Today I thought we’d explore where I go fabric shopping in Perú for all my sewing needs.
When I need anything crafty like fabric, buttons, and zippers, we head out to a place in Lima, Perú called Gamarra. It’s not really the safest place to be, so we don’t just go to hang out and spend the whole day browsing. Though it is tempting. We only go here when we have a long list of things to get. This is not a place I want to visit when I only need a zipper.
I usually wait until my shopping list has really built up before we go out and then we basically become pack-mules and haul as much stuff back to the house as we can. At least enough to tie me over until I have a new project or sewing request and need to buy a bunch of things again.
On a typical shopping adventure to Gamarra, we head here first for an hour or two, depending on how long it takes us to get all of the stuff. Gamarra is huge and it takes us a while to navigate the whole thing.
After our shopping adventures we always go to one of our favorite restaurants a few train stops up to make a day of being out. It’s like a reward. If we survive the crazy crazies of Gamarra and all the shopping in Perú, only then can we go to the best food in Lima. Or maybe it’s just that we recognize that the fabric stuff is on the way, and if we’re going to come this far out for one, we certainly ought to get the other as well.
I documented this shopping trip for you a couple of months ago to show you where we go, what we bought, and a little look at shopping in Perú.
Let’s dive a little deeper into it!
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Game Plan
I highly recommend having a plan when going shopping here. There’s a lot to see and it’s easy to get swept up in the crazy.
You’re going to do a lot of walking and end up carrying a lot, so wear something comfortable, bring a backpack (or two) and go into this understanding that this will be a long day. This is my favorite backpack, it’s great for travel and has an anti-theft pocket at the back.
I make my shopping list before we go not only to make sure we stay on track and head in the right direction first but also so that I know if I’m bringing enough backpack space.
Heads Up: It is easy to get robbed here. Either leave your phone at home or hide your phone and wallet in a safe spot on your person. This is not a safe part of town and there are hundreds of people down here. Pickpocketers are everywhere.
If you can, wear a hat and don’t choose your nicest clothes. You want to blend in as much as you can here. Don’t look like a tourist. You will be a target.
Heading Out And Entering Gamarra
To get to Gamarra, we typically need to take a moto taxi to the train. This will be dependent for you on where you’re coming from.
Gamarra is the actual name on the train billboard, you can’t miss it. This stop is probably the busiest stop. The train will fill up the closer you get to this stop, then half of the people will empty out when we reach Gamarra. This place is so crowded! When boarding the train again after your shopping adventures, just be aware that you will likely need to squish and squeeze your way onto the crowded train as well.
Once you weave through the crowd at the exit of the train and the entrance to Gamarra, it opens up to streets of shopping. You can shop in the buildings on the side of the streets, or in the streets themselves. So many people will be trying to sell you things. I recommend you keep your head down and focus on just getting to your destination.
Fighting through the crowd is crazy! This is where you’re most likely to get pickpocketed. I was not willing to risk losing my phone to get a picture of it.
The Fabric Shop
We hit the fabric shop first. This is on a street called Agustín Gamarra. We like this shop best because of the quality of fabrics sold inside. There are hundreds of fabric shops here and several floors. Go explore!
There are several vendors and several different places in Gamarra you can get fabric. If you want cotton to make t-shirts or sweatshirts, that’s in a completely different section several streets up. That place is far from the typical place we shop and a long walk. And they sell fabric there by the kilogram instead of by the meter. Super interesting!
There are a few shops closer to the entrance of Gamarra, but the quality isn’t as nice. We prefer to head toward the center of Gamarra. They have several floors of fabric and tons of selection. I could spend hours here…if it wasn’t such a sketchy part of town.
Shopping Breakdown
On this particular day, we were shopping for four different types of fabric, some zippers, grommets, ribbon, and among other things, bias tape.
One of the fabrics we wanted had to be a very special shade and material. They didn’t actually have it on the first floor, where we always shop. We ended up exploring the second, third and fourth floors and I discovered the wonderful colors and selection that the other stores have to offer!
I wanted to walk around and explore every shop! But…my budget wouldn’t allow it.
Fabric shopping in Perú has been a totally different experience for me in that I’ve never shopped in meters and centimeters before. I have a fabric tape measure at home that has both inches and centimeters on it, which I use to make a guess at what size zippers I want to buy. I don’t know what size zippers they have at the store, so I typically guess around what length I want and make a note of it. When I get there I always get the closest possible size option.
Shopping in meters is interesting too! …I now have way more fabric than I needed for some projects because I’m apparently really (really) bad at figuring out just how much fabric I need for a project.
Non-Fabric Needs
After we buy fabric we head to thread. It’s about a block over from the fabric place. There are many stores you can choose from. We’ve found it’s usually cheapest to buy large spools of thread rather than a small one or two. It also saves me from any possible problems of running out of thread mid-project. Going back is not a quick and easy shopping trip.
Next are buttons, lace, boning, and zippers. Anything else that you could possibly want is usually within this general area. And if this shop doesn’t have it, you can go up two doorways and find it there instead.
When I say “anything else” I’m not kidding. Elastic, underwear bands, patches for puppies, dragons and popular brands. The list goes on! You name it, they’ve probably got it!
The best place to get zippers…actually sells them in bulk, and I think we irritate them a little when we go in and buy two or three zippers at a time…each in a different color. Everyone else in there is buying a bag or four of 200 zippers, and then you have me making one dress here or a jacket there.
Luckily, we almost always go shopping on a Saturday and have seemed to luck out that they’re not very crowded. They’re a little more patient and will adjust zippers to my desired height for me because there isn’t a crowd.
Random note: All the fabric shops are closed on Sunday. Learned that the hard way…
100% Cotton
If we need to get 100% cotton for t-shirts, sweatshirts, or underwear, we usually shop there last. I will try to get my elastic or a guess at the color thread I want for the project before we walk out to that fabric section. It’s several blocks away and it is not worth heading back afterward just for thread or needles. We’ll catch a taxi to the mall from here or walk to the train station afterward if we head out that far.
That’s about it for fabric shopping for me. After we get fabric, needles, and thread, if we need anything like socks, t-shirts, or underwear, we’ll do a little quick shopping for those first. Gamarra sells lots of clothes too! Streets and streets of it.
Before we jump on the train (if we weren’t heading out to get 100% cotton fabric) we usually walk around and buy some fruit. You can get a lot of really good fruit out there under the train station for a little cheaper than you can get anywhere else. Because the prices are better we usually end up coming home with a lot of fruits and nuts. …A lot… Like I said, we don’t shop out here regularly, we stock up when we can!
Afterward, we hop on the train and head to lunch in San Borja.
Gamarra Haul
When we got home I took some pictures to show you a little breakdown of our Gamarra haul.
That’s about it for crafty supply shopping in Perú! There’s a lot of incredible stuff to get there. But do be careful if you decide to check it out. A guy tried to rob me once when we went there, stay safe!
What do you think, would you ever check out Gamarra? Let me know in the comments if you liked this post! What do you think we’re going to make out of each of the fabrics we got?
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