Where to buy exercise fabric – a global list

One of my most frequently asked questions is definitely “where can I buy fabric for yoga/running/exercise/etc?”, so I thought it’s high time I make an attempt at something like a global list.

In general, though, the word you should be searching for is “Supplex”. This is a brand name, though, like Lycra (whose generic term is “spandex”), but the generic alternative is something like “wicking spandex”, and generally isn’t used as often as “Supplex” in fabric stores, I’ve found.

If you can buy supplex at a decent price, buy it. It’s soft, has great recovery, wicks away moisture while you’re sweating, and stands up to washing without a ton of pilling. It can be hard to find though, and sometimes only comes in a limited amount of colours, but I wouldn’t hesitate to run a marathon in supplex – it’s great stuff.

If you’re running shorter distances, or in cooler weather, you can get away with exercising in any number of lycra/spandex jerseys, though. These won’t wick sweat away, but they come in a gazillion colours and prints, plus have a multitude of foil and sequin effects, and can be way cheaper, too. Ditto goes for swimsuit fabrics – you can certainly use them for shorter exercise sessions even though they’re not wicking. Personally, I wouldn’t mind running a half marathon on a cool day in lycra leggings, but your mileage may vary (pun intended!).

You can read loads more about the different types of activewear fabrics on offer plus what to look out for in this article I wrote for Seamwork magazine.

UK

 

• Funki Fabrics – Their Flexcite base fabric isn’t wicking, but an unbelievable amount of digitally printed lycras that are suitable for swimming and activewear. They also stock supplex in black and white only (good quality, but twice the price of Tissu). I’d also recommend their “matte” Flexcite in solid colours for exercise, too. Update: They’ve since released their Titan activewear-specific performance base which I’ve personally tested (and run a marathon in!), so you can choose to print onto Flexcite, Titan, or a new recycled polyester base (which feels very similar to the Flexcite). I’d also recommend their fleece-backed Thermo fabrics (currently in solids only) for cold weather exercise.
• Tia Knight aka “In Fashion Fabrics” aka “Tissu” – Supplex in a limited range of colours, but by far the cheapest in the UK and also stock power mesh in a dizzying array of colours for adding colourful support to your workout tops
• Contrado (aka “Bags of Love”) – These guys will digitally print onto just about anything. They’ve got a crazy 98 different base fabrics including quite a few activewear specific ones, like an “Air Flow” Dri-Fit-a-like, “G-Mesh” (think basketball shorts), softshell jersey (for making jackets and outerwear), like four different types of matte lycra including a “Heavy lycra matte” I’m very keen to try, power mesh(!!), and even a breathable waterproof fabric!
• Fashion Formula – A London-based digital printing company with a wide range of prints to choose from – or you can upload your own. I can vouch for the “Active Lycra” base – it has great stretch and recovery in both directions, plus doesn’t have the “white show through” problem others have had with dark colours. They also have a new base suitable for swimwear or activewear that uses recycled polyester, too! Several recycled base fabrics are now available and the activewear selections are growing all the time.
• UK Fabrics – Scruffy Badger has used their “Mock Eyelet” for running gear and recommends it! I also love their 2oz nylon and athletic mesh for Threshold Shorts, and their “high quality nylon lycra” for the rest of my patterns which require high stretch.
• Sewing Chest – stock a wide variety of power net/mesh which I use to line and give support to sports bras. I also love their Athletic mesh for my Threshold Shorts patterns, and they’ve often got great offcuts in the Sportswear fabric pieces section.
• Point North and Pennine Outdoor both sell all kinds of technical fabrics and haberdashery including softshell, wicking waterproofs, reflective piping and tape etc. Good prices on both. I have also bought technical fabric from UK Fabrics Online but their stock levels are variable. (thanks, Joanna!)
• Guthrie & Ghani Guthrie & Ghani have recently added some activewear fabrics to their lineup of great casualwear options. Also checkout their sweatshirtings and ribbings, which I’ve also used in the past.
• MacCulloch & Wallis The famous London fabric and haberdashery stalwart has finally begun stocking activewear fabrics, and their “performance jersey” in particular is exactly what you’d find in high-end activewear. They also stock a wide range of reflective bits and specialty zips (though beware of fibre content as not everything in this section I’d consider suitable for sweating in)
• Sew Me Sunshine – stocking a small but high quality range of solid and heathered supplex jerseys
• Hello Reflectives – This shop stocks only reflective fabrics – everything from the all-over reflective material seen in high-end sports jackets, to stretch fabrics with reflective prints, to reflective trims. This is the first place I’ve ever seen that has STRETCH reflective piping, too!
• Frumble – The shop owner is an active sewist herself and she stocks a good range of quality activewear fabric prints as well as a wide range of interesting elastics and trims, too
• Minerva Crafts – The activewear fabric section is growing by the day with a wide variety of prints on offer. Lots of budget-friendly options though read the descriptions carefully.
• Textile Express The cheapest selection of high quality bamboo jersey I’ve found in the UK in a variety of muted, earth tone colours.
• Discovery Knitting The only UK-milled merino wool jerseys that I’ve found. Only available in select colours (mostly black/natural) but in a variety of weights though read descriptions carefully as many are mixed with cotton.
• Fab Works Mills Their Italian Matte Lycra (IML) has gained a cult following amounts activewear sewists in the UK. Once stocks are replenished, grab the colours you’re after because they sell out of the darker colours very fast.
• Wattle & Slate Seems to be a fairly new and small company, they do the round-based pre-order thing with very limited retail. They have swim, athletic knit, and stretch woven among their bases. thanks, Mona!
• 42 Custom Fabric has an extensive back catalogue of print motifs that are on permanent pre-order, i.e. you can order them whenever you like, it just takes ages 😉 They have Athletic Lycra, Boardshort, and Swim Lycra among their bases, prices are £15-16 per metre. They also do pre-order rounds but as I understand it everything eventually ends up in the back catalogue. thanks, Mona!

