cheap fabric - character fabric

[leeanne1407]

were do use all get your fabric from ive just started using a sewing maching so just wanting to start making cushions and things to get me started looking for places to get some really cheap fabric to practice on and pref character fabric as well
any suggestions
thank you

What do you mean by character fabric?

Market Stalls often have very affordable cotton fabric, and even places like john lewis are good. Also, keep a look out in chrity shops.

Where are you based? Most places have a little independant fabric shop or two tucked away somewhere.

having found it a tad more difficult in england than back home, i have found that you need to get out and about to look at different shops and stalls whenever you can.

so things i have done in the past-
*anytime near a market go and have a look to see if they have a fabric stall
*look for fabric shops nearby on yell.com
*look for fabric shops/markets every time i travel/holiday and always try to visit a couple.
*get a couple of UK sewing magazines and check out the adds.
*ask ladies on mumsnet where they go
*join freecycle
*think outside the box, wilkos/primark ahve cheap fleece/bedding/towles that can make other nice items like fleece or home items.
*look on ebay and look for cheapest fabrics, you can get a surprise somehimes.

I have found being in the UK i have to be much more proactive in looking as we do not have a local fabric store but have managed to build up a huge stash of very cheap but very nice fabrics in the last 5 years.

ikea

I bought this ebay shaun the sheep fabric. have made 3 pairs of childrens pyjamas, and two duvet and pillow covers out it.

I go to Fabricland loads of patterny fabrics, not character but lots of dinosaur/fairies/numbers/letters etc v cheap.

Ikea is good if it is local and you don't have a very fixed idea of what you want - they generally have one or two really cheap fabrics.

Most of my fabric is a legacy from when I lived near a fabric shop whose core business was made to order curtains. Their remnant bin was all £1/metre and the 'remnants' could be anything up to 5m! We have a king-s-ze bedspread made from "remnants" - with no extra seams, and I still have a trunk full of that and other similar bargains. As a result I am really mean when buying fabric for projects for the DC and rarely pay more than £3/metre.

Jack - thanks for that link. I shall save that one for future reference.

you can't not remember that website. unfortunately its just to animated for me to use.

pity as i just love a bargain.

I have just had a look at the Fabricland website. I see what you mean moocowme - I think I may have to lie down in a darkened room for the rest of the afternoon.

I don't see how they can think that the animations and bright colours add to the experience - I kept finding that I couldn't look at anything for very long as my eyes kept getting distracted.

It is a bit much, clipartorama.
and yet theycan do all that but not add an online basket

I do tend to quickly browse and then spend half an hour on the phone with the lovely staff. They know all their fabrics so when you say you want something girlie and blue and cotton they come up with about 3 different things and describe them, lovely.

It's an incredibly dated website - but it's clearly homegrown, IYSWIM, so I would forgive it a lot for the sake of cheap fabric.

If you have a Dunelm that does fabric near you I bought a lot of lovely fabric from there on Saturday, at a fraction of the price than somewhere like John Lewis

I live in West London - Goldhawk Road/Shepherds Bush market has loads of fabric shops selling absolutely everything. I love it.

sigh - in NZ when I was growing up/teenager there was a fabric shop on most High Streets - not anymore though.

I buy most fabric from eBay. Try these USA sites for fabulous retro and novelty fabrics (they are great for quilting and home crafts). The shipping cost isn't too much but be prepared to pay a little import duty if you live in the UK.

If you're anywhere near north wales, Abakhan have tons of cheap fabrics. They've got a website if you google the name. They also have stores in Liverpool, Birkenhead and Chester but you really want the original proper huge site in north wales for proper choice. I got approx 12m of children's print fabric (google it if you're interested, birdhouse aqua!) that was £9.50 a metre online but in the shop I only paid £32 for the whole lot. Made curtains for the baby's room and still have a ton left over to practice with my new sewing machine!