Before we left on our trip to Vietnam, I scoured all the information I could find in order to figure out where to shop for fabric. In places like Hoi An you will see LOTS of fabric in shops, but they aren’t selling the fabric, they’re selling custom-made clothing. I wanted to buy just fabric. In my searching I discovered that there is an entire fabric market in Hanoi. That’s what Chợ Hôm means — Market (Chợ) Fabric (Hôm). It’s a little farther south in the city than most of the usual tourist haunts, at the corner of Tran Xuan Soan and Pho Hue.

The fabric market is located on the second floor of this building. I didn’t want to use the flash any more than necessary and it was fairly dim in there, so the pictures aren’t completely clear, but I think you can definitely get the idea.



The whole floor is divided into little stalls, each with a different proprietor, stacked floor to ceiling with fabric.



The stalls are one on top of the other and go back into the dimly lit corners. There are only tiny little walkways between the rows. The walkways are big enough for two Vietnamese people to pass, but a little harder for bigger Westerners!



Also, all the proprietors sit in the walkways, because there is no space to sit in their packed-to-the-ceiling booths! The funniest thing to me was how many of these women were sitting around knitting!

The stall below has a prime corner location.



I made my first purchase at this stall — the two pieces of linen she is holding in her left arm. You just tell them what you want to see and they pull it down off the shelves for you. Or if you say you’re looking for linen, they’ll show you which of their stacks are linen. Nothing comes with care instructions, and you have to ask for prices. Prices are probably negotiable, but at less than $3 a yard for linen, I didn’t really care if I bargained!



This was one of the few stalls that did not have the fabrics all folded up, presumably because these silks would be just too slippery to keep in a pile. I purchased a yard of fabric here for a coffee shop friend who said to me before we left, “Bring me back something. A fabulous piece of silk or something.” She wasn’t really being serious, but I couldn’t resist when I saw these. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the piece I bought for her.



I made my last purchase at this booth. This blue cotton she is cutting, thinking I might make a shirt out of it. I was saying to my husband that I might make a shirt from it and the woman motioned at her wrist (you know — that karate-chop kind of motion that means “this long? long sleeved?”). I nodded yes and she consulted briefly with her colleague, they gave me a once over, and concluded that a meter and a half should be sufficient. Beautiful! Thanks!



It was really crazy hard to make decisions in here, especially since I didn’t have anything particular in mind to make when I went there, and I only had a little bit of space in the luggage (we took only two backpacks total!). Buying this much fabric (I think 7-8 meters) created enough of a challenge as it was. But they had all kinds of wools and knits and cottons and silks. Next time I’ll have a better plan. Next time! Anyhow, here are my purchases (minus the silk).



And I’ll leave you with one last photo looking down from upstairs at the first floor. The first floor had some ready-to-wear things (looked like a lot of kids stuff and t-shirts) and backpacks, as well as a small vegetable market, beauty parlor (below me), and indoor motorbike parking. Crazy crazy place!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

1. New Fabric and a New Sewing Machine!
2. That Cute Bird Fabric