Goldhawk Road fabric shopping

A good dozen or so of us went fabric shopping today on Goldhawk Road in Shepherds Bush.  And a lot of shopping was being done!  There seemed to be almost too much fabric to make an informed choice - there certainly are a lot of shops.

We went to the Bush Theatre cafe/bar afterwards - such a welcome chance to rest our weary feet.  It also offered the wonderful opportunity to see and admire what we all bought.

There were such lovely fabrics and trims on show that a few of us started to seriously consider going back and buying more!

I'm glad to say that I didn't, but I'm also a little embarrassed to say that I bought more than the two fabrics I wanted. Now we all knew this would happen, right?

My one comfort is the thought that I have projects in mind for each of them.  Which made me think that a blog post would be great about what we are all hoping to make with our purchases today.

Here go mine, please feel free to add your project plans in the comments, or send me an email so I can send you your invite to contribute directly to the blog (we are hoping that all LDC members want to contribute, either via posts or in the comments)

At A One Fabrics I bought a dark blue wool - I am hoping to make this a straight skirt for winter.  If I make it soon I should be able to decide if I want a jacket in this, so I can go back and buy more.  Right now I only have one metre because it was rather expensive.  I really wanted a thicker fabric for a skirt, this was one of the planned purchases.

I also got a blue on blue batik fabric in the same shop for a sleeveless summer top.

The second fabric I wanted was a mid grey to make a bias cut top to go under a see-through lacey blouse. Success!  Two metre for £2 each, bargain!

I liked this fabric so much that I also got another two metres in a purple - maybe a cowl neck sleeveless top?

The same place also had a loosely woven cotton or linen in a light pink.  The exact shade I was after to make some bunting with that I wanted to make for some time.  I just need a bit of grey and navy fabric and I'll be good to go!

And finally I couldn't resist a black and white linen to make a second tunic out of.  I bought a very similar linen fabric in a big floral pattern from the same place some time ago and regretted not having bought more: this is just so lovely to wear!

Funnily enough Emma happened to buy the same fabric - it'll be really good fun to see what we each make with it.

What did you buy, either on our shopping trip or elsewhere - and what are you hoping to make?  It would be lovely if you add your ideas and plans in the comments, or put them up in a seperate blog post.  Just send me your email address and I'll send through the invite so you can post directly.

Oops ... I did it again

Fabric shopping, that is. Good thing though, I could stick to my plan and only bought what I needed, plain polycotton and a little bit of interfacing.

And I didn't want to hold back on the little gem I found. I wanted to go there since I moved to my (still) new flat, but never really came around it. It's located in something called "Market Hall" within the Wood Green Shopping Centre. (For anyone who doesn't know where to find it, it's between Primark and New Look, and here's a map.) It can be quite tricky to find these two units but it's definitely worth having a look.

The shop contains of two stalls, one for fabric and one is mainly for haberdashery. When I was there, I was greeted with an excuse of how messy the fabric shop looks, although I found it didn't look too bad. I had to stick to my plan and only buy the things I wanted, so I didn't really have a look around. The polycotton and interfacing I bought were reasonably priced. I saw most price tags on the haberdashery side of the shop, which might be because the fabric part is still quite new.

To sum up: I definitely have to go back for fabric shopping, I saw at least 6 patterned fabrics which I need to have! And it's quite convenient to have a decent haberdashery shop on your doorstep.

NB: Here's a link to their website which, in my view, doesn't do justice to the actual shop.

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

More Fabric Buying Temptation

Way back in June 2013 London Dressmakers Club member Colleen 47 posted a comment in the Discussions section of our Meetup site about Woolcrest Textiles and the bargains to be found there. Ever since, I have been meaning to visit.  It is open Monday to Friday only but a remark made at February’s Monthly Meeting, as to whether it would be possible to have Meetups on weekdays during the daytime for those who have free time then, made me think about investigating the warehouse as a possible place for a Meetup visit.

I set off to locate the warehouse, accompanied by fellow member Rebecca  Rogers.  We were a bit taken aback to find that 6 Well Street did not appear to exist but a helpful shop owner at no: 8 pointed us to a gap between buildings and into the yard where a huge sign above a brick warehouse left us in no doubt that we had arrived at our destination.

Upon entering, rolls upon rolls of fabric, piled high on racks, met our gaze.  I just knew I was unlikely to keep to my vow not to buy any more fabric – and so it proved.  It is very much a case of rummaging everywhere for what you want.  There are rough divisions of the fabrics into sections- wools, denims, lightweight etc.  The cheerful staff are happy for you to wander at will.  Nothing has a price on it but just ask; they may even decide, as they did with me, that the price is actually cheaper than their first quote.

They do not sell less than a metre of fabric but, after the first metre, will then sell the additional fabric in that length in half metres.  But it is at such bargain prices that it doesn’t matter if you have a bit more than required for the garment you intend to make.  My purchase of 2 metres of bright wool mix fabric for a jacket and 2 metres of ivory colour soft polyester for a blouse cost a total of £14. 

Having sated our eyes it was time to do something about our stomachs as it was lunchtime.  Walking along Mare Street we came across The Trampery.  It had a delightful cosy café with a tempting and inexpensive menu but, be warned, the portions are huge.  You can get anything from just a coffee to a full meal.  It seems  the sort of relaxed place where one could do a bit of hand sewing and chatting  gathered round a table –a  shame that it is not open late in the evenings  as a café or it would be great for an after work hours Meet up.

 I’ve since discovered that there are a number of other fabric outlets in the vicinity that sound worth a visit- can my finances stand any more research?!  Would any members be interested in joining up for a weekday daytime sortie into the textile venues of East London?

Details –  
Woolcrest Textiles, 6 Well Street, off Mare Street, Hackney, London E9 7PX.  I got the tube to Bethnal Green and then walked but Cambridge Heath and London Fields overground stations are nearer.  There are also plenty of bus routes. 

The Trampery “Look Mum, no Hands” Café, 125-127 Mare Street, London E8 3RH

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An online site for jersey fabrics

Is anyone looking for a jersey/stretch/knit fabric?

I just came across the online website of Tissu Fabrics and really liked their jersey fabrics.

These were my favourites:

They have lots of great colours in plain fabrics, and the patterns are lovely too!

A lot of their subject headers (from Cotton, Dress etc via Lycra to Viscose) contain lots of stretch fabrics.  Their prices seem quite good: from about £3.50 to £4.99 per metre.  There are more expensive fabrics as well, but most are in this range.

I am so tempted to get at least one of these, but my stash has grown beyond the shelves it is meant to live on - I am determined to not buy unless I have a specific project in mind but no suitable fabric.  Ideally I should find a pattern for a stash fabric, but when did that ever stop me?

They also do some lovely velvet and crushed velvet fabrics.

Delivery via Royal Mail.  Shipping for orders over £50 is free in the UK.

Do you know of a great fabric shop, either off or online?  Please add them in the comments, enquiring minds want to know!