Home My sewing world An Italian girl in London: fabric shopping and more!

An Italian girl in London: fabric shopping and more!

by Ladulsatina
11 comments
An Italian girl in London: fabric shopping and more!

I’ve just flown down back to Milan from London. I’ve been in this city for about two weeks to attend a course at London College of Fashion/UAL and for a brief holiday, just few days. I’m never tired of London! It’s my fourth time in this city and I’ve come across new places that I love even this time. I’ve taken advantage of this trip to visit some fabric shops of course. I’ve come across some of them looking up online (google “fabric shopping London” and you can find tons of suggestions), others walking along the street, others still have been recommended on Instagram (thanks! 🙂 ).
If you are going to go to London soon, here are some suggestions on the basis of what I have seen (at the end you can find a map):

ZONE 1
CITY CENTRE (Oxford Circus/Regent’s street & Soho)

If you are going to stay in the city one, two or three days and you haven’t got so much time, I suggest go around this area. It’s full of fabric shops and here you can find the famous Liberty London department store. Fabrics in all of these shops are high-quality and very beautiful (many of them made in Italy), but they are very expensive obviously. In any case it’s worth a visit to feast your eyes (shops are beautiful and well-kept).
I suggest this tour:

LIBERTY LONDON
From Oxford Circus Tube Station walk down Regent’s Street towards Piccadilly and you’ll find Liberty London department store on the left (Great Marlborough Street). You can find fabrics on the third floor. If you love Liberty fabrics, this is your heaven. Haberdashery’s is very beautiful also. Of course everything is very expensive.
£££/€€€

Liberty London - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Liberty London - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Liberty London - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

MACCULLOCH & WALLIS
Go straight on Great Marlborough Street and you’ll find MacCulloch & Wallis on a side street on the left (Poland St.). This shop is amazing and has two floors. Fabrics are on the ground, Haberdashery’s at -1…a real paradise! Many fabrics are affordable, above all cottons and jerseys.
£££/€€€

MacCulloch & Wallis - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

BERWICK STREET
Go straight on Great Marlborough Street again and you’ll get to Berwick Street. This street is full of fabric shops, you’ll spoilt for choice. My favourites are:

  • CLOTH HOUSE
    Very nice and well-kept shop, a little bit shabby-chic.
    £££/€€€

Cloth Shop - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

  • MISAN
    You can find three Misan’s shops on Berwick Street. My favourite is the last one, Misan Fabrics (4, Berwick Street). There’s a stall that sells Misan remnants at discount prices in front of this shop. I have found lots of bargains here. I understand that this stall will be there till September, so if you’re going to go to London this month I suggest drop by!
    SHOPS £££/€€€
    STALL £/€

Misan - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Misan stall - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Misan stall - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Soho is a very nice area in London, you can go on with shops tour (you can find every kind of shop here) or stop off for lunch/dinner. Squares and gardens are very crowded over summer, so you can stop off for an aperitif/picnic in the small but very nice Soho Square Garden.

ZONE 2 – WEST LONDON
GOLDHAWK ROAD

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

If you stay in London a few more days, I suggest a tour in this street, entirely full of fabric shops. You’ll spoilt for choice.

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

I suggest drop by every shop and then chose what you want to buy, because selection is huge. If you love Wax prints, here you can find lots of different patterns.

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

My favourite shop here is:

  • GOLDBRICK FABRICS
    Here you’ll find a big selection of fabrics. I bought some beautiful jerseys at affordable prices. Fabrics put on display are by Missoni.
    ££/€€

Goldhawk Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

ZONE 2 – WEST LONDON
PORTOBELLO ROAD 

I suggest go to Portobello Market on Saturday. You’ll find street food, fashion/handmade and vintage stalls, food stalls, shops, street performers and so on. There is a stall that sells cotton and polyester fabrics at very low prices (polyester fabrics at £ 2 per mt).

