What an amazing shop. Such friendly staff and some lovely fabrics. So many patterns to choose from…read more I could spend all day in there

From the owner: Sew Wardrobe is a one stop shop where you can purchase patterns, fabrics and haberdashery to create…read morea complete me-made wardrobe. from bras and corsets, to tops and jeans, the LBD and winter coats. The concept behind the shop is the vision of Alison Smith who is renouned for the School of Sewing and The Sewing Book. The shop stocks indie patterns from around the world. Fabrics are arranged in colour palettes to help making those important decisions.

This is a genuinely gorgeous shop, tucked away in one of the little arcades, and crammed, with some…read moreof the best organised, and satisfyingly colour ordered quilting fabric I have seen in my life. I'm definitely more of a dressmaker than a quilter, but there is definitely enough here to fuel you or inspire you to start. Although there is a good range of prices, you could very very easily spend a lot of money in here, but such is the way with quilting! Some of the little fat quarter packs in particularly are to die for, and the haberdashery is a nice range too.

From the owner: The Corner Patch - A little corner of patchwork heavenread more

This shop is well stocked and the curtains we had made, were very good. However, the big issue is…read morethat they never answer the telephone, which is frustrating as we need to reorder one element of the product as the measurement isn't quite right. Please answer your phone!

Best dress fabric shop outside manchester. Staff really knowledgeableread more

I only came across this place whilst working in Nechells and it's a hive of activity. If you are…read morelooking for furry fabrics, black out, sparkly vinyl or fun coloured net then you will surely find the colours you're after in here. KBT is a family run business that sell a lot of stock internationally, and because of the safe, high quality of their fabrics schools and education establishments buy a lot of stuff from them. If you live locally and work for a school or third sector organisation they do scrap bags of off cuts super cheap, which is always great for art projects. The guys here are really helpful at finding the fabric you are after or making suggestions with regards to price and alternatives. You can always take a swatch away with you which has all the pricing of the fabric you were looking at. They stock a wide range of spray and fabric paints as well as velcro and cutters. If you plan on visiting you can't access KBT directly off the round-a-bout it faces but via Nechells Place.

KBT is another great secret of mine. You wouldn't come here for dress fabric, or for luxurious…read morefabrics - but instead you'd come here to browse their giant bolts of blackout fabric, their rainbow colours of velvet and velour, their sparkly vinyl on the roll, the huge range of felt and netting, and then a range of 'fun' fabrics besides. A number of their regular clients are from education - schools and nurseries - who come to get fabrics suitable for kids to work with, or who need cheap fabric to create backdrops and costumes for school productions. Because of this, they sometimes sell special binbags full of offcuts for very little money which could be full of loveliness, or could be full of boring beige (one bag I bought had some lime green pleather in it - fab!) Alongside the practical fabrics they have a fair amount of upholstery fabric, and also a big range of fabric paints, spray paints and other textile-related products in cans and jars and pots. It's definitely worth having a mooch around!

It's kind of a weirdly placed shop, but you can park outside TKMaxx for free…read more ~When I came in here recently, which was for the first time in a while, it was 80% sale, and seemed almost like it was closing down, which I was assured it was not. Cute homewares, and nice clothes- got a bit of a seaside thing going on at the moment. Shop assistant was nice, had a brief chat, which she didn't seem encumbered to do.

Laura Ashley is a very very expensive shop. They do sell very nice clothing and homeware and…read morekitchen accessories. However the prices are just too steep. They sell candles for 15pounds each and notebooks for 9.99. i feel it is too expensive and the quality is not that good. I got a laura Ashley throw before and i felt it was nice but the same i could have got for half the price and was to scared to wash it in the machine as it said dry clean only, the shop is for people who can afford luxury items. The staff are nice and don't mind you looking and asking questions make it a nice place to pop in and look at the things they are selling.

This business has closed down and is now a fast food store. Which is a great shame and will be…read moremissed greatly

If you ever take a ride on a bus, you are bound to overhear little old ladies rant on about: A) the…read moreprice of a good piece of tongue ( cow tongue from the butcher's you mucky lot) and B) the lack of haberdashers any more. They obviously haven't discovered Bon Fabrics in Urmston Town Centre- perhaps one of the last of a dying breed. This is a proper material shop where reams of cotton and voile are cut to order in front of your very eyes. And there are buttons!! Now, buttons are the bane of my life; I don't know why but if there is a button around, you can guarantee that it will pop off in my presence. Maybe I am the David Blaine of the haberdashery world? Perhaps I just magic them off clothes by mind control and without laying one manicured finger on them. Well whatever it is , I ALWAYS need buttons and Bon Fabrics comes to my rescue. There is something strangely comforting about standing around yards of fabric and bales of wool. It might be a latent repressed memory of being a contented baby stuffed into home- made matinee jackets and bootees by my talented Aunty Joyce. Who knows? It is certainly not my intention to patronise the older generation at all. Knitting is now a Hollywood craze and a birdie tells me that Gwyneth is a bit partial to a knit one pearl one. Bon Fabrics does not just cater to those in the twilight of their lives, it has a whole array of fancy-dress outfits for children and adults. You can barely move in this shop at Christmas and Easter time when harassed mothers are forced to make outfits for their little darlings' school plays and Easter Bonnet Parades. I particularly like Bon Fabrics at Halloween when my inner vamp ( or vampire) starts bearing its fangs. Whether I require a wig, facepaints or other accessories, this shop will have it. Service can be quite slow as the ladies who run the shop like to give their undivided attention to their customers for as long as it takes, and no disrespect, but it CAN take a long time. This can be a touch frustrating when all you need to buy is a yard of ribbon for 50p. I would not say that the owners are brimming over with amicability either. They are serious sewers who rarely crack a smile. However, I have returned here again and again- well I always need buttons. P.S. try saying haberdashery when you have had a few drinks- I seem to say have a daiquiri. Odd that!

Patricia Ann is where I go to indulge my worrying ribbon addiction. It is also where I go to…read morerestore my faith in independent retail. I get easily bored with twee craft emporiums flogging over-priced tat with birds stuck on it. Patricia Ann is an oasis of unhip haberdashery. Let me explain: I walk in and see shelf-upon-shelf stacked with plastic storage boxes. To say that the place is cluttered is an understatement. But it all makes sense to Patricia. She is sitting at her chair, normally reading the bible or knitting. A gas heater blazes away in the corner, filling the space with a cosy heat and a smell that reminds me of camping. I ask for a bodkin and she smiles, she puts down her bible/knitting and locates the bodkin box. She then charges me some ridiculously low price, says "god bless" and I leave thinking "Woah, that was one cheap bodkin". This shop sells all sorts of knitting and sewing paraphernalia. I think it is wonderful, but I do tend to get excited about things that other people think are a bit rubbish (I once declared Gossip Girl the "definitive TV show of a generation"). Go there at Christmas to stock up on ribbon - it is ridiculously cheap and there is a huge choice.