CLOTH Dublin is a fabric shop filled with a beautiful assortment of textiles and notions for both apparel and interiors. The fabric store was established in Limerick City in 2010, relocating to Dublin in 2012. The shop is run by a friendly mother-and-daughter team, Deirdre Noonan and Sinéad Martin, who have selected a wonderful range of natural fabrics that include Irish organic linen, Irish wool tweed, Irish lace, Liberty Of London cottons and silks, and brands Mulberry, Pierre Frey, and William Morris.

Cloth Dublin is located in the Westbury Mall, a pedestrian shopping arcade that was a former convent school. The mall is part of the Westbury Hotel and is home to ten specialist shops, eight of which are owned by women. Every shop sells high quality goods such as cashmere clothing, leather gloves, perfume, underwear, jewellery, Irish linen clothing. They all produce at least one if not all of the products they sell.

"A treasure trove of French ribbons & laces, silk velvets, Italian cashmere and a beautiful range of silky soft European printed cottons for apparel and quilting."

When was CLOTH Dublin founded? In 2010 at the height of the last Irish recession. It was a good opportunity for small shops to get established when rents were more reasonable. Our shop was a welcome contrast to the shops of The Celtic Tiger era selling disposable products.

What makes CLOTH Dublin so unique? We are different to other Irish fabric shops because we only stock natural fabrics. We have a reputation for being fussy buyers for the shop and we curate only the best quality of stock. It’s also unusual in Ireland to find functional cottons such as different weight denims along-side the most impressive silks. Cloth is also the only fabric shop in Ireland where you can buy Irish linen, Irish wool and Irish lace by the metre.

What makes our shop interesting is that you could be coming in on a mission for some haberdashery and get distracted by an exquisite hanging of interior fabric

We feel like our shop is a bit of old Dublin. Although we are a relatively new shop our practices are very similar to what you would have found 50 years ago. It has the atmosphere of an old shop where regulars meet each other. If you are lucky enough you might spot a master tailor at work fitting a tweed suit. Or a costume designer finalising bulk orders. Our large cutting table and big shears and dress patterns also create nostalgia.

"Our fabrics will encourage you to sew again. Our customers, even beginners, have a great success rate with our fabrics, for clothing and interiors. The high quality makes them easy to work with and they stay looking fresh even after lots of wear and washing."

Is there a story behind the shop name? We wanted a simple name that described what we do. We see ourselves as a functional shop and thought Cloth said it all. We also wanted to include our city. Every city has at least one good fabric shop you have to visit when you abroad. We envisioned people using our Cloth Dublin tote bags in different cities as souvenirs of Dublin.

What are your best-selling products? Our Irish linen without a doubt is our best-selling product. The quality and colours are just beautiful. There is no other linen like it in the world. The mid weight is made specifically for tailoring men’s suits and the light weight is for shirts which gives an impression of the nature of them but they also make beautiful table cloths and light curtains. Embroiderers love the mid weight one because of its even weave. But the relaxed stone washed weight seems to be the new favourite with our customers.

What inspired you or why did you open CLOTH Dublin? The reason we opened was because it was getting harder and harder to get natural good quality fabrics for clothing and more unusual or exciting interior fabrics. Fabric shops in Ireland had become primarily filled with polyester and inferior cottons in gaudy colours. We wanted to open a shop to inspire people to sew again. We were fed up with fast fashion and thought it was time to get back to basics.

What did you do before you opened CLOTH Dublin? Deirdre from when she was a punk art student in London always made her own clothes. After her post grad in Film at Saint Martins she worked in television for 25 years. Sinead had just done four years of Fashion Design at the limerick college of art. Sinead was only 22 when she helped her mum open the shop.

What are your favourite local independent businesses?

• Susan Hunter Lingerie

• Madigan Cashmere

• STABLE of Ireland

• The Garden

• Mo Muse

• Lenehans Hardware

• Isaac Shoe Repairs

What are your favourite shops?

• Toast

• Hay

"We think people crave personal interaction, the shop-keepers expertise, customer service and the physical environment of the bricks and mortar shop. Although websites are useful for gathering information they will never compete with the tactile experience that is so important especially when buying anything from cups, clothing, books.

People are less likely to return or throw away a purchase bought in a shop and as people are getting more conscious of waste this will be taken into consideration.

We also think there is a need for more small specialist shops and far less fast fashion chain stores."