Know any more UK shops? Tell me in the comments!

Europe

• Shelby (Finland) are an outdoor company, but stock several wicking base layer materials that are suitable for exercise
• Extreme Texil (Germany) “He has quite a few of the Swiss Eschler fabrics that are great for running, cycling etc. I have ordered from there numerous times and am completely satisfied.” (thanks, Vick!) I’ve since bee to their Berlin shop and can vouch for the incredible array of active and outdoor fabrics that they stock. The staff are hugely knowledgable so feel free to ask them questions, too.
• Aktivstoffe – I would add Aktivstoffe.de in Germany/Switzerland/Austria (they also sell on Amazon and as Activefabrics.co.uk for the UK). There’s plenty of tougher outdoor fabrics and microfleece but their COOLMAX® LIGHT is a great lighter t-shirt/hiking shirt option and their COOLMAX® Light Feinstruktur is perfect for stretchy workout tops … I wish they did better colours, but a grey base is perfect for any contrast lycra you want to throw at it. They also dispatched the very next morning before 9 a.m. (I ordered at 1 a.m. during a desperate late-night fabric hunt) and it was with me the next day. thanks, Christine!
• Les Tissus du Chien Vert (Belgium) – Mostly stocks casualwear and home dec fabrics, but also has swimsuit lycras and the largest selection of windbreaker fabrics I’ve ever seen.
• Stoff & stil (Denmark) – A good selection of wicking lycras in black, neon coral, and a few prints plus some sport wovens for running jackets and full waterproof fabrics, too. (thanks, Johanna!)
• Spoonflower (US/Germany) – While Spoonflower is a US-based company, they opened up a printing facility in Berlin in late 2015, which means that orders to European addresses will automatically be shipped from Berlin, which has cut down on the shipping time and customs charges considerably! Try their Active Lycra base fabric, which performed wonderfully in my 6hr ultramarathon in June 2016, but there’s a fair amount of white show-through for the darker colours when stretched, so get samples before committing.
• Dress Fabrics (Ireland) – They’ve been around for ages but have just started stocking activewear fabrics, currently some gorgeous printed softshell fabrics and a handful of print and solid lycras
• Stoff-BS (Germany) In addition to some shiny dancewear fabrics, this shop has got a ton of “superwarm” lycras for cold weather exercising and a selection of matt fabrics, too (thanks, Eve!)
• Active Fabrics (Germany) A great selection of outdoor fabrics like Cordura and CoolMax and they also have the largest range and variety of specialty outdoor softshell fleeces I’ve come across. (Despite the UK URL, they are based in Germany and all orders are sent from there)
• Fabric Romance (Ireland) A small selection of high quality activewear and swimwear fabrics, including several recycled fabrics. Also several merino jerseys in attractive colours.
• Myllymuksut (Finland) A great source for merino wool jerseys in a variety of colours, weights, and prints
• JerseyFashion (Netherlands) A great, affordable source of bamboo jersey in a variety of colours.
• Stoff Handel (Germany) there is some nice mesh, but the most interesting is the solid colour “Sportstoff” – it is 88% PL,12% EL, and surprisingly stretchy with really good recovery! And it is nice and dense, about 280gsm. Also decently priced at 14 €. thanks, Mona!
• Stoff Kontor (Germany) annoyingly hidden in their general knit fabric category (I don’t even remember how I found it in the first place, there’s nothing in the menu that suggests they have athletic fabric), this is a brilliant fabric with an interesting metallic shimmer. 80% Polyamid, 20% Elasthan, it is only 200gsm, but sufficiently thick for leggings. And it is very affordable at only 9 €! thanks, Mona!
