This is part 3 of my blog, “My Ultimate Shopping Guide to Fabric, Leather, Craft & Sewing Materials in HK Part 1”. Click on the link to take you there if you haven’t already read it. I decided to split it up and serve it in manageable parts. This part is mainly focusing on Button Shops and Sewing Schools. I will be mainly listing shops or manufacturers that specialises in buttons. I may also mention the odd shop or repeat a shop I have already featured before but selling haberdashery in general.
Let’s begin by downloading and print off:
Here I’ve plotted some of my favourite shops where I get my supplies from. I hope this will come to some use for those that will be visiting Hong Kong in the near future. Make a list of the numbers/shops you will be visiting. You definitely want to double back on Yu Chau Street where I have labelled numbers 1 to 7 in Red.
- Blue dots are for fabric shops and haberdashery.
- Pink dots are for leather shops.
- Green dots are for buttons, buckles, eyelets and rivets for jeans.
- Red dots are for craft shops.
- Orange dots are for sewing schools. They also sell pattern cutting equipment.
- Purple dots are for sewing machine shops and repair/service.
- Brown dots are for curtain and upholstery fabric. Obviously there are more shops than this but here is just a few of the shops to get you warmed.
- The Yellow Areas marked are manufacturers that have fabric samples free for you to take. Sometimes it is marked with a price. That’ll be the cost for the wholesale price.
- The Purple Areas are the open air market stores. Some will call it flea market. They sell new products as well as old/second hand. Some are even counterfeit or given a different name altogether. The hubs find it very amusing with some of the names manufacturers have come up with. Here in Aplui Street is a random magnet store where you can buy some strong magnets for keeping your pins and needles in place.
- The Pink Areas is a toy street, but most people know it as Stationery Street or Decoration Street depending on the time of year. Most of the time you can get toys and stationery, but when Chinese/Lunar New Year is approaching you will find it most of the stationery has been replaced with the current trend.
We will be concentrating on the Green and Orange dots on the map, unless stated.
BUTTONS & Fasteners, SEWING SCHOOLS
1. Buttons & Buckles. One of the first and only shop where I buy my jeans buttons, eyelets and rivets from. There are few of these shops dotted around in Sham Shui Po but this was the first place I came to years ago to get my dies from. They sell the odd piece of plastic materials for bag making but they generally specialise in press buttons and fastenings. You will also notice they have the presses for setting rivets into your garments at a fraction of the cost compared to Ebay. I remember buying one of these from around $150 (£15 if I remember correctly). On Ebay, the presses were around £80+. I also got my dies from here for my eyelets. It cost me around $50 a pair depending on the size and style. They might not have any in store so it needs to be ordered and made for you. It will take anything from a day to a week depending when they get their orders in 0r if the parts are available from the factory. The 2 parts fit on the top and bottom of the press and is very easy to push in and take off.You can have press buttons made to your colour specifications as well have your image or have logos printed or embossed on them. You can buy the supplies in bulk to save yourself some money. Update: Closed down Spring 2021.
2. Yiu Sang Button Factory Co, Ltd.
Manufacturers of all sorts of buttons for garments.
3. Wai Lee Shell Products.
This button shop is just a few doors away from Blue dot 6. They specialise in buttons made from shells such as abalone and other clam shells.
4. Jun Hing Hong.
A huge collection of buttons, situated in the corner of Yu Chau Street and Nam Cheong Street. I had a quick look in here and there were buttons on every wall in this place. I didn’t stay for long because the man looked scary. Lol. I didn’t want to waste his time since I wasn’t after any buttons. Hong Kong sales people hate time wasters. I didn’t hang around to find out.
Update: Closed down Summer 2019.
Next door is another button shop called United Growth. Tons of buttons again.
Update: Closed down Summer 2019.
5. Hung To Button Co/Manlifai Button Co. A few stores down is a shop selling buttons made of shell. I’ve only notice 2 shops in Sham Shui Po that specialises in these types of buttons. I’m sure there’s more.
