Fabric Shopping in London: Shaukat Fabrics

Last time we were in London, we passed by a little fabric store while we were on the bus called Shaukat Fabrics. It was near the end of our trip, and I had already completely blown through my fabric budget, so we didn't end up going there. I did however, google it, and read a great review on Katie's blog here. Katie's review is very thorough so I won't bother repeating everything she said, but the gist is that if you are looking for Liberty prints, this is the place to go. Liberty cottons are absolutely incredible; beautiful, super soft and a dream to sew with, so it was the first place we went this trip (well the first place we went for fabric anyway).

This shop is actually very convenient to get to, in fact, there is a bus stop right in front of it. We are staying at the Hilton Olympia again (I think we even got the exact same room we stayed in last spring), which is conveniently located on Kensington High Street. We tend to stay in Hiltons when we can, because: a) they are usually nice and clean, b) they have great buffet breakfasts, c) they are reasonably priced (most of the time), and d) if you stay enough and collect Hilton Honours points, you get things like free Wi-fi and Executive Lounge privileges. Anyway, probably not everyone's cup of tea, but we like it.

Another reason we love this hotel in particular, is that it is a short bus ride to most of our favourite places. In all of our travels to London we have discovered that the bus is a great way to travel. It's much cheaper than taxis, requires less walking than the tube, and you get to see the city when you ride it - plus the bus goes everywhere, and who doesn't what to come to London and ride a red double decker?  We hopped on the C1 bus right outside the hotel and jumped off right in front of Shaukat on Old Brompton Road. It was about a 10 minute trip altogether.

The shop is clean and organized, but doesn't seem overly impressive when you first walk in, but then you go down the stairs to Liberty fabric heaven.

These pictures really don't do it justice, and I didn't really take enough of them. I was a little bit timid taking photos as there were always staff members around. I only ended up taking two, but there is a whole other room filled with suitings, and then another room with pre-cut liberty fabrics. You can do a bit of a virtual tour on the website if you want to see more. It was really huge and to be honest a touch overwhelming. It's mostly Liberty prints, but there are also other fabrics like shirtings, ginghams, quilting cottons and what not.

The staff were very friendly and helpful, and patient as it took me forever to decide what to buy.  The tana lawns where pretty much all priced at about £17 per metre (including tax), which is still quite expensive, but if you were to go directly to Liberty they cost anywhere between £21-£34.50 (plus tax), so it's quite a savings. I don't think they had the newest prints, but they definitely had lots of the same ones still available at Liberty.

They also do tax free shopping, so if you ask, they give you a special receipt that you take to the airport and you can claim your VAT back. They also ship worldwide, so if you go onto their website you can get fabric delivered right to your door. There is also a remnants bin upstairs, where I scored the best deal - 2 metres of this gorgeous gabardine (at least I think that's what it is) for £10.

Here are the spoils:

The top picture has all the tana lawns plus one craft cotton (which I think is like a quilting cotton) and the bottom photo is of the green remnant John picked out for me. It feels beautiful but I'm not sure what it is, maybe a gabardine? It was £10 for 2 metres and it's super wide. Definitely the steal of the trip.

At this point, I think I should mention that I have the best husband ever. He is so patient with me when it comes to fabric shopping (and all things sewing really). He holds my bags, he takes me to pretty much any shop I want to go to, and he even helps to pick fabrics out - which he is very good at, I might add. He really understands that fabric shopping in Calgary pretty much sucks, so he doesn't mind coming with me to check out fabric shops when we travel. I am so lucky to have such a supportive spouse!

So I think I made out like a bandit! These fabrics are gorgeous and I can't wait to make things out of them!

Are there things you like to do when you travel that your spouse/significant other doesn't or vice versa? Do you go fabric shopping when you go away? How does your spouse/significant other feel about it?

Walthamstow Market

On Saturday (May 3rd), we decided to head out to Walthamstow Market. I read that it is another good place to buy fabric, that there are lots of good deals, and that it is also a great big market on Saturdays. We took the tube there, and it took us about 30 minutes to get to Walthamstow Central station. From the tube station, it’s a short walk to the high street market. This market is huge! And it really seemed to have a little bit of everything. There was food, clothing (including underwear), shoes, pots and pans, various appliances, cell phones, electronics, all kinds of knick-knacks, jewelry and of course, fabric. Really there was a little bit of everything! The street was packed with people and seemed to go on forever!

There were tons of fabric stores and fabric stalls at this market. And lots and lots of good deals to be had. I got some gorgeous fabrics for £1 and £2 per metre. I think the most expensive piece of fabric I got was about £5 per metre. So I was happy, and by the end of the market, loaded down with fabric. Fabric is heavy!

One of the best market stalls, was the one in front of Sainsbury’s. The fabrics were beautiful and the guys there gave me some good deals. I even got a little bit more fabric than I requested because of end of the rolls. It was pretty awesome. I got some beautiful jersey knit and a couple of gorgeous patterned dress fabrics. I can’t wait to sew them up! One of my favourite shops on this market street was called Saeed Fabrics. I got a few things there, but a lot of it was a bit higher end. They had some really beautiful cottons and upholstery fabrics.

If you are ever in London and want to go to a bit of a different market, or if you love fabric like I do, I would definitely recommend heading to Walthamstow Market.

Liberty

The day we went to Liberty (I think it was Wednesday April 30th to be exact), we had actually planned to take the tube out to Westfield Stratford City, but our plan came to a halt, when we ran into this:

A closed tube station! Actually the whole line was closed due to a tube strike! Ughh!

We weren’t too distraught as the buses were still running, and we were just going to go out to Stratford to see what it was like. I suspect that it’s much like Westfield White City, but you never know…..and neither do we cause we never actually made it out there.

