Recommend a dress fabric shop

Ginny is right, the Cheap Shop in Tiptree is an Aladdin's cave for art, craft and fabric.

www.thecheapshoptiptree.co.uk/

If you ever visit, we could meet for a coffee at Perrywoods

www.perrywood.co.uk/visit-perrywood/coffee-shop/

There is a lovely little fabric shop in Northwood, Middlesex, on the old High Street. It is called Just Sew and as well as fabric it sells craft kits, buttons, patterns, threads and so on. It is small but perfectly formed and has wonderful window displays which are changed regularly.

Have you looked online? My favourites are Fabric Rehab, Seamstar and Cotton Patch. They have fabric by the metre as well as a great range of fabrics for patchwork and quilting projects.

Yes Abakhan! We have one in Hanley (Stoke on Trent). Full of fabrics of all sorts lots of sewing stuff haberdashery, bridal accessories, wool etc.
I paid all of £4 for a large piece of Cotton canvas to make a bag for something and then a smaller one to hold the vacuum cleaner tools and I still some left.

They sell a lot of stuff by weight.

Another Abakhan devotee here. Their headquarters are on the coast road here in N Wales. Lovely new restaurant, too!

www.abakhan.co.uk/

You might think that in France with its haute couture reputation, dress fabric shops would be all over - they're not, and what there is is very expensive.
So I buy mostly online, but there are some problems. eg the colour or texture isn't always exactly the same as it is in the advert.
I bought some needlecord a couple of years ago from a company in the USA. They have a fantastic range, many types of fabric you never see in the UK, very good prices, but the postage was more than the cost of the fabric.
People have commented on the disappointing range in John Lewis - I thought that too last time I was there.

Teetime'sDD and Ginny, you should have met pompa, who lives in Tiptree! Hope you bought some jam!

DD2 has just found what she described as a treasure trove of fabric in a shop in Tiptree Essex.

I bought some lovely material to make some kitchen curtains but as it has tiny rosebuds it could be made into anything and I got it from ebay. Very reasonable too, much more reasonable than Dunhelm and more choice online too.

I finally got to Goldhawk Road today after the suggestions on here, thank you very much.

Didn't have a lot of luck in getting material for myself as there just wasn't stuff to appeal to me although there was loads of it.

What was there though was a shop, I am afraid I didn't note the name but it is on Goldhawk Road Station side that has a sign on the door HALF PRICE PATTERNS and I got one for making a couple of dresses for my granddaughter. It's a McCalls pattern and cost me £3.65.

Today I have been in Tiptree , Essex. In Church Road there is a fabulous shop called The Cheap Shop. It is an absolute gem. It looks tiny from the outside but goes a long way back. Sells craft items, fabric , wool, art items and so many trimmings, buttons and more. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

I know I'm not in your area but if ever you visit Devon, Trago Mills is well worth a visit - their fabric section is very good and extremely reasonable (eg. Lots of their cotton prints are only £3.60 a metre and the quality is very good.)

Have just had a look at the Abakhan website as mentioned above. It looks really good. I've just added a dress pattern and some fabric to my wishlist and asked them a question about it. Hope they reply soon as I am now itching to get out the sewing machine.

There is a little shop called Just Sew in Northwood High Street. Northwood is near Pinner and Ruislip in Middlesex. They sell a lot of dress fabrics as well as craft kits and haberdashery. It is not in my area but my sister dresses the window for the owner which is how I know about it. Tiny, but well stocked.

www.thefabricshopsuffolk.co.uk/

In the middle of nowhere, an Aladdin's cave and very cheap.

I know this is meant to be about dressmaking fabric but I must mention a great factory shop called Standfast & Barracks , Caton Rd, Lancaster

It's mainly curtain fabrics although they do have some dress materials too.
They do the printing for many of the famous fabric stores ie John Lewis, Sanderson, Harlequin, Designer Guild, Liberty & many many more. The prices are fantastic too, with most fabrics at £8.00 per metre although I have seen some for a little more.

Hope this helps someone

Soutra The wool shop that was in Olney has now moved to Newport Pagnall. If you know the town it is right at the end of the High Street where the piano shop used to be.

Mollie Where about in N. Bucks are you I live in Olney. If you are near there are a couple of good patchwork shops that you might like. Threads and patches in Fenny Stratford and The Poppy patch at Great Doddington.

The shop in Bletchley mentioned earlier is great but I'm not sure how much dress making fabric they have . Really good for furnishing fabric and trims etc.

I was at the Fabric Warehouse in Northampton earlier this week. Mostly curtaining. A few very basic dress making fabrics.

I didn't know about Masons in Abington , will certainly give it a try as we are looking for fabric for flower girl dresses for my daughters wedding.

Harrogate has the wonderful "Remnant House" which should really be about three times as big as it is and is another Aladdin's Cave. You can also find it on line at www.remnanthousefabric.co.uk/

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I've been buying fabric for dressmaking online which is hassle free for me since I don't really go out that much.

Thanks ppb and rosesarered. Will definitely go in search of Masons!

I'm north Bucks but Oxfordshire is do-able so I may be checking out Masons very soon... and thanks for mentioning Denham College, I didn't know about it and have just looked at their website, lots of interesting courses to think about.

sewsilver Masons in Abingdon is very good, very old fashioned, they have 2 shops there [and the centre is only a small place so easy to find]
Fabric shop in Bath St. and wool and trimmings stuff in Stert St.Are you doing a course at Denman College?If so, Abingdon is literally 5 mins drive away.mollie don't know where you are in the country, so can't know if this is any good for you.shysal yes, Masons still add up on paper bags!

penguinpaperback - your word is my command!