Thank you for the tip @Alangus . That sounds like a must-see for my list. Do you have any great value sources for lycra fabrics in London including prints?
I've still not found my way to Goldhawk Rd but am not sure if I can expect to find much of it there although I'm thinking they may have lots of fancy stuff & lace for ballroom skirts.
Hi Marniesews
Goldhawk Road would be good for ballroom skirts and embellishments. It has all sorts of shops that sell many types of fabrics - its great for silks (satin, habotae, sandwashed, chiffon, crepe, twill, taffeta - all kinds) embellished silks, sequins, laces, polyester satins, chiffons, crepes etc, cottons and printed cottons, African prints. There is a shop that sells a lot of end of line liberty print fabrics. In terms of stretch fabrics there are a few places that sell lycra, stretch net and power mesh, metallics, stretch sequins and velours. There are many places that sell nice laces and shiny things. The places I would try for Lycra and mesh are Classic Textiles, A One Fabrics, A to Z fabrics and Tonis Textiles (all at the Goldhawk Road tube end). Id walk towards Shepherds bush end for laces, silks etc - Goldbrick Fabrics has some beautiful things - laces and embellished and UK fabrics has amazing Italian silks in his basement area.
I like
Rolls and Rems - there are two branches I think, they have lycra as well as dressmaking fabrics, cottons, sparkly things and various others - the prices are good - probably about the same as Goldhawk Road.
Dalston Mill Fabrics in Ridley Road market sells some lycra, some metallics, lots of sequins - and a wide variety of fabrics that look like they would be suitable for dance wear and theatre. I have not bought much there though, just browsed. Like Goldhawk Road - both of those are about what is there at the time.
There is also a Fabricland in Kingston - not too far - they do sell lycra and stretch, though I have not bought them. You can check out their website and ring in advance to see if it is in stock - sometimes the website has vouchers for money off if you buy in store. I buy from them online sometimes and just bought about 10m of poly habotae and chiffon for a school production - the prices were excellent for that quantity.
I think the lycra in all the above places was cheaper than Chrisanne or Trim and either the same as or more expensive than Tia Knight. The thing is that they are all different weights, feels, quality. I like the consistency and quality and fibre content of Chrisannes lycra, stretch net and mesh - but it all depends on what you are doing.
If I had to choose between the three places I'd go to Goldhawk Road because there are so many shops.
Berwick Street also has some very nice fabric shops - more expensive though and more woven than stretch and dance wear as far as I know. Several of them supply the film and tv costume industry with lovely fabrics - especially Borovicks, and The Berwick Street Cloth Shop, but there are loads more. I wouldn't go to Berwick street if I was on a tight budget though.
For non lycra fabrics I like to check out Woollcrest, its a big warehouse in Hackney that has lots of rolls of end of line fabrics. The are great for wool and also have t-shirt fabrics, poly chiffons, crepes, satins, masses of crystal organza, printed cottons and viscose, and lots of linen and calicos. They also usually have a section with sequinned and lace fabrics, they sometimes have crochet lace and giuypure lace, and some basic tulle/net, there is sometimes stretch lace but not of the best quality. The quality is not high end, though occasionally you will find something amazing, but the prices are very good - poly organza and poly chiffon is £1.50/£2 a metre, Ive bought silk chiffon for £4 per m but they don't always have silk. However you can never rely on anything being in stock as it changes all the time. The wool selection is, however, always amazing and seems to be mostly £5-£7 a metre for some really lovely fabric. Oh and fake fur too, and upholstery fabric at great prices for very nice cloth. Its more a go and see what you can find kind of place. I bought lots of fabric there for a school production, when you buy a whole new roll the prices are even better - it is good for that kind of thing. Don't expect too much customer service though, its not like a shop, you just go and rummage and find what you need. Nothing is marked with a price you have to ask.
Phew! writing that allowed me to procrastinate about a load of other things :- - Hope is helps - I'd be happy to do a fabric meet up with you sometime if you like.
Al
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