where do you buy your fabric (online or in RL actual shops)?

[dustyspringfield]

I've not been fabric shopping for ages, but am planning some curtain and dressmaking projects that will require some shopping (obviously nothing in my fabric pile will quite work ...)
I love love love Liberty, some JL and even some Laura Ashley but really can't afford it. Where's good to look online these days for lovely bargains? Or this summer I could travel to actual shop / warehouse / outlet in or around Manchester / Sheffield / York / Leeds etc.
Any recommendations gratefully received - I will post pics if you help me!

Try www.fabricland.co.uk Their website is pretty hideous but they are good value. If there is a branch near you it's well worth a visit. Also at this time of year you might find fabric brands having sales. I have bought smallish pieces of fabric from eg Ian Mankin, Laura Ashley, Designers Guild, Vanessa Arbuthnott for cushion making or small upholstery projects. Check websites of brands you like for sale pieces. John Lewis has masses in its sale at the moment too.

Thread and Loop (online)

Thanks both. Blimy fabricland website made my eyes hurt! Thread and loop is lovely, I guess I'm going to need to save up a bit.

I quite like some Ikea and some Dunelm Mill curtain fabric.

Apologies for making you look at the fabric land website. Painful isn't it! But you can get a lot of there without spending much. I use it for projects for the children - fancy dress etc. Another really useful site us Sewing Online - for wadding, bias binding, continuous zips, quilting supplies (but not for fabrics so much).

Yes! Ikea! Had forgotten about their fabric. Several of our curtains have been from their fabric. Huge windows at our last place were dressed really cheaply with floor to ceiling curtains.

Yes- I think I might do better in an actual fabric land shop - or get some long-overdue new glasses lots of bargains though - thanks for the tip.
Yes, I have had some great ikea fabric in the last - especially plain and tablecloth /deckchair type checks and prints. I find a 'nearly' like a lot of their other prints, they just look a bit over-designed and too ikeay sometimes. I think I'm due an ikea trip soon though.
Thanks all for the tips. I think I may let myself get the curtain fabric I actually really like in JL sale.

Try these:

www.abakhan.co.uk/
www.fabricrehab.co.uk/
www.cottonpatch.co.uk/
www.visagetextiles.com/

For haberdashery try:
www.josyrose.com/
www.jaycotts.co.uk/

fabricrehab.co.uk/

I've bought from here before and have been pleased with the fabric and delivery.

www.efabrics.co.uk/

Am luh-huh-huving all these links! Going to have a good ol' fabric porn browse later today. My main online source I can't remember exactly, but "fabric" and "remnant" were both in the name.

EBay has proven consistently disappointing in terms of prices.

Was also going to recommend Ikea.

If you live anywhere near London, the shops in Walthamstow or Shepherds Bush are great for a good ol' prowl.

DP, at my request, dropped by the Birmingham Rag market a few weeks back. Remembered it fondly from years ago, but in in 2014, came away disappointed and a little furious. The number of guys who tried to sell him polycotton for cotton prices, or who flat-out lied about polyester being silk! So, not recommending there.

Yes, this totally is fabric porn!
Fabric rehab looks particularly fantastic.
pedant do you know this place? fancysilkstore.co.uk/ I used to think it was amazing as a teenager [years ago] no idea if is still is ....

I also went to an amazing bargain fabric shop in central glasgow about 10 years ago - kind of a remainder book shop for fabrics. Bought stacks of liberty prints discounted - can't remember for the life of me what it was called / where exactly it was though. Anyone?

For Liberty look at Shaukat. Excellent prices, and a good range of other quality fabrics. fabric Godmother has a fabulous selection, though not cheap. For bargains I look at Minerva crafts, though I don't enjoy navigating the website, and My Fabrics, which is just lovely.

[[http://www.myfabrics.co.uk my fabrics[] have a big choice and if you order swatches they send discount voucher off your next order

It's a German company so everything takes maybe a day longer to come but pretty impressed so far

link fail
Sorry - left handed on phone while feeding ds

Always charity shops. I have had the finest damask, silk and linen in the form of curtains ( a local country house refurb where each pair of curtains 5meters long) were selling for a pound each. I rarely buy new fabric.

Oh, charity shops are good too. But that's more of a speculative thing, and if I need a.n.specific thing, that might take longer.

Don't get me wrong, I am second to none in my appreciation of a growing pile-of-fabric...

Leeds market is a favourite of mine for real life shopping. There's 4 stalls in Kirkgate market plus Sam Taylor's over the road. The last time I went to Leeds I had to dash into the co-op to get some bags for life as I'd bought too much

Also Immanuel fabrics in Burnley are good. They have a pound a metre room! It's very much a buy it when you see it place though as the stock constantly changes. The last time I was there I picked up embroidered silk dupion for a fiver a metre. There are more warehouse type places near Immanuel's but I've never been. The sewing forum website is good for recommendations. It's how I found out about the Shuttle in Shipley. A nice day out in Saltaire, and the Shuttle is a short walk along the canal. I'm looking forward to doing it again this summer

www.clothkits.co.uk/fabric-c-42.html

Sign up for updates from clothkits. They periodically do discount codes which make the liberty fabrics relatively affordable

I also recently discovered "m is for make". That was expensive

£1per metre sounds good . I had a place like that years and years ago - they made curtains, so anything less than 5 metres was a remnant - I still have a load of stuff in my stash from there.

Thanks for starting this thread, some sites I've never heard of before. Can't wait to have some time for a bit of fabric-porn :-)