A fabric shop with a point of view.
Joan’s is an independent New Zealand fabric shop run by me, Lucy, from Waipu.
I choose every fabric for the shop myself. I’m not trying to stock everything — I’d rather have a smaller collection of cloth that feels special, useful and genuinely worth sewing with.
What I look for.
Natural fibres are at the heart of Joan’s. I look for linen, cotton, wool, silk and other beautiful fibres from specialist mills, thoughtful makers and designers doing interesting things with cloth.
Sometimes that means a really good everyday basic. Sometimes it’s Italian deadstock, a hand block printed cotton, an unusual weave or a colour I can’t stop thinking about.
The common thread is that I want the fabric to have a reason to be here — good quality, good to work with, and enough character to make you want to sew something from it.
Why Joan’s exists.
I started Joan’s in 2021 because I wanted the kind of fabric shop I liked shopping in myself: edited rather than enormous, full of interesting cloth, and helpful without making fabric feel complicated.
Buying fabric online can be difficult. A photograph can’t tell you exactly how something feels in your hand, how softly it falls, whether you can see through it, or quite what that colour looks like away from a screen.
So alongside choosing the fabric, I try to give you the useful information around it too — what it feels like, what it will work for and anything I think you should know before you buy it.
Less choice for the sake of choice.
More fabric worth making something from.
You can just ask me.
If you’re wondering whether a fabric will work for your pattern, whether it’s scratchy or soft, how heavy it feels, what the colour is really like, or anything else you can’t quite tell from the website, send me an email.
You can send a pattern link or a photo too. I handle the fabric myself and I’m very happy to help you work it out.
From Waipu,
New Zealand.
Joan’s is based in Waipu in Northland. Orders are cut, packed and sent from here, and local pick up is available by arrangement.
It’s a small independent shop, which is exactly how I like it. I get to know the cloth I stock, choose what comes in, pack the orders and answer the emails myself.