The Sewing Place

Recommended brick & mortar shops

Acorn

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #60 on: August 24, 2020, 13:14:10 PM »
Are you going by car?  If so I would have thought the north was the way to go - you may have to travel between places, but you can also combine it with staying somewhere that appeals, whether it's city or countryside.  Other people (like @Efemera) will be able to give a list of places - I just look on in envy when they talk about them, apart from visiting a couple of Abakhans.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

wrenkins

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #61 on: August 24, 2020, 14:09:29 PM »
I think I remember people talking about Birmingham but I know nothing. Might as well be on the moon.  :laughing:
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Happymrsg

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #62 on: August 24, 2020, 20:31:35 PM »
Sadly Manchester is no fabric mecca. The fabric shops in Manchester are
Abakhan in the city centre
Leons in Chorlton, 3 miles out of the city centre. It has parking outside.
John Lewis in the Trafford Centre & Cheadle - not enough fabric for a special trip.
In Bolton, north of Manchester there is Abakhan & Nortex mills, both have parking very close.

Fabworks in Dewsbury is worth a visit & there are some other fabric shops in Dewsbury

Sandra

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #63 on: August 25, 2020, 08:40:20 AM »
I think I remember people talking about Birmingham but I know nothing. Might as well be on the moon.  :laughing:

Birmingham city centre has Fancy Silks, three floors stacked from floor to ceiling. A floor of curtain fabrics, one of bridal/fancy stuff and a floor of more general fabrics including a small selection of quilting fabrics.
There's the outdoor market. I think Tuesday was a good day for fabric stalls. The 'Jersey Lady' could be found on Tuesdays. Mainly jersey fabrics in a big jumble...all cut pieces, some seconds and costing a pound or two for a metre or two.
Indoor rag market has several fabric sellers, and the other indoor market has a few fabric stalls.

A short walk just out of the town and you get to Barrys. A sister-shop to Leons on Manchester. This is a warehouse with a small carpark outside.
Haven't been to Birmingham at all this year. No idea if any/all of these stalls and shops are still trading as normal but there's a pretty good selection.

Never been to either, but Cotton Patch and Guthrie and Ghani are both somewhere in the Birmingham area too.

Sandra.
xxx

wrenkins

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #64 on: August 25, 2020, 08:46:51 AM »
Thanks @Sandra. I might go myself!  0_0
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Sandra

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #65 on: August 25, 2020, 09:00:48 AM »
Thanks @Sandra. I might go myself!  0_0

OMG...If you turn up in Brum, I'll definitely be there to meet you.  0_0

Sandra.
xxx

wrenkins

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #66 on: August 25, 2020, 09:24:14 AM »
Be careful what you wish for. I very nearly went over for the Christmas market a couple of years ago.  :laughing:
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Sandra

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #67 on: August 25, 2020, 09:33:36 AM »
I've never bothered to go to the Christmas market.
Aren't Christmas markets pretty much the same sort of same-old tat wherever they're held?  -< It's a long way to come for trinkets and a German sausage.

Sandra.
xxx

wrenkins

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #68 on: August 25, 2020, 09:45:22 AM »
 :laughing: No idea. Never been to one.
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

LeilaMay

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #69 on: June 02, 2021, 13:15:22 PM »
Nice craft shop in Tintern - fabric, wool, sewing machines (Paff) and lots of useful bits and pieces. Also very nice lady  :)

LeilaMay

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #70 on: August 11, 2022, 15:48:14 PM »
Fabric shop in Tintern has gone - retired.

Ellabella

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #71 on: August 11, 2022, 16:21:13 PM »
We all do need to support a good shop when we can.

I have a lovely P&Q shop near me and I try to use it when possible , even if it’s only bits and bobs. 

When we go away for a few days, if I find a good LYS I will have a good browse and usually find something lovely. The trouble is at the moment I am buying faster than I am knitting  :facepalm:

Renegade Sewist

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #72 on: August 11, 2022, 17:04:43 PM »
Remember my lamenting the closure of my LQS? The landlord was upping the rent by 40% so the ladies decided to retire. Well I'm happy to report that four and a half years later the storefront is still sitting vacant. Ha! Take that greedy landlord.

Fact is he probably owns multiple properties and this is a great write off against his taxes.

We do need to support local stores if we have them. We only have 2 left with fabric and notions and they are both primarily machine dealers.
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #73 on: August 11, 2022, 18:40:19 PM »
Same here @Renegade Sewist.  A great many of our towns are very run down.  It’s depressing.  I don’t know how elderly people are supposed to shop as everything has moved online or out of town. 

Starryfish

Re: Recommended brick & mortar shops
« Reply #74 on: August 11, 2022, 20:25:05 PM »
I'm off to Tudor Rose P&Q shop near Bedford tomorrow. I need some more FQs for the lap quilt I'm going to make. They need to match the ones I already have, try doing that online!
There is no shop with a decent range of dressmaking fabric outside London for me. I can get samples online if it is crucial for what I intend to make.

Bedford itself is the pits for shopping. The only dept store closed about 3 years ago. M&S closed as did Debenhams. It never got over the building of Central Milton Keynes. The council did nothing to promote it. It could have been a lovely high street with interesting small shops.
A day without sewing is a day wasted.