Woolcrest Textiles is just around the corner in Well Street from the London College of Fashion in Mare Street.  A wholesale fabric warehouse that sells to the public.  It is extremely well placed for fashion students, who need metres of fabric to sample with, without going to the expense and second mortgage that is often required in London fabric shops – or at least central ones.

The first few times I went, I have to be honest, I was out of my comfort zone, but the more I trot around, the more I understand the fabrics displayed, and just how cheap they are.  Good quality wools, silks, linens and fashion at ridiculous prices.  Yes, you might not find what your hunting for, but you will find something.  My prices are approximate, but Linen’s range from £2.00 to £2.50 a metre, Silk comes in at about £3.00 a metre, Wool for coats, trousers, jackets between £5.00 to £7.00 a metre, you get my gist.   As opposed to Berwick Street where wool’s start at £49.00 a metre and silks start at £45.00, organic cottons come in at about £18.00 and Linens start at about £28.00.  I know they are all beautiful in Berwick Street, but there are some real treasures here too. You just have to hunt them down and be prepared to spend a little time looking.

And lets be honest, it could do with a lick of paint, but it appears to be a male dominated business and these things are all incidental to the work that is done inside.  And these boys are busy, really busy, fabric purchasing is an intense business from students, customers and fabric retailers.

You see the above fabrics, three metres of silk, four of a heavy pure wool – two metres of cotton shirting, one metre of wool flannel, one metres of a wool boucle type thing, and one metre of a heavy wool, and there was something else you can’t see.   £45.00 quid, approx the same price as one metre in Berwick Street.  

The silk is so pretty, we did the flame test, it is silk, and the plan is a little for sampling and a little for me.

And this wool, how could I not, the colours are so me.  I am thinking of making a big blanket or making a winter coat.  Its lovely, its thick and its gloriously soft with just the right amount of roughness and I know its going to keep me warm, I just haven’t decided which way yet.