent places have to close! i hope you can find a new favourite shop so the dream can live on! <3