• Stoffolino (Germany) this might even be the same as the one at Stoff-Handel, or very close (in my opinion the colours are slightly different). It is 280gsm, 88% Polyester 12% Elasthan, and sells for 13 €. thanks, Mona!
• Elvis Needle (Germany) yet another version of 88% Polyester, 12% Elasthan, 280gsm, and only 12 € here, but they don’t always have all the colours, and don’t ship to all European countries. thanks, Mona!
• Bubu Fabrics (Slovakia) this company is based in Slovakia and their web shop is in several European languages. We have seen this fabric before 😉 88%PES+12%EL, 280gsm, and it’s only 10 € here. (That’s as cheap as it gets for this one.) thanks, Mona!
• Ma Petite Mercerie (France) this French shop has an English website, and they have loads of swim fabrics there, but some that are quite nice for activewear, too. Unfortunately, not cheap at all, prices are listed for 10 cm (this means, of course, you can order in 10 cm increments). I’ve used this one thanks, Mona!
• Wunderland der Stoffe (Germany) some here are just plain swim lycra, but they often have some good quality fabric for leggings at 220 and 260gsm, unfortunately in a very limited colour choice, and the listed price is per half metre, so a full metre of the thicker fabric is a whopping 18 €. thanks, Mona!
• Sewy (Germany) this is a lingerie shop but they have the biggest selection of power net I’ve ever seen, and it’s the only shop I know that describes power net in 5 strength categories. They also have a very small selection of athletic fabric, but it is a bit thinner than the others I’ve listed here, under 200gsm, and indecently expensive at 24 € thanks, Mona!
• Wien 2002 (Austria) this is another lingerie shop which has a random but interesting selection of microfibre fabrics that are lovely for low-impact exercise, yoga wear, and some are even useful for leggings, but unfortunately they don’t list fabric weight (the owner is super helpful, though, so you could always ask). Please note that you have to click into the subcategories to see all that is there, i.e. within the solid colour category there are various colour categories and you have to click into each one to see what is there. Prices are very fair, usually under 10 €, and often significantly so. I buy all my lingerie supplies from this shop and often throw in a few fabrics for yoga wear, too. thanks, Mona!
• Stoff Miele (Germany) again this is mostly swim fabric, but the “Lycra Gym Quality” is really good for leggings, 80% Polyamid, 20% Elasthan, 260gsm, unfortunately it is only available in one colour (silvery grey) and it’s 17 €. thanks, Mona!
• Sport Stoffe Boutique (Germany) a shop that seems to cater to dancewear sewists, most of their fabrics are fairly thin, good selection of colours, though, and this glittery 80%Polyamid, Elasthan20% is 280gsm and makes fun colourblocking panels for leggings. The only downside, it’s 25 €. thanks, Mona!
• Fun Fabric (Germany) which has a nice but well-curated selection of athletic knits, including mesh (very good value for money) and reflector fabric (expensive but fun). They don’t list the fabric weight, but their customer service is very responsive. thanks, Mona!

Know any more European shops? Tell me in the comments!

Asia

• Big and Brave Fabrics (Singapore) – They’ve got a ton of really great activewear fabrics, are keen to promote them on social media, and ship internationally.
• Bloomingdale’s in the Shangri-La Mall, Manila (Philipines) – “the only place I know of in Manila to get exercisewear fabric. The daughter of the owner is a tri-athlete so this is her special project.” (thanks, Karen!)

Know any more Asian shops? Tell me in the comments!

