Fabric Shopping in London England
Now I wish this was a more comprehensive guide on fabric shopping in London and I know there are probably some stores that I missed, but we had only set aside one day to do all of it so here is a recao of the places I did visit!
This is a great list of places to visit whether you have a big or a small budget, I walked away with at least 1 fabric purchase from every store.
I am listing these off in order based off their location so that you can hit them all in the same order I did so you can hit all of these stores efficiently and you aren’t having to do any backtracking.
Woolcrest Textiles Ltd
9:00 AM
Don’t be off-put by the entrance, the way in is through the delivery garage door. This is a fabric warehouse with a huge selection of fabrics in a low-price range. There is no fabric minimum and you can also buy in bulk. There are two floors with knits, denim, and heavier fabrics in the basement. I walked away with a striped ribbed knit and spend around 20 pounds.
The next place on our list didn’t open till 10 AM so we had avocado toast with a poached egg and bacon for breakfast at a nearby bakery called The Bread Station, highly recommended!
Pros: Lots of options for a small or large budget
Cons: Only accepts cash and ATM onsite charges a hefty withdrawal fee.
The New Craft House
10:00 AM
This was the place I was most excited to visit because it was a store that specialized in deadstock designer fabric. You have to email in advance and make an appointment but the staff is very flexible and chill and said i could visit at any time of the day, I think it was mostly so they just knew in advance they would be having a visitor. I walked away with a super unique Yellow and Ivory Open Weave Silk Organza and spent around 60 pounds for 3 meters of fabric. The girls were all super cute and nice, and I loved supporting a women-owned small business.
Pros: Discounted deadstock designer fabric, also has online store
Cons: By appointment only (really not that inconvenient)
Liberty London
11:00 AM
This was a must-visit place for me since it’s one of the first OG department stores. This is a very nostalgic building with lots of character and charm along with what’s inside, it’s basically a better and bigger Anthropologie. However, I feel like it was more aimed at quilters, which may be up your alley, but I was looking for more fashion fabrics. Still, I walked away with a couple of meters of a high-quality cotton print floral for spring and summer and spent around 40 pounds. Definitely higher priced than what I was expecting but I could tell I was getting a higher quality softer cotton than your typical cotton print fabric at big box stores.
Pros: Tons of floral prints to choose from and a fun store to walk around in.
Cons: Expensive for plain weave cotton and mostly aimed at quilters.
MacCulloch & Wallis Ltd
12:00 PM
This was the last place on our list to visit, we were debating not going at all because we were tired of walking in the rain but I am so glad we went anyways because I think it was the most well-rounded fabric store we had visited, it had a really well-curated selection of fashion fabrics and notions. However it is very expensive, I am sad to say I actually didn’t walk away with anything because the fabric I liked most of all, a yellow houndstooth wool tweed was 80 pounds a meter. If cost isn’t a concern for you, then definitely visit this shop!
Pros: Fashion focused with high-quality designer fabric.
Cons: Expensive and staff was a little snooty.
Summary
Overall London was a unique experience with fabric shopping with a fabric you can’t get anywhere else. To be honest, though I was expecting to walk away with much more fabric than I ended up buying, which my husband was probably grateful for, for me, that was a little bit of a disappointment.
On a side note I’d like to highlight another fabric store in the US that was one of the best fabric stores I have visited in a very long time. Ironically was actually just a few hours away from me in Provo, Utah. So if your passing through or If you're in the vicinity, definitely visit this cute cottage fabric shop called Harmony. It’s mostly quilter-focused, but it doesn’t even matter, I went on a rampage and bought so many cute cotton prints as well as a beautiful green silk plaid that the owner sourced from New York that I am so excited to sew with.
Happy Sewing!