fabric-shops-in-london

Learning to sew is a very exciting experience indeed… Ahhh the thought of the endless possible things you can make when you can use a sewing machine and the beauty, textures and colours of the fabrics we can make these things in! As exciting as this prospect might be, I know for sure that many of you reading this post who might just be getting started on their sewing journey, are feeling lost at the thought of where to source those beautiful fabrics from. Am I right? Bingo! No panic though! Here we come to the rescue with a list of what we think are the top fabric shops in London 🙂

First off, if you are coming to our classes, you might like to know that we have a lovely selection of quality fabrics starting from as little as £7 a metre, which believe me it’s quite cheap for the quality! We also sell haberdashery and great beginners starter sewing kits containing everything you need to power through your sewing projects. Affordable and convenient. What more can you ask for? 😉

Now back to our fabric shops in London topic! First and utmost and closest to my heart from my Fashion College days just around the corner, is the large array of fabric shops on Goldhawk Road in Shepherds Bush. An absolute sewing / fabric haven consisting of many different shops offering a huge selection of fabrics including Liberty prints and Italian wools and silks at very competitive prices. My personal favourites are A One Fabrics, Classic Textiles, Fabric HouseA to Z Fabrics and UK Textiles.

classic textiles

Classic Textiles

Next and just as close to my heart and conveniently close to my home too are the fantastic  Simply Fabrics  shops in Brixton. Two shops selling fashion  and upholstery fabrics as well as trimmings and general haberdashery. An absolute gem for finding end of line quality fabrics from as little as £6-8 a metre! They also stock Liberty prints starting at £12, which considering they retail at £22 to £24 a metre in Liberty’s this is quite a bargain price for them. Stock varies every week and what you find one week might not be there the next.

fabric shops in london

Simply Fabrics

Keeping within the theme of top fabric shops in London closest to my heart and to my home (which comes in very handy!) is the fantastic  The Crafty Sewer  shop in Balham. Not only has this shop got a huge selection of lovely fabrics and haberdashery at very reasonable prices, but it also boasts, in my honest opinion, the nicest, most helpful and some of the most knowledgeable staff in the whole of London. Great place to go if your are an absolute beginner with no clue of how to get the right fabric for a project and get great advice…

the crafty sewer

The Crafty Sewer

Next up on the list of top fabric shops in London offering good value for money is  Rolls & Rems  with three shops located in North London (Holloway Road & Edmonton) and in South London (Lewisham). They offer a nice selection of fashion and upholstery fabrics including some lovely printed cottons and denims as well as jerseys at reasonable prices.

If you are looking for bargain price fabrics and live in North London or don’t mind travelling the whole length of the Victoria Line, then you must pay Walthamstow Market a visit! Apart from housing a few fabric shops where you can find some gems at bargain prices (although you have to be there at the right time), it also boasts a few stalls with the one situated outside Sainsbury’s carrying some good quality fabrics at very reasonable prices.

Worth a visit on the proximity of Clapham Common and Clapham Junction is the lovely  Fabrics Galore  offering a lovely selection of quality fashion and upholstery printed cottons as well as wools and some silks, including some designer names and a small selection of trimmings and haberdashery. Their price range is slightly higher than the shops above, but still affordable.

fabrics galore

Fabrics Galore

Moving onto a much higher price range, central London is the seat of some of the most beautiful, but also most expensive fabrics in town. Berwick Street in Soho boasts a large number of upmarket shops where you can find the most luscious silks, wools, cottons and jerseys including organic and fair trade ones at, oh well…not exactly bargain prices as some of the above places, but the quality is definitely worth it, if you are prepared to spend that much more… We’re talking their cheapest fabrics starting around £12 up to £20 a metre and way upwards here!

Amongts these beautiful, but oh so dangerous shops  The Cloth House  is definitely one of my favourites (The Cloth House has since closed both it’s shops in Soho and now has a warehouse in Camden and operates mainly online), followed by Berwick Street Cloth Shop and Misan Textiles.

Another wonderful fabric shop to mention is Joel’s & Sons. Trading for over 60 years, they specialise in high end luxury fabrics and also sell end of roll fabrics from top designers. Prices are certainly not cheap averaging around £70-100 per meter! Still worth a visit if you want to see and feel the most luxurious of fabrics!

cloth house

Cloth House

Part of the same legacy as the ones above and just a few yards away in Poland Street you can also find a large selection of beautiful fabrics and haberdashery at MacCulloch and Wallis.

For those of you living in East London, two of my favourite shops I would definitely recommend for both choice and reasonable prices are Dalston Mill Fabrics in Ridely Road, Dalston and Woolcrest Textiles in Well Street, Hackney. Dalston Mill Fabrics can be a bit overwhelming at first as it is jam packed with fabrics right up to the ceiling, but if you have the patience to take a good look around you are sure to find some gems at great prices. Woolcrest Textiles on the other hand is a wholesale warehouse, which will also sells smaller amounts. It can be quite overwhelming if you are new to fabric shopping and the staff are not always very knowledgeable or helpful, so might not be the ideal place for newbie fabric shoppers. Besides their selection of fabrics is more geared towards experienced sewists rather than towards beginners friendly fabrics.

dalston mill fabrics

Dalston Mill Fabrics

Finally, for or all you Liberty print fans out there, myself included!- not to be missed is the wonderful  Shaukat Fabrics in West Brompton, housing what is without a doubt the largest selection of Liberty fabrics in London outside of Liberty’s itself, BUT (drumroll plese!) at much lower prices than the former.

shaukat fabrics

Shaukat Fabrics

Have you been to any of these shops or do you have any other fabric shops in London you would like to recommend?
Please leave a comment below. We’d love to hear!