Canada

• Discovery Fabrics These guys stock a huge array of active and outdoor fabrics, and Dawn has been singing their praises for her running gear for a while now!
• Suzi Spandex stock the KING of all supplexes, which they mill themselves, called “Suziplex”. I cannot stress enough how awesome this stuff is! You need to order over the phone (or buy in personal from their Montreal warehouse), but no matter how much you buy you will wish you bought more. Update: The Suziplex mill burnt down, and it’s been discontinued forever!! They still stock a staggering array of regular lycra/spandex prints for the dance and skating communities, though.
• Peak Fabrics – Supplex in some great non-traditional “sporty” colours
• Ann’s Fabrics “A great store that you should add to the list is Ann’s Fabrics in Hamilton, Ontario (even though their website looks like all they sell is sparkly spandex for dance/skating costumes). They will be upgrading their site this month.” Thanks, Lynda!
• Fabrics Etc – They’re the only retail stockists I know for Chitosante, an athletic fabric with a similar hand to supplex that is made from prawn-shells! I’ve personally run in some of this and it’s really nice. They also stock merino wool jerseys, too.

Know any more Canadian shops? Tell me in the comments!

Space-dyed supplex from Eclipse Textiles (wholesaler)

Australia & New Zealand

• The Fabric Store These guys have the best range of merino jersey colours I’ve seen anywhere in the world. They ship internationally and I can personally vouch for the quality of the fabric and how well it holds up to winter running (and frequent laundering). They’ve also got physical stores in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Los Angeles, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne.
• Sew Active Fabrics A new store set up by an avid sewist stocking a huge range of technical sports fabrics with a large amount of prints, too.
• Stretchtex – “manufacturer that sells non wholesale direct in whole metres only with email/phone calls – their bottom weight wicking “titanium” fabric is awesome for running shorts/leggings. They also have compression fabric, and chlorine resistant swimwear fabric all of which I find very good.” (thanks, Kbenco!)
• Zebra Fabrics – They stock a few of the amazing space-dyed Eclipse supplex colourways, plus a basic black supplex, too
• Metro Fabrics – Metro Fabrics in Sydney (Princess Highway, Tempe, opposite IKEA) has a fantastic range of stretch fabrics, including Supplex (albiet in limited colours) and quite a lot of fancy printed lycra. Lots of elastics and closures and tons of corset-making notions too. Excellent prices as well!! (thanks, Laura!)
• Stretch Fabrics (NZ) “They have a heavyweight one that they can order in in black, plus 240gsm black and very black (very black has black lycra). They sometimes have other colours. They also do a good range of swimwear grade nylon-lycra. including prints.” Thanks, Lyndle!
• Boo Designs Lots of premium UV-protected swimwear fabrics in a range of prints and colours. Thanks, Christine!
• Missy Rose I’ve bought some custom printed Sport Lycra from Missy Rose fabrics and love it – wicks sweat away well, easier to sew than ordinary lycra. Mostly it’s done via pre-order at https://missyrose-preorder.com.au/ but she does also sometimes have some in stock at her other site https://missyrose.com.au (thanks, Mel!)
• Wicked Fabrics In Australia, Wicked Fabrics has a small selection of Supplex and power mesh thanks, 36berkeley!
• Nellie Joans (NZ) sell supplex and a few other appropriate activewear fabrics thanks, Hannah!

Know any more Antipodean shops? Tell me in the comments!

United States

I only knew one or two places to buy exercise fabrics in America (since the shipping is extortionate to the UK, I can’t buy from there anymore), so I asked Kathy for help. oh em gee – she sent me back this embarrassingly long list of suppliers, which totally puts the rest of my list to shame!  Comments in italics are hers.

