***note to UK girls - I was in John Lewis today (got some great dusky pink taffeta at £4 per metre which I think was either 50 or 70% off) and they said that the sale in the fabric department is starting on the 1st of July - that may well be when their general sale starts, but possibly worth a try...***
Hey girls,
Just wondering about where everyone is from. I suspect that a lot of the bloggers on here are from the US/Canada though I could be wrong. I'm wondering how many other UK people there are here - and where you get your supplies from. It seems to me that there is s severe dearth of sources here compared to most American cities and towns. Though admittedly I have a feeling that it just may be that in the past I haven't been paying attention to what's around me in terms of what's available, as even our crappy little local charity shop has yielded a couple (ok, literally two) modest treasures over the past month or so, and in fact I'm planning a trip to various local high streets with lots of charity shops to see what turns up.
But although there are a couple of good shops in central London, one that does trimmings which is between Broadwick St and Wardour St, and of course the divine VV Rouleaux I am positive that not only is the stock slightly more limited, it's markedly more expensive here than in the US. The last time we were in NYC I dragged DH around the Garment District, and had a ball buying buttons, beads and ribbon and gorgeous Denyse Schmidt fabrics here.
So all you UK girls, where do you recommend? I've used a couple of online fabric stores - I found that Chawlas is pretty good, but cheap fabrics are just that. And I've had the occasional score from ebay, of course. But it's a bit like buying books from Amazon compared to going into a "proper" bookshop - sometimes needs must, but there's none of the tactile pleasures, the smells, the feeling of paper stock or silk between the fingers,...sigh.
Looking forward to hearing any tips you've got!