6. Kam Wah Lace Company, Ltd.
They sell buttons, sewing equipment, press studs, safety pins, buttons, rotary cutter, hand sewing needles. Pop next door is a lace shop.
7. Ming Sang Button Manufactory Ltd. Not even sure if it is a shop. It’s just a doorway with buttons on both sides of the wall. There’s a lot of buttons for coats and shirts, buckles, clasps, D rings as well as buttons for children/babies clothing.
Update: This place has closed down Summer 2019. Now replaced with Button’s World.
If you are after only small packets of buttons rather than boxes, then have a look in these places. Dotted around Shan Shui Po are a lot of pop up shops that sell random sewing and haberdashery supplies. These next shops are not on the Buttons List (Green dot) on the map but under other colour dots.
Blue dot 2.
Corner of Red dot 18 and Green dot 4. There are actually more buttons here than the ones in the drawers. You can get small assorted bags of buttons for around $5. It was here that I found some tiny buttons for dolls clothing.
Pak Lee Hong. They generally sell cords, tools, tape, and other haberdasheries. You can find a few aisles full of buttons in their shop. Situated opposite the temple on Yu Chau Street. Roughly Red dot 4.
Have a rummage in the bargain bins outside. Sometimes they have underwear lace and FOE elastic around $20 for a huge roll.
Lee Wah Hong. 197 Yu Chau Street. Blue dot 29. They recently took over a Flying Dragon shop in late 2017. Selling a variety of hand crafted buttons, buttons, collars and trimmings. This is probably the best shop in town for the hand coiled Chinese buttons.
Blue dot 10 is a good place to buy packets of cheap frog buttons made of cord. Not as nice as these hand made coiled buttons though.
Hing Mee Zip-Fasteners Factory Ltd. Blue dot 34 on the new 2020 map. I am mentioning this shop because they seem to have a lot of fastenings. This is a good shop to buy YKK zips. They also sell hooks, trims, and velcro in many colours and widths. Here you can see they have zips for $1 and $4 each.
I had my vanity case zip made here. It was a double zip opening at around $18. (Opposite Blue dot 7, in the corner, is a shop selling similar zip for $8).
Another impressive shop for fastenings. Tak Tai Cheung. Blue dot 38 on the new 2020 map. They had YKK zips in an array of colours and sizes. They have wide velcro in stock if anybody is looking for some.
I have found out recently they had moved further down the road. G/F, No. 162 Nam Cheong Street is their new address. This is beyond Green dot 6.
Situated close to Red dot 3 on Yu Chau Street. Haberdashery and button store.
Update: May 2018, This shop has closed down, but replaced by a pop up shop selling random haberdashery, sewing equipment and tools.
A small selection of random buttons can be found in Ki Lung Street fabric market. Not much choice on the day I arrived but the stock changes everyday/week.
Orange dot: Sewing Schools for Specialised Sewing and Pattern Cutting Equipment
Norray Enterprise
Click on images to enlarge
Norray Enterprise, Orange dot 1, is the place to be for buying mannequins, pattern cutting equipment, grading machines, sewing equipment. They also have videos on CD where you learn to use their equipment to pattern cut. Only problem is, it’s all in mandarin and the quality is quite bad. Looks very old and made in the 80s. The lady there was very helpful. They have mannequins made for the Japanese market as well as K&L which we use in some colleges in the U.K.
If you want to purchase a pattern notcher, I’ll suggest you to buy it in Aplui Street. You might have to search for it though. Ok it might not be the best quality but it’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg. It does its job. You can buy a 1/2 scale mannequin at around £35. UK will cost you around £150 to £399 depending where you buy it from! They also have sewing lessons. The only problem is, the description is all in Chinese. Pattern paper in Hong Kong is not like the Dot & Cross or even the plain type we are used to in the West. It is thin, almost like tissue paper. One side smoother than the other. It’s about $12 for quite a few sheets. This paper is slightly off white than the paper from UPD, which is just across the road.
