London Fabric Shopping

One of the benefits of having super cool bosses (I’m including myself in here of course) is that I get to travel without worrying about using up too many vacation days. The factory life of having only 5 vacation days for an entire year is over, and now I can basically take off as much time as I can afford to! This summer has been a great example of this perk. I not only went on a family adventure to Alaska at the beginning of the month, but I also just got back from a work trip to London! Eddie was there participating in an Alzheimer’s conference, and I was able to tag along!
Along with the normal sight seeing we accomplished, I also took the time when Eddie was in the conference to go on a bit of a sewing holiday tour of London.
 
Here are a few of my favourites from the trip:
(excuse the blurry photos, I was using my phone!)

Goldhawk Road
 
Goldhawk Road is must stop for fabric shopping in London. Going to several fabric shops searching for fabric can be time consuming, but Goldhawk Road gives you the most bang for your public transportation buck. The whole street is just full of fabric stores, one after the other. I didn’t get nearly enough time in this area, as I misjudged the time it would take me to get there from my AirBnB. But really, I’m not sure a whole day would have even been enough time. A lot of these shops were hole in the wall places just so full of bright fun fabrics that you could barely move.
 
Bonus tip: Liz’s Café was a perfect little spot for a quick lunch on Goldhawk Road, and it has free wifi (for those of us who travel without cell service this is a big bonus)

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Cloth House
 
I’d have to say that Cloth House was hands down the cutest fabric shop I’ve ever seen. Think “cottage chic” with white painted brick, worn wooden floors, and rolls upon rolls of fabric displayed amount giant elaborate picture frames. It had such a soothing neutral color pallet, and was a perfect mix of rustic, and elegant. It was so homey and full of beautiful details that I felt I could just hang out in that shop all day like it was a coffee shop, drinking in the sights and smells of the fabric. My very favourite part was the fact that the back room had a lofted area that the employees get to by climbing a ladder. I’ve always wanted a sliding ladder library in my dream mansion. But now, I want a sliding ladder fabric room too.
 

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Sew Over it
 
As a new pattern company, I of course had to pay a visit to Sew Over It while over in London! I would love to one day have a storefront as well, and it was so inspiring to be there and see the place in real life. From the purple exterior to the beautiful display of patterns, to the gorgeous fabrics, this store was a treat. I ended up with a lovely navy and white polka dot viscose fabric. I plan on using it to remake a dress that I have and love but that has shrunk a bit too much to be decent in public. Another great aspect of Sew Over It, is that it is not only a store, but a sewing café as well! The whole basement is a dedicated work space, where you can pay £6 an hour, and use their table space and sewing machines and tools. If I’d known, I could have brought a project with me to work on! Oh, and the best part was the adorable little table set up with unlimited tea and snacks for the people working at the café.
 

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Fabrics Galore

Fabrics Galore was another fabric shop that stuck out to me. Their window display was stellar, and I really enjoyed their fabric selection! I love very modern prints, and this store was full of them, especially, their home décor section. I’m just sad I didn’t have any projects in mind that would fit these beautiful fabrics! I love anything cactus, world map, or insect related, and this store had all of those! They also had lots of skull fabrics, and even a sort of cork fabric!
I ended up finding a beautiful cotton chambray with birds on it, and decided that I needed a shirt or a shirt dress out of it.
Or both.

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Cloth House Warehouse
 
I found out later in the week that Cloth House had a separate warehouse location that was *gasp* having a huge sale. This second location is going to be closed for renovations this summer (and apparently summer starts in August across the pond, as the sale ended July 28th) so when I visited, prices were ridiculously low in order to move inventory out. I’m talking £2 a metre for 60” wide rolls of cotton or silk fabrics, £5 a metre for wools, and specialty fabrics. It was a very small room full of fabric and several people shopping, each trying to set aside a personal stash of fabric rolls for when they were ready to purchase. And I loved it!! I love a good deal, and I love digging through fabric and seeing other people super excited about sewing too! I bought myself 5 metres, and I think I left that store the most empty-handed of anyone in there. Here’s what I got: 1m blush mesh, 1m black mesh, 1m light grey jersey, and 2m of some sort of blue cotton bottom weight knit. 
 

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Needless to say, I had to use an extra carry-on bag to bring home my new prizes. There were so many more stores that I walked past, or stepped inside for a bit. Too many to talk about individually here. I’ve added a few more photos just to give you a taste.
 
Oh, and I absolutely love that in the UK, notions are “haberdashery”. Absolutely brilliant!