Anyway, we decided to change our plans and head to Liberty. I really wanted to go and drool over the fabric and haberdashery, and John wanted to look for a new sweater. So off on the number 10 bus, we went. (John has a really great app on his phone for the London buses, so he always knows the right way to go.) The bus is great! It’s a bit slower than going on the tube, but you have the advantage of seeing London while you are travelling. I really enjoy it to be honest. Here are a couple of pics for you:

I think I actually took these photos coming home from Liberty, rather than on our way. We were sitting right at the front on top which is the best view. Sorry for the bugs on the windshield, if I was a bit better with the photoshop, i would remove them, but I didn’t bother.

Anyway, on to Liberty. We looked around and found John a really nice sweater that he was happy with, and then it was up the stairs to the fabric. It was absolutely beautiful and crazy expensive!!

I ended up getting a couple pieces of Liberty cotton that I absolutely love, but I have no idea how I will work up the nerve to cut into them! I also found an adorable little pin cushion that followed us home.

After Liberty, we grabbed some lunch at Garfunkel’s and then headed out to Oxford Street to catch the bus. While we were walking to our bus stop, we passed by McCulloch & Wallis, another fabric store that I had read about. I had read that it is really big (3 floors), and that the staff can be quite rude and snotty, so my hopes weren’t too high. We ended up only checking out the main floor (there are three) and found the staff to be very nice and quite helpful. It was a bit on the pricey side (although not nearly as pricey as Liberty), but we ended up finding 2 really quite printed cottons we couldn’t leave behind.

So ya, this trip has had a lot of fabric shopping! I can’t believe how much fabric shopping there is here.

Fabric Shopping On Goldhawk Road

A few months ago, I started doing a bit of research online about where to buy fabric in London. A number of the sewing blogs I follow are sewers from London, and I also fell in love with the TV series: The Great British Sewing Bee. It’s on the BBC so I didn’t get to watch it live, but I found it on Youtube, so I watched it there. I actually got quite attached to a number of the contestants, and I am eagerly awaiting the American version, which they have started to cast for. Anyway, I discovered that Goldhawk Road, near Shepherd’s Bush (which is the tube station right next to the mall we frequent), is apparently one of the places to go for fabric. It is lined with several fabric shops, along with a couple of haberdashery shops. Of course, as soon as I read about it, I was dying to go. I told John about it a couple months ago, and being the amazing husband that he is, he figured out exactly how to get there, and promised to take me.

It was actually really easy to get to. We took the number 237 bus two stops from Shephard’s Bush and at the fabric shops of Goldhawk Road. It was actually very cool, and to be honest a bit overwhelming. The first shop we went into, I just stared and touched fabrics. Everything was so beautiful. In the next shop, I bought my first piece of fabric, and then it became really fun. John was so patient, and even helped me pick out a bunch of great pieces.

I was really hoping to find some amazing deals, and while I did get a couple of fabrics fairly cheaply, it wasn’t much cheaper than buying from Fabricland at home. I do think that the fabrics are much nicer and of better quality though, but the proof will be in the pudding when I start sewing with them. They was definitely a way better selection than at home though. That’s for sure.

Here are the spoils from the first trip, yup that’s right, we ended up going back for second time.

There are a lot of shops, and we didn’t quite get through them all the first time.

This shop (above) ended up being one of my favourites. I got some nice jersey (t-shirt material) and several pieces of Liberty cotton at a way better price than buying them at Liberty. So all in all, I was very happy with both our trips to Goldhawk Road, and I can’t wait to get sewing!

Fabric Shopping in Montreal

So along with doing a lot of sewing, I have also been reading a lot about sewing. There are a ton of great sewing blogs out there, some have tutorials, some have inspiring ideas, and most of them share projects and a love of sewing. It’s great! Anyway, one of the blogs I stumbled upon features a seamstress who lives in Montreal, and she alluded to the fabric district. Of course I had to look it up, and it turns out that there are all kinds of delicious fabric stores along Rue St. Hubert, and John knew exactly how to get there. Even more importantly, he said he would be happy to take me! I have the best husband ever, what can I say.

Anyway we drove down St. Hubert and found a great parking spot in front of this lovely store:

And inside, we found all these lovely rolls and bolts of fabric. I have never seen anything so nice. At home, there is pretty much only Fabricland, and they don’t even come close to having anything as nice as the cheapest thing in this store.

The man (I am thinking he is the owner) inside, was very nice and very accommodating. The service was impeccable, and while we didn’t, I think this gentleman would have loved to haggle. He did end up giving us a discount on everything we picked out. I pretty much spent my whole budget! But I got some beautiful dress fabrics and a couple of gorgeous Alpaca fabric for a winter coat. My only problem now is that I am afraid to cut into any of the beauties. It’s a little more intimidating than sewing with the fabrics I’ve been buying out of the clearance section at Fabricland.

Montreal also has a fabric store chain, called Fabricville, and we spotted one a few blocks away from Matt’s place, so we went in. It is very much like Fabricland, but it seemed a bit nicer and cleaner, and they had a better selection. The staff was also very nice. I’m not sure what it’s like where you live, but the staff of the Fabriclands in Calgary, are notorious for being rude and very unhelpful. I’ve been lucky and mostly been able to bond with one or two of the girls at the location that I frequent. But I have heard over and over just how awful people have been treated there, and if you don’t believe me, just Google “Fabricland Calgary” and have a look at the reviews. It’s actually a bit funny.

Anyway, I managed to pick up some really cute jersey knits, and some denim which were all on sale, for a steal, so I am a happy camper. I can hardly wait to get home and get sewing!

Do you like to sew? Are you even interested in hearing about my sewing adventures? I have been debating starting a separate blog for sewing, but I'm not sure if that is necessary what do you think?