I've been in London for a week and a half now, and although I've been without my sewing machine, I have taken the opportunity to visit some fabric shops...!
Last Wednesday I went to Oxford Street, and sought out MacCulloch and Wallis - very near the Bond Street underground station. This shop was just amazing - for a browse, anyway! There was loads of fabric in the ground floor shop - the walls are piled high, as if you could be buried in a mound of material at any minute! I did find it expensive though - I don't think that's unusual for London, but Bristol prices are a lot more reasonable. I enjoyed a browse, and then headed up to the accessories on the first floor.
Last Wednesday I went to Oxford Street, and sought out MacCulloch and Wallis - very near the Bond Street underground station. This shop was just amazing - for a browse, anyway! There was loads of fabric in the ground floor shop - the walls are piled high, as if you could be buried in a mound of material at any minute! I did find it expensive though - I don't think that's unusual for London, but Bristol prices are a lot more reasonable. I enjoyed a browse, and then headed up to the accessories on the first floor.
There just seemed to be everything you could possibly need up there - and more bias binding that you could shake a sewing machine at. I fell in love with...well, everything really! But I restricted myself, and just got the two lovely bits of binding below. I'd love to do another Sorbetto top and use one of these, so I'll have to keep an eye out for suitable material! I wasn't blown away by the service, but I certainly enjoyed a happy half hour in here.
On the weekend Pete came over to stay with me, and one of my key aims for the weekend wasn't fabric related at all - I really wanted to go to the Hummingbird Bakery. Baking is my other hobby these days, and I've got the Hummingbird Bakery book, which I just love. We went to the Soho shop - here I am outside, being a proper tourist and having my photo taken! The red velvets are to die for!
Anyway, as we were wandering the streets - what did I see but a haberdashery...and then another, and another...! As it turned out, we had somehow found our way (entirely by accident) onto Berwick Street - and many, many fabric shops. My long-suffering hubby came in (and then waited patiently outside) various establishments as I excitedly browsed through them all! Again, there were some fairly eye watering prices - so it was lovely to have a look and a feel for the fabrics, but I didn't buy anything!
As a non-native, I was reading what Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons had to say about London fabric shopping, and she recommended Walthamstow for some amazing fabric bargains. I am slightly kicking myself, because we were on the Victoria line not far from Walthamstow on Saturday evening - but to be fair, I'm not sure Pete could have coped with much more of me drooling over fabrics, so it's maybe just as well!
I would love some light jersey fabric for a summer maxi skirt to take on holiday, but that will have to wait for another day. I'm here for another week, but I'm also taking a trip to Scotland and a trip back to Bristol over that time (a rather tame sort of jet-setting lifestyle, I know!) - let's hope I get another chance to get out and about to explore some more fabric treasure troves.
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