Walthamstow Shopping Pilgrimage

I had an amazing day in London last weekend. I made a trip up to city to go fabric shopping in Walthamstow. I was dubious about what Walthamstow would have to offer, but it was well worth the trip!

Textile Centre, Walthamstow photo courtsey of Didyoumakethat.com 

We got the tube from central London to Walthamstow Central. The market runs along the length of the high street so was easy to find. The first shop we came across was the Textile Centre, which doesn't look like much from the outside but has an amazing array of fabrics inside.

It turns out that this was the most expensive shop of the day with most fabrics between £2 - £3 per metre. I was spoilt for choice and spent quite a while deciding what to buy. I ended up picking three lightweight polycottons with lovely drape.

The first is a black floral print with little white polka dots which was the most expensive of the day at £2.75 per metre of which I bought 2.5 metres. I have this picked out for a dress. The second is a red floral print and the third a navy blue tile print, both were £2.20. I bought 1.5m of the red, this will make a lovely blouse and 2.5m of the navy for another dress.

We then wandered down the High Street a bit more and came across another fabric shop. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but I know it was on the opposite side of the street to the Textile Centre. This shop had a large range of sari fabric, some shirting and chiffon fabrics and an amazing selection of prints.

I came away with three more lengths of fabric. The first is a navy and white heart print polycotton, which was chosen by the Husband and the second the beautiful turquoise rose print. Both were only £1.40 per metre and I bought 1.5m of both. For the life of me, I have no idea why I only got 1.5m when it was so cheap, I hope I have enough to make a blouse of each! I also bought some white and blue striped shirting to make a shirt for my Husband at only £1 per meter of which I bought 1.5m.

I did find the man outside of Sainsbury's, but at that point felt a bit shopped out - my Husband is typical in that he doesn't have much patience for shopping so we wandered back the other way. We did stop into a haberdashery shop selling a massive array of zips, buttons, ribbons, etc. I bought some bias binding for all the sleeveless shirts and dresses I'm about to make. The red and navy blue were 80p for 2m and the turquoise, white and black were 25p per metre.  

It was a great experience fabric shopping in Walthamstow - a huge selection across all the shops and such great prices. I will definitely be back in the not so distant future!

We spent the afternoon pottering around London - lunch as Borough Market, walk along South Bank, popped into my favourite shop Joy at Bankside and a visit to The Serpantine Gallery in Kensington Park Gardens. We finished with an amazing meal at The Quality Chop House. Overall a great weekend!