• Rose City Textiles aka “Fabricline” – Click on “wickaway knits” (see Katherine’s post for details of a ton of fabrics bought there)
• The Rainshed – Lots of wicking stretch fabrics, fleeces, and shell fabrics here, including a huge variety of reflective fabrics!
• Imagine Gnats – A small shop run by an avid cyclist and running specialising in knit fabrics with a growing Athletic Fabric section. I can vouch for the great quality of their (non-wicking) nylon/lycras and the terry-backed wickaway lycras, which are great for cold weather exercise and similar to Suziplex or Funki Fabrics Thermo.
• Spandex House – Supplex in a surprisingly wide array of solid colours
• Spandex World – They are much like Spandex House, are in NYC also, and have a brick and mortar store, too. They have supplex and a fantastic selection of spandex… duh!
• Fashion Fabrics Club – Watch out because they put a lot of non-supplex regular knits into the “Activewear & Swimwear” category – look at the fabric content and go for the ones specifically marked “Activewear”. (they also go by Denver Fabrics (I don’t know why?! It’s the exact same company.)
• Fabric Mart (They have a brick and mortar store in PA as well) I’ve gotten all of my supplex here, along with other activewear materials. They buy out fabrics from manufacturers so the selection varies from week to week, even day to day.
• Fabric.com – Mega online shop for fabrics. Folks in the US usually are generally well-acquainted with this site. It’s a bit difficult to find all the different varieties of activewear on the site, but search for “wicking” or “activewear” to get started.
• The Fabric Fairy – I got swimwear fabric here, but I also used it for running clothes because it’s nylon/spandex
• Girl Charlee – These guys are the sweetheart of the US blogosphere these days. They sell ALL knits. I got swimwear stuff here, plus I of course use it for running clothes!
• Fabric Depot – A great source for activewear and lingerie materials
• Sew Sassy – A source for really basic colors of material activewear/swimwear. (They do lingerie stuff, too) including power mesh for lining and supporting sports bras!
• Michael Levine – They have a brick and mortar store in Los Angeles. There’s a few headings here with several activewear related fabrics: athletic mesh and of course lames!
• Spandex By Yard – I JUST found these guys, so I don’t know much. They look to be an ideal place to shop for activewear material… I saw a heading for moisture wicking fabrics!
• Designer Alley Fabrics Also just learned about them, they look to be another hot source! And they list supplex!
• Seattle Fabrics</> – “They have several different types of athletic and outdoor clothing fabrics including wicking fabrics and Gortex.” (thank you Norma!)
• Spoonflower now print onto a Sport Lycra base which has two way stretch and great recovery (note that their Performance Knit and Performance Piques bases have very little vertical stretch so are largely unsuitable for 4 way stretch patterns without adjustments). Beware that in my experience, the Sports Lycra has a lot of white showing through when stretched near to its max, so keep that in mind when looking at dark prints with compression-style garments.
• Rocky Woods I know you have a pile of US shops… but I keep forgetting to add this one. They have technical fabrics & outwear material plus patterns. They even sell Under Armour heat/coldgear, too. They are in Colorado are are geared towards the outdoor enthusiast.
• Pinecrest Fabrics – They supply several of the companies mentioned above with their prints.
• Green Pepper They not only have a fabulous selection of patterns for every outdoor sport, but also have fabrics and notions available online. Great customer service too! (thanks, Megan!)
• Zenith & Quasar – Tons of activewear fabrics including supplexes at two price points, the wonderful spaced-dyed Eclipse supplex and some reflective-print activewear knits! (Thanks, Sarah!)
• GreenStyle Creations Stock a good amount of activewear-focused fabrics with a variety of prints and solids
• Sew Dynamic This shop is entirely about recycled activewear fabrics and reducing microplastics. Most fabrics are black solids but the owner commissions custom prints onto a recycled activewear base several times a year. I’ve personally sewn one of these prints and then rode 100 miles in it and I was very impressed with the quality while sewing and wearing on the bike.
• The Styled Magnolia This shop offers a good variety of prints which can be printed onto an activewear brushed polyester base, or an SPF swimwear base (as well as others). They seem to operate on both a pre-order basis and periodic print-on-demand basis, too.
• Fancy Tiger Crafts – their jersey selection is mostly geared towards casualwear, but they do stock a fairly wide variety of bamboo jerseys which are perfect for looser yoga styles (like my Knot-Maste Yoga Set pattern)
• Etsy and eBay – Sellers do sell supplex here along with other activewear fabrics. Just plug in ‘supplex’ to search. I’ve never ordered activewear from either site so I can’t recommend any particular seller.

If you’re looking to buy cycling chamois pads (aka “butt pillows”) or silicone elastic for hems, I’ve got a separate list of suppliers in this post!

And if you want some inspiration of your own, why not have a look back through some of the exercise gear I’ve sewn for suggestions on patterns, finishing techniques, and even ways to refashion old race shirts?

Oh, and I launched a running site yesterday! Have a read through RiverRunner.co.uk!