Recommend a dress fabric shop

Our local JLP still sells Amy B designs - it's pricey, but all their fabrics are. I've only ever bought one lot of hers and I still haven't used it - it's lovely but a bit bold for me. Maybe this year I'll finally get round to finding something clever to do with it...so far I've used a little bit to line a denim iPad cover, looks lovely but there's still lots more...lol!

I'm visiting Oxford in April. Does anyone know of any good fabric\ haberdashery stores there please? I'm going on an upholstery course, partly to avoid being here on what would have been DH's birthday. I hope I come back with a few fingers intact, having never done it before. I buy fabric at Leon's in Manchester, they have a random but good selection.
As I'm busy packing the house up for the Big Move I realise how much fabric I have . I'd have to live to be about 103 to use it all. But still can't resist the temptation to browse fabric shops, it's all those lovely colours. As a poor student in London I used to wander about Liberty's fabric department for hours.

Yes if you are in London Goldhawk Road is the place to go. There are at least 10 fabric shops if not more. My favourite is Classic Textiles which sells liberty silks , wools, cotton lawn etc, loads of silk, linings you name it. All incredibly cheaply, I got some beautiful silk for lining or lingerie for £4 pm. I bought all the fabric for my daughters wedding there. I have got a cupboard full of fabric waiting for me to make into something. I must stop going there!
If you like a more orderly approach to fabric shops, I can recommend Fabrics Galore in Battersea.
I do like Abakhan online. everything I have bought from there has been great.

Thanks suzied. It looks like a trip to Goldhawk Road is on the horizon. It sounds just what I need - a good browse around disordered shops, and 10 of them! A sharp and welcome contrast to the nearby Westfield Centre it seems.

Now all I have to do is sew the 9 pairs of curtains I have on the dining room table and then I can go with a clear conscience - not that conscience has stopped me before!

I hope you enjoy your course Sewsilver and thank you suzied for the Goldhawk Road info! Just put Goldhawk Road and fabric shops into 'search' and all the shops popped up.

You can never have too much fabric Versavisa

My little GD has a toy, wooden, kitchen sink and she has an Amy Butler curtain covering the shelf underneath where she keeps her toy saucepans mollie.
She chose my last AB scrap I had left over from cushion covers for a friend.

penguinpaperback - your word is my command!

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!

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.

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

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

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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/

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.

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

www.thefabricshopsuffolk.co.uk/

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

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.

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.

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.)

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 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.

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.

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