Saturday, July 21, 2012

Fabric shopping at Ikea

A few little while back I was fabric shopping at Ikea. I happened to have my camera handy and I thought that I would share with you just how one buys fabric there...

(Funny side note. Here is how Ikea is pronounced by Norwegians: Eekay-uuh.)

 Here is the small fabric section at my local Ikea. I was there hunting for something to sew an apron from (more on that next time) and was happy to discover the perfect black and white checked plaid.


Now, you're responsible for cutting you own fabric here (a no no at most fabric stores I know of) and then printing the right label for it. One of the beauties about living in Norway is that people are incredibly trust-worthy, and trusting, so this system works pretty well here.


Simply put your fabric choice on the scale and then scan the appropriate bar code in the book on the right, and voila! It prints out a sticker with a price that you can take straight to the self checkout. That's not all, either. The sticker tells you the fabric content (in my case, 100% cotton) and gives you washing instructions!

My loot, on my way to check out.

Also, and this just tickles me pink, Ikea has their own sewing machine.


That's not a $498 price tag you see, the price is in Kroner so it comes out to just under $90. It's such a great price that it makes you wonder...  how well does it sew.. and also, is there assembly required?


8 comments:

  1. Wow! If only the Ikea here was like that! They've cut down their fabric selection considerably :0( Plus you need to flag down someone to cut for you and they hand-write out the paper and staple it to your fabric! You have to remember the fabric content & washing instructions. Boo. I've got quite a stash of Ikea fabric, it makes great aprons :0)

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  2. Funny Anna! We have just visited Ikea last week, I got me a bunch of cardboard boxes for the ever growing pattern stash (I love their organisation solutions) and I passed by the fabric department.. I was quite curious, and could actually stay there for a while, but my other half was Ikea overdosed so to speak:) Anyway, just got me some cute thread this time. I also wanted to get me a magnet wall thing, but they didn't have one in the color I wanted. I found a tutorial on making it DIY instead, hopefully I'll share the process in the blog soon. But yeah, I love Ikea for stuff like that. How are the fabric prices in comparison to online shopping for you?

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  3. Ikea here is not like that...You have to wait for someone to cut the fabric, and then he or she does not have the patience or the skills to do it. You have to say: oh, hummmm, wait a minute.....please cut carefully, straight.....Here it is awful! Have fun with your fabrics!

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  4. We only have 1 Ikea in our state in our capital city, Brisbane AND it's on the south side on the way to the Gold Coast. I am 1000 kilometres north! Bugger. I love Ikea even though it has admitted to overpricing in comparison to other countries. thieves...

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  5. Oh, I was fabric shopping at Ikea a few weeks ago as well^^ And I stumbled across this sewing machine - but it doesn't look trustworthy in my eyes - maybe it's the colours. It looks like a childrens sewing machine...
    Anyways, I bought me some sarong fabric again, that's all I found. I wish we had a big fabric section here in our Ikea as well.

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  6. That's how Ikea is pronounced in Swedish…(which is where it comes from)

    In the UK they have the same self-service fabric cutting system.

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  7. I love that Norwegians are well-behaved enough that an honour system like that would work. Yay Scandinavian countries! It would never happen in Australia

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