Portobello Market - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

THE CLOTH SHOP

If you go straight on Portobello Road to the north, after the railway bridge and the street food area, you’ll find The Cloth Shop.
This shop is very nice and sells cotton fabrics similar to Liberty’s at affordable prices (here I bought these two fabrics two years ago: Anna Dress e Mathilde Blouse).
££/€€

The cloth shop Portobello Road - Fabric Shopping - Ladulsatina

These other shops have been recommended, but I haven’t got enough time to drop by. I keep them in mind for the next trip:

JOEL & SON FABRICS (ZONE 1 – Edgware Road Tube station)

SIMPLY FABRICS (ZONE 2 – Brixton Tube station)

RAY-STITCH (ZONE 2 – Highbury & Islington Tube station)

WALTHAMSTOW MARKET (ZONE 3 – Walthamstow Central Tube station)

If you have the occasion to visit them, let me know how they are! 🙂

Here is a map of all these shops:

In the end I suggest visit the Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear exhibition, at Victoria & Albert Museum till the 12th March, 2017. On Tuesday I paid a ticket cost of £ 5 instead of £ 12.

Undressed Exhibition V&A Museum London - Ladulsatina

Speaking of discounts, I found out that if you buy a ‘paper’ Travelcard (one day or weekly) from a train station in London you can get 2 for the price of 1 discounts on London tourist attraction and exhbition entrance fees. More info here and here.

And here is a mix of pictures of London I took with my phone…

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

London by Ladulsatina

You may also like

11 comments

Beth (SunnyGal Studio) 5 Agosto 2016 - 17:32

this is a great post – so much info, thanks very much. Your photos are great. Hope I can make it back to London one of these days.

Reply
LaDulsaTina 6 Agosto 2016 - 10:53

Thank you Beth!! 🙂
London is an amazing city…can’t wait to come back again too! 😉

Reply
Lynsey 7 Agosto 2016 - 10:41

I’m an English girl but not yet been to London fabric shopping, hopefully I will get there soon, great info, thank you

Reply
LaDulsaTina 9 Agosto 2016 - 13:29

Thank you Lynsey! 🙂 Hope you’ll find these suggestions useful!
And if you come across some new and nice shop, let me know. I’ll keep it in mind for my next time in London.
See you soon! Martina

Reply
Couture en coulisse 17 Agosto 2016 - 17:27

Whaouuuuuu ! It was a real pleasure to read you. I spent 18 months in London and as I stopped working to follow my husband in expatriation I started to learn sewing. I spent a lot of Time in the small shops at goldwhak road hesitating in front of so much fabrics !!!!
Your post remembres me How I spent good Time in the UK !!!! Alexandra

Reply
LaDulsaTina 5 Settembre 2016 - 10:43

I spent good time in London too! I miss it 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story too…

Reply
Juls 2 Settembre 2016 - 15:40

I hope you had a fabulous time here in London and that you enjoyed your course at the UAL. I look forward to seeing all your makes with your purchases and seeing your new skills in action 🙂

Come back to London soon!!
Goldhawk Road is under threat of property redevelopment, currently they are ok after appeals and local support, but the developers will probably resubmit some sort of revised plan… 🙁

(PS. if you ever go to Hong Kong, I can share my tips)

Reply
LaDulsaTina 5 Settembre 2016 - 10:40

Oh no…Goldhawk Road is beautiful as it is! Hope that developers lose with the revised plan as well and everything remains as it is. Let me know…
Hope to go to Hong Kong one day, I’ll let you know 😉
Thanks, I bought some jerseys and silk fabrics…I think I’ll use them for next spring/summer projects.
Enjoy Hong Kong and see you soon!

Reply
Jo 22 Gennaio 2017 - 20:17

Goldhawk Road is not in East London, it is in west London! Quite important if you’re planning on visiting.

Reply
LaDulsaTina 22 Gennaio 2017 - 21:51

You’re right, so sorry! I got confused…I’ve just fixed it. Thank you so much 🙂

Reply
Ximena 18 Gennaio 2024 - 12:38

Hello,
Thank you for your suggestions.
What would be the best option for Cotour Fabric Shopping?
Thank you

Reply

Rispondi a LaDulsaTina Cancel Reply