Shops in the UK where you can buy pattern patterns for dressmaking

[cornishatheart]

It's decades since I did any dressmaking, I'm keen to get back to it but I'm not sure how I'll cope with downloading and printing patterns. I yearn for the days when you could go into a fabric shop and spend a very happy hour looking through catalogues of patterns but I don't know if that really happens any more? I'm sure there must be shops that stock paper patterns but I'm struggling to find where they are. Ideally I'm looking for somewhere in London or fairly near to London. Alternatively, encouragement that the downloadable patterns are easy to use. I'd be very grateful for any suggestions or advice, thank you.

Apologies for the 'pattern patterns' in the title, I don't know how to edit it. Clearly, I'm not good with technology - downloadable dress patterns wouldn't suit me!

Where are you based?

There are def still fabric shops around. I have one near me but I'm in essex

I have at least two I can think of, possibly 3 near me in Suffolk so I feel like there must be some in London!

I do wonder if it's likely there are more out of London because of the ridiculous costs of owning or renting a shop in London.

I'm in Hampshire but I'm in London often so was hoping to find somewhere there.

Admittedly it wasn’t very recently, but John Lewis definitely had paper patterns last time I looked.

I went into John Lewis a couple of months ago, they didn't have many. That was my go-to place years ago, I used to spend ages looking at patterns and fabrics that I couldn't really afford.

You can get paper patterns online too. It's not that all online sources only sell downloadable patterns.

Sewdirect.com stocks the big traditional pattern brands, Vogue, Simplicity, Burda, etc. If you pay for membership, you get discounts and a free pattern.

The Fold Line is an online pattern shop stocking both paper and pdf patterns from traditional and newer pattern companies. It's got a good search function if you're looking for a particular type of garment. Some of the PDF download patterns offer a printing option where they will post a printed version to you.

They don't stock patterns, but if you want to go to London and gaze at haberdashery and amazing fabric you can't afford, try MacCulloch & Wallis on Poland Street, just off Oxford Street.

All of the fabric shops I use (nowhere near London sorry!) have paper patterns in stock, and one has all the burda / vogue pattern books in and will order anything you want if they don't have it in stock in their filing cabinets.

The others tend to stock the indie patterns like Tilly and the Buttons/ Friday pattern company etc.

The big online sellers like Minerva Crafts and The Foldline have a huge range of paper patterns to order. The Foldline also sells a lot of PDFs

I use pattern downloads a lot but I am absolutely not printing them out and sticking them together myself. I download the file and send it on to CLC Essex to print out onto A0 paper. The Foldline also offers this service directly when you order a PDF from them, it's more expensive than CLC Essex but slightly easier.

I love the downloads because once I receive the print I just cut them to the right size safe in the knowledge I can just get another print done if I want to do the pattern in a different size at a later date. They are on nice thick paper was well not flimsy tissue.

You can buy dressmaking magazines in Sainsbury's which usually have at least 1 free pattern. That's where I got mine from.

Masons in Abingdon, I realise that’s not London!

www.masonsfabric.com/

That's fantastically helpful thank you. I didn't know that the online companies would also have paper patterns - and that some also offer a print facility is really good to know, thank you.

I'll check out MacCulloch & Wallis, it sounds wonderful.

Hobbycraft might have some

Hobbycraft sell patterns.
Cross posted with above 😁

Your advice about CLC Essex is really helpful, thank you, I would have had no idea about that and the idea of my sticking printed sheets together seemed to failure before I started.

I didn't know that about Sainsburys - I'll have a look, thank you.

I wondered about Hobbycraft - there's one in Southampton that I could try, thank you for the tip.

John Lewis has the main commercial patterns. I only use Vogue patterns and they have them in the Oxford Street shop. Also various mail order places, like Sew Direct, who have a 50% sale on Vogue patterns at the moment.

Would Liberty in London stock patterns of their own, presumably?

Needlecraft in Hemel Hempstead?

Thank you, it's not so far from me, I'll keep a note of it.

What kind of things are you looking to sew out of interest?

It really is years since I've made anything but I've just bought a new machine and wanted to make some summer dresses for myself. I'll start with something simple and see how I get on!

I think I need to make another trip to John Lewis. When I went a while ago they were having some kind of reorganisation on that floor, maybe I just hit it at a bad time. Thank you, I'll give it another go.

Ray stitch has a decent selection and some lovely fabrics.

Some of the smaller shops may close for an easter break and only open for limited hours anyhow so do check before you visit.

www.raystitch.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOoqa57YgLvEWHMvoEpRr98ZVTvXSr8LMxUEvyBOl-lbyro7CXH6O