Wholesale Fabric..Where to buy?

[Talulla]

I am trying to find out where the fabric trade shows are in the UK, particularly A Henry and M Miller as I need bolts of fabric to make dresses. Please would some lovely fabric genius help me before I have to make dresses out of fat quarters that would only fit my daughters dolls!
A big huge thank you to anyone who can help.

[cosmic grammie]

Probably no help at all...but anyway....

My daughter and some friends got together and formed a fabric co-op so they could order fabric wholesale, but they have to buy something like a minimum of 5 bolts to equal about $500 - something like that - then they split it up among themselves. One fabric company was Robert Kaufman and the other was Westminster. Maybe you could form a co-op too, and get bolts that way? Just tossing out ideas...

[wendy]

Not sure this is any help either, but I'll have a go! :)

Years back, I used to make children's clothes. I bought a lot of my fabrics from warehouses in Manchester. Can't remember how I came across them, but once I found one, I just drove around the area and found others too. This was pre-internet. Maybe you've tried it, but googling wholesale and/or wholesale fabric may help, although it could be a bit time-consuming.

The other place I know of that isn't a wholesaler, but does sell fabric really cheaply is http://www.abakhan.co.uk - they have a big store in North Wales on the coast road as well as some others dotted about. I recently discovered their online shop - but they are well worth a visit in person too. They have different shops in the one store: fabric pieces by weight, rolls they sell off for tiny prices, a regular fabric shop, a craft shop, yarn shop, etc. I suppose if you are buying a lot from them, they may consider a reduction for wholesale.

There's a playground for kids there too, but be warned - my 23-year-old daughter recently said to me "I used to hate it when you took us to that material shop in North Wales". Here's me thinking they were having fun!

Good luck in your hunt :)

[goldy1]

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/MMF/..%5CMMF%5CInternational.cfm

http://www.ahfabrics.com/contactus.html

[AuntieBib]

Interested to read the replies here - my daughter is a fashion textiles student at Portsmouth Uni and getting even calico at a good price is virtually impossible - so i will keeping my eye on this thread for any great Craft forum info.

[StrawberryMangoes]

Hey,

Now I'm going to give away a little secret of mine...I know about this great fabric shop - I'm not sure how cheap the prices are compared to wholesale, but I've always been impressed.

It's in a village called Wolverton (Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire) and I think was set up to supply the Indian community in the town - however, they have many beautiful bolts to look through (I could spend days in there) - silks, cottons, chiffons etc etc -some material thats already imbroided as well. So much choice and reasonably (in my opinion) priced.
(I paid about £2 a meter for some lushious silks and other material was cheaper).

they also sell some beads, little mirrors (for clothing) and threads.

It's opposite St Georges Church (its in the old Post Office) and there is a car park in front of the church (somewhere to park your car).

Ebay or Etsy might be a good bet too. Some cheaper ones I've found are usually in China.

If you want I'll look up the street name for you. Can't rem the name of the shop

[sharon]

Ask to look at BRAD'S DIRECTORY at your local library. It lists all the manufacturers of everything in the UK.

Go to the section on fabrics & you'll find names, tel nos etc - don't forget to take a pen/pad as you'll find lots of firms you'll want to contact.

Also do a google search for TRADE dressmaking fabric etc rather than wholesale - even if you don't qualify for trade terms some companies sell their fabric to the public at good prices. It's a matter of finding the right site.

Good luck

Sharon :)