United Pattern Design
United Pattern Design, Orange dot 2, I think is the second best place to buy sewing and pattern cutting equipment. Not as extensive as the latter but they stock the usual basic supplies. This is more of a sewing school with a little shop on the side. Their pattern paper is a little whiter than Norray Enterprise. There’s a few books here which you can easily purchase on Amazon, like Pattern Magic. If you want to learn to make a Qipao the traditional way, you can purchase a DVD but only available in Mandarin, the video quality is good. This will cost you around £80. I haven’t seen this in any other book shops in Hong Kong. They also sell boning in 8mm wide in black, and white at around $7/m.
Click on images to enlarge
If you are interested in making a Qipao/Cheong Sam using the traditional Shanghainese methods, then you can go on one of their courses which is taught by Master Yan. 80 something Shanghainease master whose been making qipaos since the age of 15. The other courses are taught by other artisans which are hired in. Otherwise it’s Mr So or Maggie. Both speak a little English. The courses are in Cantonese but you could enquire about English availability. You can purchase Tang Rulers here. This ruler uses the old Chinese measurements before everything got unified and Westernised. This ruler is used for making Qipaos using the traditional methods. The old traditional masters these days still use the old method of measurement. You can also get this type of ruler in some outdoor markets along Fa Yuen Street or Aplui Street. Some mothers still buy these as a gift to her daughters when they get married. They come in plastic and the ruler is 3-4mm thick and the markings are thick so not that accurate. UPD have a metal ones available. They also sell fabric, but this is in small quantities imported from Japan.
Another course I recommend is Chinese Coiled Button Making. There are a few of these courses dotted about in Hong Kong but I’ve seen some really impressive results at this place. Highly recommended. Chinese Coiled Buttons.
Checkout their Facebook Page: United Pattern Design or website for more info.
Master Yan has a shop located in Jordan. Due to his age, he may not take too many orders now. Master Yan does not speak English, but I am sure with a few pictures and measurements taken, he’ll have no trouble making what you want. I believe he does have a few successful apprentices (Don’t take my word for it!). There is a young master located in Sham Shui Po, on Ki Lung Street. His name is Henry Tsang. Opposite Pink dot 7. TenOneTenThree. I have seen him pictured with Master Yan in several occasions. He too specialises in making Qipaos. I have seen a lot of his work and the pieces a more modern and youthful compared to the old Shanghainese masters.
If you do pop to Sham Shui Po and look for the Qipao shop, you won’t miss it because it is a small fancy boutique looking slightly out of place!
SILVER-IN FASHION AGENCY
Silver-In. Orange dot 3. Not exactly a Fashion School but they do some kind fashion courses as well as services. If you want a custom made dress or professional samples made, patterns created or digital printing they seem to be the people to get in touch with. I haven’t used them before so I can’t say what their service is like. I tried to get more info via their website but it looked very basic, so I am not sure what to make of it. Anybody out there know much about this place? Let me know.
PAK KO GARMENT EQUIPMENT CO, LIMITED
Blue dot 37 on the new 2020 map .
The address is: G/F 129 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong.
Another great place to pick up garment production equipment. Most of the equipment is very specialised, for example the steam irons are very industrial, heavy and take up a lot of space. I have resisted going in because I could easily spend hours in there and buy a lot of equipment that I don’t need but I just want!
WEALTH TOWN
Located in the Kowloon Bay area, this place is great if you are looking for huge industrial machinery for the clothing manufacturing industry. Anything from large cutting tables to machinery can be found here. They have a good range of mannequins that are standard USA sizes.
Wealth Town, Units D, G and F of New Trend Centre. 104 King Fun Street. San Po Kong.
Check out part 4 for craft shops in Sham Shui Po. Otherwise just check out my A-Z Guide to Sewing & Crafts Hong Kong, where I list my interesting finds in alphabetical order. Maybe you’ve been looking for a certain item and never knew where to get it.
See you there!
Shan x