Where Do I Buy Fabric?

14:59 Unknown 1 Comments

When a friend of mine first showed me how to use my mum's sewing machine I asked her where I could go to buy fabric.

"Dunelm Mill," she said decidedly.

So off I went.

I have to say, having lived abroad for many years, the UK is a little bit of a disappointment to me as far as fabric goes. It might just be where we are situated (the North East) but I found the choice extremely limited. The best I found was at Dunelm Mill. But even they have a very small selection, one shelf with about 15-20 different patterns and colours. However, the fabric I did buy there was really pretty.

Durham has a few fabric shops. I found 2 main places that I liked.

The first is The Quilters Cupboard in the indoor market in Durham centre. They seem to specialise in quilting and hold workshops, although I've never been, they look very experienced and I loved the fact that they sold the fabric starting from 10cm unlike most places.

The other place I will have to find out about and post later because I just cannot remember the name of it. It was down some stone steps in a darkish alley off one of the small streets...a bit like a Harry Potter scene but it was filled with a good selection and I didn't have enough time to really look properly but I wanted to stay for hours!

One of my dressmaking class colleagues went to a shop in Harrogate which she said was fantastic. I found Remnant House which claim to sell cheap dressmaking fabric. I have yet to go and check them out but as soon as I do I will report back.

I would encourage anyone wanting to try out sewing to go and look up some nice cotton fabric and give it a go. I started with a friend of ours teaching me the very basics and then playing on my sewing machine at home. I quickly moved on to YouTube sewing tutorials, the very best being Dana Made It.

She has some WONDERFUL tutorials on her channel, really gorgeously filmed as well. Check her out.  I started with her pillowcase tutorials.

Now if you would like to see what happens when I get carried away in Dunelm Mill, watch my haul video!