Shopping overload - Walthamstow

Becky, Imogen and me went to Walthamstow High Street to get some fabric. As it is always the case with me, I only need one or two pieces but end up with a thousand more. Today wasn't any different.

We met in Jesse's Cafe ("A" on the map) for tea and coffee. It felt like one of those 1950's diner in the US with more than reasonable prices. I also had an omelet with cheese which was a good start for the shopping spree.

The first shop we discovered was Hussain Fabrics ("B" on the map) which is next to Jesse's Cafe. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. There were no prices shown but the fabric Imogen bought came at £2 per metre.

Sai fabric was the second spot, prices were shown and came between £1 and £3 per metre. The fabric itself was a little bit more of the stuff I usually buy so I ended up with one dark red piece for my dress making class next weekend. And of course I bought another piece, a really nice white piece with embroidered blue and black flowers. There was a huge sale sign on the door, the only one I saw on Walthamstow High Street.

Right across the street is New Fabric ("C" on the map) were prices were also shown and similar to the ones in Sai fabric, maybe a little bit higher. I ended up with some white hummingbird fabric which (hopefully) will turn into a long summer dress one day. I also bought a white(ish), transparent piece with small pink dots. I planned to make a half circle skirt of this one but there was only 1.5 metre left so I don't really know yet what to do with it.

The forth shop we went into is called Fabric store ("D" on the map). Prices were shown and between 50p and £5. I've seen a pile with fabric remnants and had to buy this white jersey stretch with black and blue pattern, perfect for my first t-shirt! It's roughly 1 metre and was £2.

There is a quite new haberdashery shop with all kind of zippers, buttons, ribbons, thread, tape bias, beads and everything else you probably need when finishing a project. Prices were not really shown, and we didn't buy anything.

The last shop we went into was Saeed Fabrics which had a very nice vanilla smell. The fabric was, as far as I could see and feel, a better quality and therefore prices were a little bit higher but still reasonable. Prices were shown for some fabric, but I didn't buy anything and hence cannot say much to the fabric without prices.

Imogen had to leave for her appointment, a dressmaking class in Fulham. Becky and me went on but felt a little overload. There were some stalls selling more fabric and haberdashery, to be honest I didn't really pay much attention and once again, prices were not shown.

In short: A lot of different fabric shops with cheap to reasonable prices. Not nice when you already have a huge Ikea bag full of fabric and no time to sew, you'll end up with too much stuff! If you happen to just start your dressmaking and need some fabric (or the odd case in which you have used all of your fabric), that's the place to be: A lot of shops and stalls with amazing fabric.

You should be able to click on the map to view it bigger