Since I am not working yet I've been finding things to do to keep me busy and constructive. I've been working out (I'm currently doing the Insanity workout), digital scrap booking and paper scrap booking, and I am learning how to make a quilt on the sewing machine. These are all things I never have time to do when I'm working, so it's nice to have the time to do them now.
On a hunt one day for craft supplies we went looking for several places. We came up with two very decent art supply stores and one sewing machine/supply store. Before I tell you about these places I must explain this one thing. There are no addresses here; only P.O. boxes. When you receive directions here it is something like this: take this road and make left at the traffic light and turn left at this roundabout etc. When trying to find a specific store landmarks are the best (and maybe only) way to find what you are looking for. I usually call the store (if I can find a phone number on the internet) and ask them what is around them and if there are any specific landmarks.
Back to the art/craft supply stores that we found. Al Rawnaq has several locations but the one that I like the most is behind Souq Waqif on Ahmed bin Ali Street. It's tucked back in a corner on a street full of other stores that is always busy with traffic and it is usually difficult to find a parking spot. There are two levels to this store. There are a lot of hair items such as barretts, headbands and clips etc. There are scarves and ribbons and feathers as well and a minimal amount of fabrics, some local perfumes, and an array of buttons. There is also a section for knitting, and sewing. They have some basic sewing machine tools/accessories. You can get a little bit of a lot of different things here. 
The next store we found was Jarir Bookstore next to the Ramada signal. Yes it's a bookstore but it has a good supply of crafts as well. It kind of reminded us of Best Buy (a store in the US). It has a small section of movies, another of books (not many American book titles), another section of electronics, another section of crafts. The craft section has a great selection of projects such as mosaic tile designs, molding clay, tie die, drawing materials, water colors, scrapbooks etc. A great store for crafts, whoever not that great for books.
Next we went to a sewing shop call Singer. This store is located near Doha City (the store) on Al Muthaf St near the Al Mirqab roundabout. What a great store. They have basic sewing machine supplies and tools and a few models of sewing machines (mostly Singer but also some other brands). The men there are really helpful and they are happy to show you how to do something on the sewing machine if you ask. They have some antique sewing machines in the window dating all the way back to the 1800s. This is a pretty nice little sewing shop.
In the US scrap booking is really popular and there are many stores dedicated just to this. Here in Qatar that is not the case. The first two stores have some supplies but not everything you need to scrapbook. My advice is that you order it online (this goes for American book titles as well as there is a limited supply here).
If you are new to Doha and are looking for crafts/sewing supplies, hopefully this helps.
Thank you! I will be moving to Doha and can't bring my new sewing machine but was going to bring material for quilts. Hopefully I can buy a used sewing machine. I also make mosaics and it sounds as if I might be able to get some materials for those at Jarir.
ReplyDeleteYou can get a new and affordable sewing machine at the Carefor grocery store. Plus there are a ton of fabric souqs here so you'll have plenty to choose from.I would say any other special tools that you like to use for sewing may be hard to find and you should bring those. Al Rawnaq is located down the street a few buildings past the fabric souq. It has some sewing utensils on the second floor such as zippers, chalk etc.
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